Vintage Bridal Style - The 1950's - by Chrissie

I love the style of the 1950's. For me it is an era of optimism and glorifies the attributes of the full femimine figure. Waists are nipped in, bosoms are enhanced with sweetheart necklines and sleeves are delicate and hint at a subtle covering up. Circle skirts supported by volumous petticoats and peg topped skirts show off the hips and finish off the seductive silhouette.

Vintage Bridal Style - The 1930's - by Chrissie

This past year my clients have been swept up in the whirlwind of nostalgia and have brought their own sense of fashion history, vintage detailing and personal taste to the design process.A big influence for my clients this year is silver screen glamour of the 1930's era. Bias - cut designs in delicate draped fabrics such as slinky silk crepe back satin, georgette and chiffon made to glide down the aisle as if it was a red carpet. The dresses of the 1930's particularly suit slender figures and is body consious contouring and characterised by seeming effortless sophisticated simplicity.

I totally enjoyed using the cut of the fabric to create flow and movement. I am so used to creating shapes using structural pattern cutting and formal underpinnings it was very freeing to let the fabric do the talking.

Steampunk Bellydance costume

I love making bespoke belly dance costumes....it's very liberating to fly with a concept and be immersed in it.

Hilde's most recent costume is inspired by steam punk fashion, a strong trend in goth and counter culture presently in the UK and America. It is dark, broody and beautiful with a fondness for formal and military Victorian styling and surface decoration being either alluding to the structural engineering of the Victorian bridge and ship builder and the elaborate decoration of polished internal clockwork.

The steam punk tradition was originally a literary movement, HG Wells and Jules Verne being huge characters in it's early germination. It's kinda alternative science fiction where steam power, fantasy and  beauty are the most relevant concepts.

Hilde had always expressed her interest in having a pinstripe costume, and this was the perfect foil for this project. The whole design had to be pretty slick, taking formal suiting elements that echoed the pinstripe and rendering them with red leather trimming, black leather elements that made the outfit more interesting visually and decorated with some hefty brass poppa's and stud work that echoed the riviting of steel plating.

 We decided to go for bombastic jewellery pieces to finish the bra and belt and commissioned the exquisite jeweller Count Curious  to work his magic. It was fantastic to work closely with him. I supplied him with pattern pieces for both bra and belt, we rivited the jewellery on and I finished the look with hanging chain and some drilled watch faces.

I think this is the best costume I've made for Hilde so far. It's certainly been the most fun.