The Alkonost

When I got this commission I just knew that it was going to be a good one.

Alkonost is a Russian mythical beastie that is half woman and half bird, said to make the most beautiful sounds that could render the listener to lose all memory and desire.
When I talked to my client about this project, and saw how stunning she was I just knew that I was going to make a feather trimmed corset, as talk about wings was discarded on the grounds of them being cumbersome to dance in we finally came to the design of a bolero with feathered arms and collar to hint at folded wings.

This was my original sketches:

  

The corset featured a blue grey centre panel intended to represent the breast of the bird and feathers to be applied around the front panels and suggested towards the back. I didn't want to put feathers on the back because they would most certainly receive a lot of wear.

The corset would be complemented with a feathered bolero and pencil skirt.
I also ended up making a fascinator and some little feather embellishmenst to go over her boots with the left over feathers.

And the final garments look like this...(sadly so far no photo's from the clients)