Chrissie Nicholson-Wild: Designers Diary

Busy busy busy!

2012-02-28T19:17:00.000Z

Woo hoo, I have had a cracking two weeks!

I have had some excellent news from She Said Boutique and am now working out terms to run a bespoke service from their fantastic shop. Currently along side my client work, my show work and my personal research I will be making up some show pieces to be displayed in She Said Boutique. It is very exciting, and I have had to be very secretive whilst negotiations were proceeding.

Hurrah!

Today I have been taking new commissions for burlesque and belly dance costumery, so it's all go!Go!Go!

Corset D41

2012-02-17T16:39:00.000Z

I received in the post today some gorgeous white broche, and I am so tempted to make one of my favourite corsets from the Symington collection D41. And for the sake of simply copying information, here is the Museums own card on this corset:

This is a fascinating corset, it shares some of the classic characteristics of Edwardian era corsets:

vertical inner bone casings
longline
suspenders
single layer

But the thing that most interests me is the pattern cutting, there is a really fascinating piece that arches from the front hip to the back waist.

My original notes:

Reading it back I can see that I originally thought this piece was stitched on top across all layers, but upon more study of my photo's I can see that it is not, and apart from aesthetic reasons there seems no other purpose to this neat bit of pattern cutting (unless it was economical in terms of laying it on the fabric). If I ever get a moment to myself I'm going to give this corset a go, it's so fascinating.

Oddities of Fifties Bra's

2012-02-16T00:16:00.000Z

Retro and vintage inspired lingerie is everywhere these days. Fabulous images of Hollywood starlets in their heyday all busty and glamorous on the outside needed some serious upholstery underneath. You'd be surprised at how understated 1950's undies actually were and I thought it would be nice to do a little compilation of some of the more interesting examples.

The bullet bra is perhaps one of the best well known style of bra to emerge in this era. Worn by such lovelies as Marilyn Monroe....the effect is, well, pointy...


one of the more interesting bullet bra styles

The classic bullet bra, so much copied today, had no under wires (unlike the example above) but all were characterised by their conical shape and circular support stitching. Very similar was the whirlpool bra which had slightly more sophisticated pattern cutting and some nifty over wiring.

And then there was the cathedral bra, which had some glorious over wiring...but I'm not sure it would have been supportive in any way whatsoever. I have searched the internet for a picture but can only direct you to a link from the V&A http://www.vandaimages.com/results.asp?image=2010EE7998-01&itemw=4&itemf=0002&itemstep=1&itemx=3 as to post it here would probably land me in trouble.

Classic lace wedding dress

2012-02-14T23:31:00.000Z

Recently the most requested wedding dress style I have been asked for is with a lace overlay.

Lace has been trending (I hate that expression) in wedding dress design for the past few years but last years Royal Wedding really upped the ante...

Lace has such a wonderful finish, and it is the most feminine of all fabrics in my opinion. I remember lace being considered very old fashioned when I was young, but I always found it's delicacy lovely to behold. Back in my goth days as a teenager I remember donning all sorts of lace things that made me feel much more grown up and sexually alluring, I loved that it could cover and conceal all at the same time.

But enough of my reminiscences... more about lace.

There are perhaps as many different types of lace as there are types of wine, and similarly to wine different styles of lace are historically directly related to their place of origin. If you fancy a real in depth study of lace I can recommend a viewing of the Lace Guild website. Back in the day lace was painstakingly made by hand using some simple principles and equipment and a lot of patience. Luckily for the modern dressmaker most lace is made by machine...making it affordable and readily available. But like everything in life the better the quality the more expensive the product.

Here are a few of my favourite styles of lace that I use:

Chantilly : This style of lace is named after the region of it's inception, Chantilly in France (although, unlike wines, laces are no longer just made in the place they are named after)

Chantilly lace is characterised by it's light floral patterns and use of half and whole stitch fill to create area's of light and shadow within a solid outline. It usually has an 'eyelash' effect on the border pattern also, which I find quite endearing.

Guipure Lace : Guipure lace refers to a thick lace that has no background. The pattern is entirely self supporting and does not need the netting background of other lace styles.

Guipure lace has a solid kind of charm and I find very versatile for putting on corsets either as an overlay or a trim. Some of the more built up designs have a wonderful grandeur about them, remember Prada using loads of built up guipure laces in 2008?

Crystalization

2012-02-08T23:02:00.001Z

Today I have been coming to the closing stages of a very cool costume work for the Sugar Beats, a vintage inspired tap dance duo. And for the last hour I have been getting the bling on the costume. Fab fun, and it looks great too.

I love the effect of crystals as a decoration, and I am so grateful for the invention of hot fix crystals because I once had to do an outit by glueing them on and it was very time consuming and messy and occassionaly nerve wracking. The first outfit I ever used crystals on was this:

It still looks awesome, but I think it took me two days to work out and execute the design. It's not very often that I get a wonderful client who lets me go wild with the crystals, but recently I did a pink dress which just got blinger and blinger, upon request! I can't show you the whole dress, as she hasn't worn it out yet, but check this out:

This outfit is a mix of both sew on and hotfix crystals, and I really enjoyed doing it...although all in all to do the back and front it took me about four hours. Worth it though! Can't wait to get piccies of this lady in her dress!

Ascot: tightening of hat rules for the Royal Enclosure

2012-02-06T11:19:00.000Z

In high society throughout the ages guidelines of dress and codes of conduct have always been seen as a way of showing your place and station and modern day England is no exception.

Fascinators have, in the previous few years, pushed the hat aside as the fashionable mode of headwear for special occassions. Perhaps something popular or fashionable is also deemed commonplace....for the organisors of Royal Ascot have deemed it important enough to press for tighter guidelines on ladies dress for this particular occasion in the Royal Enclosure.

A new dress code states: "Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of four inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat."

Compulsory hat or facinator wearing for all ladies in the Grandstand is also observed.

My favourite pieces at Royal Ascot last year were big colourful:

Flossing

2012-02-06T09:12:00.000Z

As my research into historical corsets gets more involved I find myself marvelling at the beauty of flossing.

Flossing is the small embroidered details which hold the corset bones in place within their channels.

These are flossing samplers from the Symington Collection

Flossing is one of the things that is evident in a finely made corset, rather than a mass produced product. This is one of the finest examples of flossig I have ever seen...

I admit that I have never added this, the most simplest of details to my corsets of the past...but I want to make it a feature of my work from now on, so I started last night with some very simple flossing, with the practical purpose of holding the boning in place.

As I get more confident and practised in flossing I intend to make it more elaborate, embroidery is one skill as yet unaquired so this will be good fun.

Bralicious: the quest for the best fitting bra

2012-02-02T21:40:00.000Z

This is the Victoria Secret bra, Hearts of Fire, from 2006. If only all bra's were worth their weight in diamonds!

Now the collection 'Fleurs Du Mal ' is in production, and with my mind on learning new decoration methods and pattern cutting I find myself more and more concerned with the matter of bra cutting.

It has been my experience that every different company's have differing fits depending on their style, despite the fact that they are supposed to be the same size. When you cut a bra pattern the 'ease' that you would allow an over garment for a body's movement is removed. Why then is there so much difference between sizing?

I have decided to engage in this subject by doing an investigation into bra sizing, and for arguments sake I am going to use my own body as the instrument of testing. I actually wear a 32DD bra, but by all estimates a good portion of women wear the wrong size bra so I will make no assumptions here. What I will also admit is that my measurements are: underbust 31" and full bust 37", and I did a little research trying to find my size before going any further.

Here are the results of typing my measurements into their calculators, very interesting!

http://www.nicolajane.com/size_calculator.asp I was calculated as a 36B
http://www.85b.org/bra_calc.php I was calculated as a 36D
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/catalog/sizing-chart.php I was calculated at a 36A
http://www.calculator.net/bra-size-calculator I am a 36DDD or F
http://www.nicolajane.com/size_calculator.asp I am calculated as as 34C

Mad eh? If these cannot decide what size I am (none of them the current bra size I am wearing) how the hell am I supposed to find correctly supporting bra's???

So, my study will be as follows: I will try on bra's of these sizes, and the current bra size I wear in as near new condition as I can and compare them. The parameters are as follows:

bra's must be underwired
bra's must be in new/ near new condition
Compare companies within themselves as well as with each other

Out of all the things that I make bra's are the most sophisticated in terms on engineering, A huge amount of work goes into those bit's of elastic we take for granted. I will probably be publishing results as I go along, so join me in my quest to find the right bra size and shape.

Meetings, organising and shoulder physio

2012-01-30T23:07:00.000Z

Even when I'm away from the machine my mind is on the future catwalk show.

After meeting a new client and discussing a future steampunk commission, doing my dreaded tax return and some shoulder physio, my serial collaborator Tabitha Adams, make up extraordinaire, came over to have a mug of the hot stuff, drop off a chandelier and talk make up for the catwalk show.

I always find it very hard to express my collection without the use of flowery language and touchy feely expression so I'm quite lucky that Tabbie can decipher my cacophony into fantastic make up. I love working with Tabbie, we know each other so well we have loads of fun on shoots and shows. While we were talking about one of our last shoots together at the Engineerium she showed me some candid piccies of self same shoot. This is the lovely Kat, one of my favourite models to dress, snatching a moment to send a cheeky text...

If you'd like to check out Tabbies make up portfolio it is available on facebook I can't recommend her more highly.

Debutante dresses

2012-01-29T14:26:00.000Z

A bit of a chilled day today, just some net gathering and bikini making planned for later. I am supposed to be having a day off after all!

This morning with my wake up mug of coffee I watched an amazing documentary on 'Debutantes', part of the Timewatch series on the BBC. There are some really great stories and insights from some real posh characters, and of course....the frocks!

Watching it really took me back to an exhibition at Kenny Palace called Débutante where they had genuine dresses from the last Débutante Ball in the 1950's. So here I am going to relive some of my favourite dresses from that exhibition, and how it is totally relevant to the collection 'Fleurs Du Mal' which I have been working on.

These are so pleasurable because they are so girly, almost demure. The detailing I love, particularly the pale blue roses and silver beading.

I'm so looking forward to revealing my final pieces, in time, and similarly enjoying sharing some of my thoughts, trials and tribulations along the way.

The Silk Road....

2012-01-27T11:03:00.000Z

I just have to do a post about silk after so many posts on my fb page about the spider silk cape at the V&A!

This is the link to an article all about the cape, and I would simply be re-wording it here...so I won't bother.http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/24/spider-silk-cape-show?newsfeed=true

Since it took 8 years to make this cape and extract silk from 150,000 odd spiders, and a choice of only one colour this is obviously a one off piece of art rather than a business idea. But I shall definitely be aiming to get my bum to the V&A to go see it....just so I have seen it. It's on display until 5th June.

Finished silk roses

2012-01-26T12:22:00.000Z

Just finsihed my handmade silk rosebuds. Colour is so much richer in daylight.

Corset decoration and detail

2012-01-26T00:20:00.000Z

My shoulder trouble has seeped into two days now...but I am not never one to be idol, I have been thinking and researching detailing and making some hand made minature flowers for a special corset I have in my mind.

Unfortunatly the fabric is quite dark and I just took this on my camera with a flash so it's difficult to see the detail. Damn!

I've also been looking at vintage lace, and accessories for styling and generally getting my mind around the tasks ahead. Lots to do...less time to do it. :-)

New Website

2012-01-24T23:24:00.000Z

Today has been a very exciting day.

Aside from having a shoulder injury which has put me out of anything two handed today ( currently slow typing one handed) the new website has just gone live, woohoo! It is still a bit bare boned in terms of content, but all the essential elements are there and for the next month or so I'll be adding loads of new photo's and a shop, so you can directly buy my new designs.

Exciting eh?

I've been receiving lots of samples this week, so I can start costing and ordering my fabrics. Costing up the collection is essencial for it's success, as the Collection must be creative, luxurious and beautiful as well as value for money.

If you would like to take a gander at the new website check it out: www.curvecouture.co.uk and let me know what you think, what you'd like to see more of, all feedback is greatly welcomed.

Inspiration and Research

2012-01-23T23:37:00.001Z

Now that I'm a mother doing first hand research of historical corsetry is a bit more of a mission. So when I find myself in need of a little top up on the inspiration front I turn to my computer.

I thought I'd share some of the ones that have really captured my imagination of late, these beautiful corsets are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I am sharing them because they hint at what is to come in my 2012 collection:

This is just stunning to my eyes, but the most notable things for me are the really interesting seam lines, the flossing and decorative embroidery. Amazing! This corset is dated 1876 and made by the Royal Worcester Company

Below is a fantastic example of a ribbon corset. Dated 1908 and made by J B Corset Company in America. I just love the shape and colour of this corset and the matching garters are just divine.

The next corset is 1904-05 and French. I love the pattern cutting on this corset so much I am tomorrow going to develop a waspie pattern based on its seamlines, flossing and decoration. I'm particularly attracted to this corset because it embodies the lightness of touch, delicacy and romance I want to be in my collection but also the strength and robust nature of the corset itself and it's ability to modify the body.

Photo archive and source: The Met

Styling my work

2012-01-22T23:08:00.000Z

Today I have taken a well earned day of rest from the sewing machine. I have not, however, rested my mind from the thoughts of my pending catwalk show at Alternative Fashion Week and 2012 Collection.

This year I am really focused on pattern cutting and experimenting with a variety of shapes of corset and learning new construction techniques but my recent TG costume has made me very aware of the influence of styling upon an outfit, which I have to say I usually find myself shying away from. But I have really enjoyed the process of making the complete TG outfit in a way that has not interested me before. From finding suitable shoes and accessories (some of which have not yet arrived) to how the hair should look (which I couldn't do with my untameable locks) and what makeup, jewellery etc.

But, my point is, that it was great fun. Usually it is my clients who do this bit, I just make the dress /corset/costume and I have no say in anything else. I generally have no idea what other elements make up the final look until I see photo's or the event with my own eyes.

Leading on from that today I have been thinking about styling the catwalk show. I want it to be a journey, from innocence to decay - I have been reading exerts from 'Fleurs Du Mal' to give me some inspiration. I have picked The Matyr to share with you as there is some stunning visual imaginings from the text. I shall include a translation at the end of this blog, but follow the link above to see the original page it is from and the original poem in it's mother tongue (French).

A Martyr

Drawing by an unknown master

In the midst of perfume flasks, of sequined fabrics
And voluptuous furniture,
Of marble statues, pictures, and perfumed dresses
That trail in sumptuous folds,

In a warm room where, as in a hothouse,
The air is dangerous, fatal,
Where bouquets dying in their glass coffins
Exhale their final breath,

A headless cadaver pours out, like a river,
On the saturated pillow
Red, living blood, that the linen drinks up
As greedily as a meadow.

Like the pale visions engendered by shadows
And which hold our eyes riveted,
The head, its mane of hair piled up in a dark mass
And wearing precious jewels,

On the bedside table, like a ranunculus,
Reposes; and, empty of thoughts,
A stare, blank and pallid as the dawn,
Escapes from the upturned eyeballs.

On the bed, the nude torso shamelessly displays
With the most complete abandon
The secret splendor and fatal beauty
That nature had bestowed on her;

A rose stocking embroidered with gold clocks remains
On her leg like a souvenir;
The garter, like a hidden flashing eye,
Darts its glance of diamond brilliance.

The bizarre aspect of that solitude
And of a large, languid portrait
With eyes as provocative as the pose,
Reveals an unwholesome love,

Guilty joys and exotic revelries,
With infernal kisses
That delighted the swarm of bad angels
Hovering in the curtains' folds;

And yet one sees from the graceful slimness
Of the angular shoulders.
The haunches slightly sharp, and the waist sinuous
As a snake poised to strike,

That she's still quite young! — Had her exasperated soul
And her senses gnawed by ennui
Thrown open their gates to the thirsty pack
Of lost and wandering desires?

The vengeful man whom you could not with all your love
Satisfy when you were alive,
Did he use your inert, complacent flesh to fill
The immensity of his lust?

Reply, impure cadaver! and by your stiffened tresses
Raising you with a fevered arm,
Tell me, ghastly head, did he glue on your cold teeth
The kisses of the last farewell?

— Far from the sneering world, far from the impure crowd,
Far from curious magistrates,
Sleep in peace, sleep in peace, bizarre creature,
In your mysterious tomb;

Your mate roams o'er the world, and your immortal form
Watches over him when he sleeps;
Even as you, he will doubtless be faithful
And constant until death.

— William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

TG: been and gone

2012-01-22T16:03:00.000Z

So...no post's for a day...but as a make up I'll do two today and we'll say no more on the matter!

I always find it really weird that the build up to an event, whether a wedding, or a big night out can be so consuming in terms of time, energy and sometimes money. This is always the case, I find. Then it's all over, it's done...a strange feeling indeed.

I you''ve been following the blog you'll know that I have several events to prepare for, Alternative Fashion Week in April, several pieces for clients for clients for shows in February, and for myself an outfit to go to Torture Garden...which was last night.

I didn't manage to complete my outfit with the pocket watch and compass which must now be on their way to me, but I hope you'll agree it was still a triumph.

photo by Mimi Flynn

I am not particularly into dead straight historical re-makes for my costumes. This one definatly had a utility, wartime styling. My friend Nick T said it was a bit Sky Captain of Tomorrow , that's a reference I can live with!

Here we are before we went out: cunningly taking photo's before we went out. With me is the gorgeous Mimi Flynn of Emerald Angel - a very talented designer in her own right.

There are still some things I want to do with ths corset, so there may be posts to follow on this, and also more detailed images of the final object once I have cleaned it up after last nights mayhem.

Torture Garden is rocking up in two days

2012-01-20T00:01:00.001Z

So, two days until TG. I have to fit my costume making around my normal work...which is why this blog always seems to be the last thing I do before I go to bed.

After much deliberation, and redesigning in my head I am finally nearing a conclusion. I had about 3 different finishing detail idea's floating around my head and only decided tonight which one I wanted to do the most. I tend to find that I have to pin lots of stuff to the dummy and visually work it out. When I am not contained within a clients design parameters things tend to evolve as they are going along. Although I usually have some idea about where I'm headed design-wise, I'm happy to experience those light bulb moments as they come along.

So here is where I am at now: corset now has lacing at the back so we can truly see what shape it will form the body into. And I have really gone for a military formal style with the details. I'm really enjoying the sand coloured coutil with the black denim. I was going to do that in brown leather, but I wanted more contrast.

So...this will be finished by tomorrow night, rivits and all. Woo hoo!

Fantastic days

2012-01-18T23:11:00.000Z

I have truely had a great day today...

After heading into town to get supplies to get on with my TG corset, I got to work straight away. I finished cording the hip sections, put the pattern together and hey presto:

I'm really pleased with the cording detail, and as you can see I am now playing around with some decorative things. I have yet to decide how cutaway I want the hem of the corset to be, so I have left it for the moment at it's original length. The cording is so robust, and I love it as a design feature. I can also imagine that power net would also look pretty fantastic in the hip sections...but we'll leave that thought for another day. I hope that tomorrow I will have more time to spend actually sewing so that I can put this to bed, so to speak.

I also had a meeting with vintage inspired tap dance troupe 'The Sugarbeats' who need some costumes made. Their design was fantastic, and the fabric they supplied was devine so that will keep me busy this week alongside the Valentines dress I am making for Miss Honey Moon. Wow! I am super busy at the moment, great!

Being that my commissioned work is so plentiful, the Collection has had to take a back seat...which is slightly frustrating, but I will be back on it very soon.

Snap shots of life

2012-01-17T23:38:00.000Z

It's been a day of mischief and mayhem. The clock is ticking on me to get my collection ready for Alternative Fashion Week in April, but sometimes it's really important to take time out for other just as important things. So today I've spent some time out with my little boy Riley, which has been great.

So here he is, enjoying the fruits of my labour. He looks rather fetching...maybe I should make baby forage hats. This little nipper never sits still, believe it or not this is the best photo of him today. He's also wearing a fetching jumper designed and made by my mum.

This evening I have got back to the grindstone getting on with my TG corset. I have graded the pattern to my size, slightly adapted the shape more like my sketch and started cording the hip panels. So far I have got through a good six metres of piping and I've just run out so another trip to the shops tomorrow!

This style of cording is similar to the one I employed to make 'The Pretty Housemaid', it's gonna take a while.

Cording...it takes some time...

Too many projects?

2012-01-16T20:52:00.000Z

I am lucky enough to be busy most of the time, in fact inundated with work - whether it be bespoke commissions, my designer collection, catwalk shows, photo shoots and sometimes I actually get to make an outfit just for myself.

Hurrah!

Today I've been organising, and ritually cleaning the studio after a commission has gone. It's never completely tidy but this little ritual just sets me up for the next thing. I have almost finished my forage hat...just tweaking it here and there. I just put some little copper studs on it that remind me of pop rivits on bridges or liners, the concept is all coming together nicely. Next on the agenda is to re-size the 1911 corset to fit my current size, requisition back my pinking shears from another designer, and get on with it. I now have only four days to make my outfit and gather the other necessary accoutrement's for my costume. E-bay has supplied my shoes (although they are yet to turn up) and I am still jockeying for brass items.

nearly finished: forage hat

Lazy Sunday...

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000Z

Today has been a bit slow, but sometimes even I need to chill out a bit so I don't wear out my brain.

I have mainly been finishing two customer commissions, which are due to be collected tomorrow. Great, it's so good to see finished work hanging all done. Good feelings. My fingers are red raw from putting on 30 odd metal buttons onto a cool frock coat, so I've just been playing around with my forage cap, making it's separate pieces and getting some inspiration for decoration:

I found this cool zip rose hair clip in my jewellery box so am going to finish off my evening wondering about how to make one.

Tg costume: Forage cap

2012-01-14T22:48:00.000Z

Moving on from yesterday then:

I put up my first sketch of my TG costume. Today I have been making a pattern and mocking up a forage cap, or a side cap as it is also called. The side cap was worn for everyday use, it's main feature being that it was foldable and compact and sometimes had a peak, like in this example of a British RAF WWII cap.

As I don't actually have one to open out and figure out a pattern I am using loads of pictures of the internet to try and guess my pattern and then just putting it together. And this is what I came up with...

I have, for ease of seeing the different shapes used a blue topstitch, there are a few tiny things that I will change, like perhaps some of the proportions, but basically I'm a pretty happy camper with this attempt!

Sometimes my brain works so well I could kiss it.

Time out

2012-01-13T21:51:00.000Z

Vey rarely in my schedule do I factor in me time, which I'm told is quite necessary for sanity.

So after my morning and afternoon work completing a denim frock coat I am making for a friend I decided to take a few hours thinking about my TG (Torture Garden) outfit. As previously mentioned I am loath to buy materials when I have so much cluttering up the studio, and have found some lovely things to inspire me which absolutely must be made into something dramatic.

The TG outfit HAS to have a corset, and I have chosen to base it around the 1911 corset. For previous musings on this subject you can refresh your memory: chilled out corset days I really want to bring in a cheeky military feel to the whole thing, so tonight I'm planning on making a design for a forage cap in matching fabrics and possibly some spats to go over the fabulous shoes I 'won' (bought) on e-bay. I'm so into bronze and brass right now it's silly so that will feature heavity and I have some gorgeous brown leather that is just begging to be brogue'd up.

Here is my initial design, just a pencil sketch for now because I just love the quality of pencil on paper. I may not be wearing it exactly as drawn, unsure at the moment...but I am fairly happy with the corset design...although the length of the back and it's details are also not fixed in my mind yet.

Corset, final shape

2012-01-12T23:20:00.000Z

So, I am nearly there with the corset...just in time to go to bed.

I tried it on earlier, and I thought I'd share the results.


This is me without corset

So this is me without a corset on, please ignore the state of my studio (it is always in chaos and I like it like that). I'm not looking bad for 36 years old, after a baby and a lifetime of doing little exercise and eating whatever the hell I want. I round up these days to about a size 14 (UK) my waist is about 29 1/2 inches, bust 36DD, hips 39 1/2.

So this corset I have sized for myself, as a trial and it is designed specifically to enhance my natural hourglass shape.
I always use myself as a trial figure because I have always been the intended shape of the final corset (that being the hourglass) and I usually wear a size 24" corset comfortably...which is a good sample size for a corset.

Here are two shots of the corset, one front on, one side on so you can see the shape of the corset all round. You can really see how my waist is defined by the corset, both from front and side. The hip sections allow the bum to be contained and lifted by the extremely low cut lacing. Cool. The next time you see this corset it will be on the catwalk. I'm moving on to the next set of designs.

Inspired....

2012-01-12T16:18:00.000Z

Finally found my steam punk inspired eyepatch by Count Curious and have got some materials to inspire me for my TG outfit. It is going to be pretty cool. Although it was a bit savage to measure myself after Christmas and a year after having a baby...I'm not the perfect 12 used to be! So, I think for the first time in my life it's time to think about my calorie/exercise balance.

Consolidation

2012-01-12T13:19:00.000Z

Now I have this major problem: I am aware of it...but only sometimes do it manage to regulate it. That I work on so many different projects that in a cursory glance it is hard to discern progress.

But today I feel progress is a force in my life:

I have now boned the Edwardian corset I have designed and made for AFW catwalk show it is my sincere desire to finish that corset before bedtime.

To get the bone casings down I ended up doing far more process than I had anticipated. In this style of corset it would be made out of only one layer of fabric and bone casings in the same colour could be sewn through from the back. However, this corset is made from three layers:the top layer being very thin and likely to drag on the machine teeth if I sew from the back. So first they had to be basted in through all layers and sewn from the front, it was a bit troublesome, some of it still needs tweaking but yielded great results from the top layer.

I'm still in two minds about if and how to decorate this corset...as my indecision as to whether this is a showpiece or will become part of the collection.

Some serious Boning going on today!

2012-01-11T23:59:00.000Z

Today I have been boning, boning boning boning! I have also been searching for my steampunk eye patch that was made by Count Curious as a source of inspiration for my Torture Garden costume.

In my boxes of unused stuff I have pulled out black denim, brown leather, drab coutil, some brass and antique silver components with which to concoct my outfit as I'm really into the idea of using up as much of my remnants and misc haberdashery that have collected up over the years. It will all become clear very soon.

On track with corset collection

2012-01-10T23:08:00.000Z

Been a weird day today. Had a great morning finishing off client commission, but the afternoon was just weird. I don't know if this happens to all creative people but I just couldn't get it going in the afternoon. I'm usually sifting through all the head musings to get to the good stuff but today was like my brain was in a vacuum. Until that is when my hubby, who knows I get very cross in this frame of mind, offers me the biggest tankard of coffee and a mars bar, what a star.

Nothing fuels my soul more than coffee and chocolate!

So I decided 2 things: to get my Edwardian corset on the move again and finally finish the first corset of the new collection rather than moving onto the next three designs and to design my next TG costume which is to be based on the 1911 corset from my previous blogging. Yay!

Edwardian corset now:

Marvelous. All I have left to do is boning, flossing, binding and decoration...oh and some suspenders. Ultra sexy.

Brow furrowing today

2012-01-10T00:13:00.000Z

I have concentrated on clients work today, so I have very little to report, except that I have been doing lots of thinking about the collection, the historical research and how I want the catwalk show to look like.

I've been staring at the 1911 corset mock up from previous blog and I think it will make a really cool skirt. I've been working on a denim frock coat in some amazing black denim - and I think that using the 1911 corset as a basis for the seamlines of a high waisted skirt and a use of contrast stitching as a decorative feature would be insanely cool. I may even leave the corset lacing as a feature at the back. Oh my, that idea is just setting my mind on fire...I'm off to do more sketching.

Chilled out corset days...

2012-01-08T22:25:00.000Z

Yesterday I had done the calico test version of the 1911 corset, today I have amended the front seam, as I just couldn't let it go, even if it is a test, and have put on the boning cases. I have done all stitching in black contrast and boning channels in black so they are really easy to see:

corset stretched at top left and bottom right to see boning channels positions

corset laid so the top edge is flat

stitching details from the front

back boning channels, long bone casings to subdue any bottom


corset front, note the shorter bone casings

That's all I got done today practical-wise. But loads of lovely fashion drawing done for the collection. Getting very excited now.

On a roll sewing today

2012-01-08T01:07:00.000Z

In the previous post I was banging on about a Jenyns corset that I really love and want to have a go at, that was this morning.

So after I had seen all my clients today I set about putting that into motion. I found a 1911 corset pattern in the corset makers tome Corsets and Crinolines by Norah Waugh so that I could wrap my head around what shape corset was in vogue at the time. Unfortunately I don't have a photocopier or it would have made drafting the pattern a 20min exercise instead of an hour.

I always find it interesting to lay my pieces down and visualise the final shape it will force the body into:

I can see from here that my pattern piece 2 could do with being a little shorter and actually that the hip shaping is done through the triangular pieces and that the corset is designed to contour the bottom into a more streamline shape. I think this corset is also much shorter than I thought it would be, but I am absolutely sure that I have worked it from the book pretty well so my deduction is that this corset is designed for a woman shorter than the modern average woman. The truth will be in the mock up.

Mock up:

I admit that I hammered my way through this really quickly just to see the effect, so please forgive the slightly shonkyness...I'll be fixing that tomorrow, and putting the boning channels in for a proper test. After initial musings on this design on the dummy it looks like it has some very strange proportion thing going on so I will fix my little front seam boo up, and I think I will actually try it on me as I am both short and squishy and maybe I will get a better idea of exactly what this corset is trying to achieve.

Also today I have been putting stuff up on my wall to inspire me:

At the mment it's full of other people's photo's but pretty soon I'll be replacing them with my own fab designs. That is all for today, night.X

It's a good day to sew!

2012-01-07T10:46:00.000Z

I feel bright as a button this morning. Despite a late night and waking up early to a shouty baby, the postman delivering my silk at 9.30 has cheered me up immensly. It means I can really motor on my designs as well as start the next wedding dress commission. Sometimes you just know its going to be a good day!

I was having a look back at my research from the Symington collection and on the Met museum website for some much needed enthusiasm. I'm also looking for a corset dated 1911-1912 in which to base a design for a competition (yes - I govern my success by acheived challenges) and I think it is time for me to give one of the Jenyns designs I have had my eye on for a while.

This is the drawing from my original research at the Symingtom collection. For more on this corset see my previous blog The beauty of Fan Lacing

This is D15, not a very glamorous name for such an awesome piece of corset engineering. Dated as 1911, this early Jenyns no.9 model was licensed to be produced by the Symington Company but was invented and patented by Sarah Ann Jenyns, who with her husband ran a surgical instrument and corset company. Sarah also sold licenses to make Jenyns models in Canada, Germany and the USA.
This is one of the earliest Jenyns designs made by Symington but the Jenyns company still made corsets until late into the 1990's.

Here are some more detailed photo's from the corset. I particularly find interesting the look of fan lacing and the buckle attachment at the front. It has some pretty crazy inserts and seaming which I am going to have to figure out so it should be fun.

Source: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jenyns-sarah-ann-10711

Beauty and strength: construction notes

2012-01-06T16:06:00.000Z

So today is all about getting on with my Edwardian style corset in peach satin and black lace...

The busk is in, that's the metal hook and stud closure at the front of a corset, and the boning is in the back. There is a special bow detail I want to put in the waist so I have just basted the rest of the corset together to give an idea of the final shapes.

Edwardian corsets are my favourite of all the corset styles, and they are also the most extreme and highly engineered. Most of my newest designs are based on Edwardian features. This is a typical advertisement of the time:

As you can see the features of this period are a prominant bosom and bum, tiny waist and a tipped forward stance, more commonly defined as the S-bend. Seamlines are diagonal, curved and complex, whilst boning was positioned mostly vertical. I don't plan on staying entirely historically accurate because my intention is to make a wearable corset that won't cripple my customers whilst still bearing the design features that I like the most about this period of corsets.

So, to recap my progress with this corset:

I have previously made a corset, based on Edwardian features to test construction and pattern fit: It doesn't fit on the tailors dummy entirely correctly because a dummy is not soft and pliable like a real body.

From this successful design I have changed my pattern to the new design and begun construction. This peach broche corset is a single layer corset, similar to Edwardian ones, and is strong enough on it's own to withstand much wear...but the materials I am making the new corset out of are not, so I am having to build a seperate outer and inner layer...which is problematic just from the point of view of matching up all 40odd seams but also that the seams cannot become bulky even though they have 6 layers of fabric in them.

This is fabric engineering!

So this is where I am now at:

It is coming along very nicely, just have to wait for my delivery of black silk so I can finish it off, yippee!

If any of you are thinking of trying to make this style it is definatly one of the most rewarding things to do and I have a few tips to make your life a bit easier that I found out as I was going along. I'll be doing a propper construction blog on this style of corset when I have a bit more time to properly devote it, but anyway in the mean time my quick advice tips are:

double stitch all seams
reinforce potential weak points
use the correct boning
build in a waist stay

Tired musings...

2012-01-06T00:47:00.000Z

Today I started work at 7pm. I wish I could spend all day making pretty things but unfortunately it was one of those days when you just have to go and sort stuff out!

I put my french knicker block together, as I really wanted to test the pattern and I have come to the conclusion that I do not really like classic french knickers. They may be flattering on some 6foot lithe model but on my chubby thighs I look like I should be kicking around on a football field! I really wanted to go for a vintage underwear look but to be honest I think modern knicker types are just way more sexy and flattering.

Back to the drawing board...literally.

Aside from that I have been carrying on with my Edwardian style long line corset in peach and black lace. I have put in the lining and will do the busk and boning channels when there is plenty of day light and my eyes don't hurt so much. It's going really well and I've got some fantastic idea's for details. I'm so excited I just want it done so I can sit back and marvel.

Also been playing with some guipure lace and raspberry silk dupion on the mannequin to get the next corset forming in my mind., More on that after a sleep.

Boy I'm tired, goodnight.X

Today: suspender belts

2012-01-04T23:12:00.000Z

So this is what I've been up to today:

Continuing with my suspender belt challenge...it has been really great fun and a quick turnaround. This is the basic garment before trimming. Loving the contrast of peach and black.

Also had a chance to block up some french knickers and tomorrow I intend to put that together to test the shape of the garment. I think that I still have enough of this fabric to make a waspie so I may concentrate on that tomorrow afternoon. It's all coming along very nicely.

Suspender belt: A brief history

2012-01-04T22:57:00.000Z

The history of the suspender belt is indeed short.

The inception of the suspender solved a problem for the Edwardian woman: how to keep her hosiery from falling down. It began with the corset, with suspenders first being attached to the corset itself and later developing into a garment entirely of it's own.

Suspenders were made possible by the invention of elastic, and first appeared on S-bend corsets of the Edwardian era. This corset is part of the Symington Collection in Leicester.
It is dated 1905.

The first suspender belts of the 1920's were still made from the strong cotton broche of their corset forebears and were designed to be equally tough and functional.

Until the development of the true suspender belt in the late 1950's the girdle had served the same function of the corset...to keep waist and bum in check and hold up stockings. I'll go into more depth about girdles in another blog, if you don't mind, to stay on subject...

In the 1950's clothes were literally revolutionised by the invention of affordable man made fabrics. Underwear benefitted in particular through more lightweight fabrics such as nylon lace, polyester and jerseys and from the 1960's onwards undies for the mass markets were now to be seen and not felt.

The suspender belt, like corsets, were rendered unneccesary by the evolution of fashion. With more women wearing mini skirts and trousers and the introduction of tights the fashionable lady no longer needed suspenders to hold up her hosiery.

The modern suspender belt is purely a provocative garment, so off I go to make some...

Today: suspender belts

2012-01-03T23:52:00.000Z

Today for AFW I have been working on suspender belts. I made the block this morning, and after clients work I have come back to them in the evening. Suspenders are so very sexy, in my opinion, simply because of how the skin is hidden and revealed. Since my collection is all about the trappings of a new love affair I want to capture the frivolity and pleasure in dressing up to please a partner.

Here are the results so far:

I've chosen to stick to the colours from the previous samples to make my first pieces because I really like matching underwear sets... There is still some work to do to finish off the belt and then, of course, is the fun it of decoration. Pleased with it so far, and I feel inspired to use the decorative lacing on the next corset.

It's all coming together.....

AFW: designs done!

2012-01-03T00:27:00.000Z

Yesterday I pretty much had a day off making things, well it was New Years Day after all!

After getting home from the festivities I so wasn't in the mood to work, so I indulged in a night of poring through my library of fashion and textile books to really get my head into the Collection and infuse myself with inspiration, and Bailey's milk shake. Yum.

Couldn't have had such a perfect break from the intensity of work. Today I felt happy, refreshed and totally on the ball again. With my designs now focused I feel joyful and I am absolutely looking forward to showing off my next Collection.

Mostly I have been working on the next client wedding dress foundations today, but I did get a chance to do something purely frivolous: behold the violet!

Today: lingerie fixation

2012-01-03T00:16:00.000Z

Today I had to tackle a totally new project: a lingerie body. This is the foundation for a very slinky wedding dress, and will serve as lingerie for the bride also.

I admit that it may not sound or look sexy, but some serious engineering has gone into this garment. The reason I have had to start a wedding dress in this way is because of several factors:

the bride, despite being teeny tiny has a very large bust
the wedding dress will be backless
the wedding dress is bias cut and will cling to the body

so the purpose of the garment is to support the weight of the breasts without compromising the design of the dress, this is further made difficult by the design being halter neck and so not having the advantage of being able to use strap tension to pull the underwires tight to the body.

Devil is in the details

2012-01-01T10:45:00.000Z

So, yesterday was all about resolving some design issues. Although I love fan lacing I think it isn't right for the one I am working on. I was just looking at it for ages and it just seemed too busy...and not in a good way. So I had to think about re-working this idea. Sometimes design is just like that...

I have also been working on some detailing idea's inspired by the video I found on youtube and posted in New skills to try and the black lace cocktail dress in a step closer to product . I'm trying to acheive a lace applique and sequin layered flower. I want it to be all black but I want the texture and quality of the materials to make it interesting and give it depth.

It's really hard to see unfortunatly how much detail is in there, which is a bit disappointing. Maybe that's a lesson in itself.

Feeling the love...

2011-12-30T23:07:00.000Z

I'm really enjoying doing this blog so far, it's really helpful to see that I do get a lot done on a day to day basis....someties when you're in the thick of a project it can feel like you're working and not seeing any results but this is really positive stuff. I can see like a timeline how it is progressing.

I have also decided that I will not be posting up images of the final work until much nearer the time or it will spoil the suprises.

So, as I mentioned in the last installment I have been working on fan lacing concepts today. I started with the inspiration of the neck corset I made the other day for fabrics and styling, and a longline corset block that I have adapted to suit and I now have this gorgeous looking thing:

After I eyeletted it up it was then just a matter of playing with lacing:

It's all wrinkled up because I haven't put any boning in it yet...I will be figuring those out next. I just wanted to see if it worked, et voila!

I still have some design reworking to do to get the fan lacing pieces fitted, but I'm very pleased so far...just some suspenders to go now and I shall call it a night.

New skills to try

2011-12-30T21:28:00.000Z

So for a bit of a break today I am doing research into the decorative techniques I want to get into next year as part of my couture practice.

And I find this hugely inspiring:

When I have a spare mo (when????) I'm gonna give something like this a go!

A step closer to product

2011-12-30T10:21:00.000Z

Here I am again, I think if I write up what I did in the morning it's more likely to get done!

Yesterday was a mixed up bag of work, I had clients work to do all day so I didn't really get going on my AFW collection until about 8pm after Riley (my baby) had gone off to sleep.

I really want to do a fan lacing corset in my collection this year, and it being the most unknown to me...it is the first one I am tackling. I have talked about fan lacing corsets in a previous blog beauty-of-fan-lacing if you want to refresh your memory. I have previously made a long line corset that I am basing the pattern on, so the first thing I do is tweak the pattern to acheive the size and shape that I want. As always I have my sketch to guide me.

I am making this corset to go with the neck corset I finished yesterday, so it will follow similar stylelines and use the same fabric.

Although I didn't get much of the construction done, I have also been thinking about details and decoration, and looking through my archive of fashion books I have been delving into 50's couture for inspiration...I found a particularly amazing use of applique lace which I intend to utilise on a dress by Michael Sherard made in 1958.

I adore the detailing of this dress, it is so simple and so effective and it totally works with the styling I have in mind for Fleurs Du Mal. So I will use that as my basis and move on from there. So here was my work from yesterday as it now stands in my workshop.

Neck corset

2011-12-29T10:39:00.000Z

For the past 2 days I have been working on a neck corset idea for AFW. I started off with no particular idea of fabrics or styling, but a drawing of what I wanted the structure to be.

This is my original sketch, done in ink with a fat nib. I tend to start all my designs with black outlines and fill in the details as I'm going along. Every designer works in a diferent way...this is mine.

From the design I create a paper pattern, this time modifying an opera coat collar in Turn of the Century Fashion Patterns and Techniques by S.S Gordan and then make a test pattern usng calico. A test pattern is necessary in all new designs to check the pattern achieves the task and fits correctly. I am testing the pattern on a standard size 12 dressmakers dummy.

From there I now am compelled to consider style, fabric, decorative detailing before I can progress to actually make the neck corset. That's when I usually stare for an hour at a blank piece of paper with my pencils, inks and paints before inspiration strikes. With my fabrics picked I set about the task of construction. As I do actually want this corset to be stiff I use stayflex to provide strength on the pink satin I have chosen and sew the neck corset in a similar way to a normal one, sewing all the layers as one and creating boning channels.

Here it is so far on the mannequin with the corset that is it's inspiration. I still haven't decided if I will actually bone it yet and have left it unadorned thus far.

So the first design...2012 Collection 'Fleurs Du Mal'

2011-12-28T23:19:00.000Z

The 2012 Collection is called 'Fleurs Du Mal' (Evil Flowers). It takes it's name from a very famous set of poems by Baudelaire written in 1857, which is considered a French literary masterpiece. I feel that the work is a description of the juxtaposition and fluid nature of beauty and degradation, and was at the time considered very shocking, because Baudelaire meant it as a critique of society.

I am very interested in this concept of beauty and decay, and the fluidity of states of being. This year I have also had a garden for the first time in almost twenty years and have spent many a wonderful hour in it, admiring it's seasons and changes and getting my hands dirty in it's processes.

I imagine my collection being photographed in an overgrown walled garden, the air thick with moisture and dappled sunlight. I love flowers, I love their transient nature, I think that their delicacy perfectly opposes the structure of my corsetry...I might even try to envisage some 'de-constructed' idea's - now that they are out of fashion I feel safer to do so.

This week I have been playing with pattern cutting things I have never tackled in depth, such as bra's, knickers and collars and it has been very exciting....but sometime soon the playing must stop and the seriousness of getting down to work must begin.

London Alternative Fashion Week

2011-12-28T22:29:00.000Z

I have recently found out that my entry to submit my work for London Alternative Fashion week was successful, hurrah! AFW ( as I shall henceforth abbreviate it) runs between April 16-20th April 2012, takes place at Spitalfield Market in London and is free to view.

It sounds like a long time, but in terms of making and designing things it is but the mere blink of an eye! Part of my New Years Resolution list is to document my work, by blogging here, much more regularly so I will be attempting to do a post at least every other day to show you what I've been up to, and to show myself what I can actually do if I set all my energy upon the task.

I am giving myself the freedom of writing about my thoughts (work related) my challenges and giving you an insight into my creative process and vision and sometimes you may even find a tutorial.

I would be extremely happy to answer any queries on my work and creative process and just as happy to listen to your comments and suggestions.

So here goes:

Today I have been thinking so hard my eyes hurt. After yesterdays neck corset pattern cutting and construction I had to stop part way through due to lacking the materials necessary to finish it...which was downright infuriating! So today, once returned from the heaving town centre, I got round to finishing off the structure of the neck corset and am now in the process of deciding how to finish it off in terms of detail. I also blocked a high waisted knicker pattern ready to play with tomorrow and am still only half decided upon which corset to make in which particular fabric thus far....creating my own frustrated hindrance. Since my brother reminded me that I in fact have to make an outfit a week to get the catwalk outfits ready whilst also still have to do my regular work and look after my 13 month old son. Drat his logic!

Titanic era corsets

2011-12-27T13:05:00.003Z

Today I've been thinking about Titanic or teens era corsets as it is also known. I personally think of this era as a transition period between the true S-bend corset of the early Edwardian period and the advent of the fall of grace of corsets in the fashionable wardrobe in the 1920's.

The development of this corset style is directly influenced by a huge shift in female fashion from the body altering wasp waist to a more streamlined silhouette...but remained restricted by a modern woman's standards. This was in part to the steady lengthening of the corset over the hipline assisted by a new invention, elastic, which now meant that stockings could provide the pulling power necessary to keep the corset taught under the sleek new fashionable style.

This is Camille Clifford ( 1885-1971), who was a famous tight -lacer. She exemplifies the silhouette of this time: both bust and bum are proud, contorting the body into the infamous S-bend which renders the waist stretched between the bust and bum extremes. It must have been an uncomfortable pose indeed, although considering that women were so used to wearing corsets in those days perhaps not as much as us modern women would think?

Major design features of this period:

extreme long line corsets
mainly vertical seaming and boning channels
streamlining of hips
straight 'neckline' cutting either mid or below the bust
usually accompanied by suspenders
neutral colours
little or no hand finishing
internal boning channels

The Alkonost

2011-11-20T20:48:00.000Z

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)

Still here

2011-11-20T00:11:00.000Z

Many apologies for the blogging hold-up. I have actually been so busy on various projects that I have, alas, neglected my bloggie.

Currently working on:

new website
2 ballgowns, 1 military coat, 1 burlesque waitress uniform, 1 wedding dress
planning and organising the mammoth task of splitting my full time mum status with working at home
reading up new business strategy
new 2012 collection

Phew! I promise that soon I will be back on the blogging case with my last exciting project: The Alkonost costume.

Newest Designs...Spring 2012

2011-09-01T23:14:00.000+01:00

Oooooooooooooooo,

Blogger has a new back end...so far I'm liking it.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I'm feeling proud of myself today. Determined to use up some of the fabrics and things I have accumulated over the years in my new work today I made my first Edwardian inspired corset for a long time! I have got to grips with a completely new method of seaming for a one layer corset which results in a really neat flat seam and am planning the map of boning channels for tomorrow.

I'm really excited about my soon to be collection, it's really bringing the sexy back into my work:

Getting back into fashion....

2011-08-27T09:26:00.000+01:00

Well! Now I'm not the sort of girl to hang around when it comes to work, but I have truely thrown myself i at the deep end!

Pasha Du Valentine, fabulous artist and director of Goddamn Media, has organised a Guerilla Fashion Event in my home town of Brighton in September. Well one must do it of course!

There is no theme, the only stipulaution being that the garments must have been made in the last month run up to the show, even if we end up using staples and gaffa tape on the models! The fashion show line up so far is very exciting ranging from taxidermy to knitwear. I have also heard in the past few days that we have got sponsorship from Irregular Choice for the show. How exciting.

I have decided that instead of bringing forward my collection for next year, and to avoid rushing it, I am going to take this opportunity to use up some of the fabric I have bumdled under the workbench over the years from projects past and projects unstarted. And I am going to make some of the things that hav been rattling around my head for a while that have had no specific place in any collection.

This work is going to be just for me and my whim, truly Guerilla for a fashion designer!

And here is my starting point....natural denim, leather, embroidery, topstitching gorgeousness. I will not be posting final pieces but I am very excited about this show so you will be seeing sneaky peakies as I only have 3 weeks to complete the work.

Off we go!

Inspiration abound...

2011-08-23T23:33:00.000+01:00

Well, it's nearly the end of my maternity leave and I am very excited about starting work again.

I feel so inspired by my last trip to research the Symington collection last Saturday that my mind has been buzzing with new idea's. Laid out for us was about 60 corsets of varying design and era, and after an informative talk by Phillip Warren on the history of the Symington company and how the collection came to be, we were allowed to take pictures and make notes.

I was most interested in the complex seaming and longline cut of the Edwardian corsets, as this is most relevant to my next collection. Although I managed to get round all of the corsets and take reference shots of all the things I found interesing, I picked out 4 corsets for special attention to really get my head around the construction techniques particular to that era.

It's all about exaggerating the most obvious of female assets...glorious big hips, a tiny waist and a full bustline! The development of the longer line corsets of this era were a reaction to a changing silhouette in which skirts fit snuggly over the hips and the development of elasticated suspenders which had the effect of keeping the long corset wrinkle free over the hip by the tension of pulling up the hose.

Anyway, it has sparked a renewed interest in getting really into the pattern cutting of corsets, and paying attention to those extra special details that make it unique in the world of fashion.

On my long train ride to get there, between bouts of sleep, I really thought hard about what it is about corsets that I find so interesting and I came to the conclusion that what excites me is the role of the corset to physically change and conform the body to it's shape, to exert force to intimatly and modify the nature of the wearer directly. Unlike other garments which externally alter the silhouette through disguise.

But more news on my next collection later, as it's still very much early stages in the process, but I will say that my mum is knitting furiously to give me some rather interesting accessories.

My top five wedding dresses of all time

2011-08-02T00:12:00.000+01:00

Often I wonder what sort of dress I would like to have on my own wedding day ( a very unlikely prospect given my boyfriends allergy to the subject). I had a vision once (when I was under the influence) of my dress, it was made from bleached peacock feathers, crystals and was the ivory colour one only gets from an unwrapped piece of vintage silk duchesse that has been sat in acid free tissue paper and stored in a dark place for decades. It was corsetted, of course, and had a huge train which shimmered from peacock birds into crystal motifs. It was glorious, hopefully I'll get to make it one day.

I'm sure I'm no different to countless women who, although not pre-occupied with their perfect dress definately do have some idea of what they want.

Personally I think there are certain guidelines to creating a clients dream dress...it must fit and define their body to advantage their figure, it must make them feel gloriously confident and it must reflect their personality. These are my top 5 wedding dresses of all time, not including the aforementioned peacock dress (or any of my own creations because that's cheating).

5... Sarah Ferguson

Despite it being entirely of it's era, ie: the 80's, this is something really special. Sarah had a huge hand in designing her dress right down to the embroidery which included bee's, thistles anchors and
both their initials entwined.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I love that it has bouffy sleeveheads that you could balance your cup and saucer on and that it has a monstrous 17ft train and of course that it is as heavily boned as a corset. Very few times have I thought Sarah Ferguson looked amazing, actually this was it.

4....Paula Yates

Incredibly hard to get a decent piccie of this dress, I knew I should have kept my old stash of Smash Hits!

Designed by Jasper Conran, a huge red pre raphealite gown with beading on the bodice. I remember being wowwed by this as a young woman and it's still breathtaking.

My number 3 is...Jackie Onassis

It's just everything about the 50's that we love, wonderfully fitted bodice and a circle skirt, delicately off the shoulder and with some wonderful frill and ribboning detailing. Just glorious, amazing details, so feminine and pretty.

2.... Stunning! Dita Von Teese

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!
Reams of taffeta sculpted by Vivienne Westwood in a fabulous and dramatic purple. An absolute show stopper.

And finally my top wedding dress of all time (except from my own designs of course) is this beauty:

This was once worn by Edwige Elisabeth Charlotte, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp, who married into the Swedish royal family. Massive panniers, tiny waist, delicate lace fabric over a stern corseted frame. Love it....

Now who wants one?

Pretty Housemaid - construction notes

2011-07-26T20:54:00.000+01:00

This corset is a labour of love, honestly...if you don't have patience this one is going to be a chore!

Being unfamiliar with this construction of corset I am constantly referring to my notes and photo's.

My initial research into construction led me to a problem with cording. I had initially used the smallest piping cord I could buy to do the cording, but after doing some sampling I realised that it is far too crude to be appear like the cording on the original corset. When I measured the width of the cording it was only about 3-4mm wide, almost half what I had been trying...and the results look less refined compared to the real thing. So - start again, this time using Russian Braid and sewing either side of it and in it's ditch...this is about right now, but still not entirely satisfactory. If I attempt to do this corset again I will be trying it with austrian blind cord which is very dense and very thin because the russian braid is making the cording look too flat. I am going to finish this corset as is and have a good look at it's shape before I think about starting the next one.

Just completed the hip section, which is the heaviest corded piece.Now I know why they had machines with multiple rows of needles to do all this blasted cording! It is taking an age! They had special machines that did the cording all in one shot with some machines with up to 12 rows of needles all going at it. I really like the look of cording, but with only normal sewing machines it is very time consuming. I told ya....a labour of love it is!

It's starting to really come together now. The seams that contain the bones look as if they are jean seamed on top and lining fabrics so I'm now wondering if each piece was corded after being stitched to the last seam as the corset was being made. Maybe I will try that next time I give it a go also. Although on the real thing the evidence is that the boned seams are made from french seaming I will have to use casings on the inside as the corset is getting pretty difficult to manipulate with all the hessian interlining and piping to contend with. Although now historically inaccurate I feel that I am willing to accept the compromise. The good news is that it's going to be incredibly strong.

I have also decided that upon my attempt to dye cotton lace it is nigh on impossible to get a good colour match, so instead of it looking a bit off I am instead going to use black, and continue to use black as the detailing colour rather than the original blue, another deviation from the original.

The flossing now done, and cotton lace procured, albeit narrow, here are the results of the pretty housemaid...

Fan lacing...experimenting...

2011-07-19T22:55:00.000+01:00

Experiments with fan lacing going well.

I've been trying to incorporate concepts of fan lacing with the aesthetics of the Victorian corset. Been having loads of fun finding different ways of lacing up the back to get the most out it. I have surmised from my experimentation that considerable fitting must be made to the lacing to make it 'fit' correctly, so upon purchase of one of these models an assistant will have had to adjust these laces to the wearer exactly before the freedom of daily self lacing could happen. Presumably, the design itself allows a certain amount of flexibility for the wearer top loose/gain weight as all they would have to do (unless weight change is dramatic) is go and have the laces re-fitted at the retailer.

Interesting.

Also of note is that the fan lacing corsets are not meant to be tight laced like their predecessors. There is just not enough flexibility to gain the 4" difference you could expect from a traditionally designed corset.

I love the idea of incorporating fan lacing as a decorative feature on a traditional shaped corset. This is a first propper attempt, very pleased with it...further experimentation required. Took me three lacing's to make it work. Phew!

Corsets - the beauty of fan lacing

2011-07-01T20:31:00.001+01:00

The fan lacing corset was designed with only one idea in mind : to make the corset easier to lace up ones-self.
There are two notable companies that were at the top of their game in this specific corset design genre: Jenyns and Camp.
When I did research at the Symington Collection I got to see oa Jenyns corset up close, and I kid you not....it was a fantastic feat of engineering!

The things that defines this type of corset is the lacing at the back and how the criss crossing of the lacing between the fan and the corset provides the ingenious ability if the wearer to be in complete and sole control of tightening the lacing without the need for assistance.

This particular corset is made under license by the Symington Company, and is dated 1911. Here is the original advertisment:
The corset sat low under the bust, and provides no support there, and low over the hip - giving supposed excellent suport of the lower back. This model was popular well into the WW1 era when women donned their Jenyns to support their backs as they worked in factories for the war effort.
The corset is made of white coutil.

This is an exert from my sketchbook about this specific model.

The brand 'Camp' was the main rival to the Jenyns and was invented by Samuel Higby Camp in 1908, but not patented until 1921. Whilst the original Jenyns models used lacing sewn into the fan shape Camps featured a metal fitting that allowed the lacing to remain in one length and allows the lacing to be adjusted using a pulley system rather than simply by front buckles as in the above Jenyns example. Later jenyns examples feature Camp's pulley concept.

In trying to understand the way this works I have mocked up a simple short version of a Jenyns corset. Unfortunatly at the time of experiment I didn't have any of the little metal pulleys, so have replaced it with eyelets. At this stage I have omitted the belt tightening because it clashes with the eyelet system. I have used two different coloured laces to show the crossing pattern...it's the geek in me.

Since then I have now sourced the metal bits I need to create a true fan lacing corset I'm off to do some mor experimenting...

Bunnies are back in town!

2011-06-05T22:20:00.001+01:00

The bunnies are back in London...or Stanstead anyway! I've read several articles on this of late and most of them seem quite scathing. A huge wave of very pc objections from the objectification of women. Really....honestly, get over it! If a woman thinks it's an honour to dress in a sexy satin cossie and some bunny ears to earn her keep...so what? Thats her business. These women will were not the first, nor will be the last to use their body's and sexuality to their advantage.

I myself love the vintage photo's of the playbunnies, I'm really going to enjoy making my own versions for my new 'pet' project with Miss Honey Moon. I mean...look at these lovelies...I think they look fabulous.

A night at the Museum

2011-06-04T23:28:00.000+01:00

So the weeks of planning, stressing and executing my designs culminated in one night at the Museum. On Wednesday night the Couture Brighton exhibit at Brighton Museum was unveiled amidst the movers and shakers of Brighton. For me it was a great night, just an honour to have my outfit in the Museum! My beautiful Engineerium inspired outfit, behind glass...it just made it look that extra special.

And here is me at the unveiling. I had to wait until everyone had been cleared out before I could take this photo because every time I couldn't get near it during the evening!

I am wearing my brogue corset in leather and pin stripe wool and straight skirt to match.

Afterwards me and the girls had a few cocktails to celebrate, we had a blast.

So now it's all over I feel a bit deflated after working so hard I'm not sure how to fill my days.

And despite my corset lecture not going ahead I'm not going to let that deter me to spreading the word about the glories of corsetery!

Corsets - the 18th Century

2011-06-03T15:09:00.000+01:00

Marie Antoinette by Vigee-Lebrun 1778

So today's corset re-construction is all about the late 18th Century. The time of Madam de Pompadour, Madame du Barry and Marie Antoinette. The fashions of the court were expensive and extravagant. The ideal of the ultra feminine at this time was primarily about showing delicacy and yet contrastingly also fertility.

The corset of the period was the beginning of corset engineering as far as I am concerned. The use of boning started to become very sophisticated as it began to be used with a new understanding of it's influence on the body. Construction-wise the corset, or stays as they were called for this period, is made of stiffened buckram and whalebone that is steamed into the characteristic curved front, usually lined in linen and sometimes covered in beautiful fabrics. Interestingly, men used to make stays as it was thought that only men had strong enough hands to work the stiff materials, whilst women did the dressmaking.

The shape characteristic for this era had the effect of elongating the front torso, pulling in the back until the shoulder blades would almost touch, which also thrust up the bosom to an almost indecent level and made the waist appear teeny tiny. The illusion of the tiny waist was ever more emphasised by extreme widening of the hips with paniers and voluminous skirts.

The particular corset I am recreating is held at the V&A Museum in London. The top layer is silk damask the inner structure is of stiffened buckram and lined with linen, it is bound with linen tape across the seams and is a fine example of half boned stays. The boning is 'whalebone', a bit of a wordie misnomer as it isn't bone it is the made of baleen the bit of the whales mouth that filters food.

Since I have not seen this corset in the flesh I am using a pattern which is supposed to be of this very corset from Corsets and Crinolines by Norah Waugh and using the visual references from the V&A publication Underwear Fashion in Detail by Eleri Lynn. I have super imposed the pattern onto my size 12 block to work out proportions and am making my mock up to see how the pattern works.

I've always loved the stay corsets, they have such romantic appeal.
It's amazing that these robust and beautiful garments are over 200 years old and made by hand! This is a good point to remember though, that most museum pieces in order to survive would have been worn infrequently or immaculately looked after and reflect mainly the creme de la creme of fashion at the time as working women and those of lesser status would have worn their corsets until they broke due to their expense. The pieces may also either have been ill fitting for the wearer hence their lack of wear, either way it is amazing that they have lasted so long.

More later on how I got on making this corset because I've run out of boning casing......


Madam De Pompadour by Boucher 1750

Photoshoot at the Engineerium

2011-05-27T21:32:00.002+01:00

Today the Gods were smiling on me!

The team assembled at the Engineerium at 2.30pm, make-up completed prior to the shoot by the fantastic Tabitha Adams. Model Kat Lawlor is always a pleasure to wok with, not only is she drop dead gorgeous but her wit and attitude always lift me. Bringing on the hair was Sandy Moo, whom I love working with. She just pulls out the stops, considering I made her job really hard today by telling Kat not to wash her hair when I should have told her not to condition it. Schoolboy error...how am I to know?

Anyway Sandy gave me the mega quiff I was after, I got Kat in the outfit and off we go!

Doug Craib, photographer maestro, did the business whilst I fretted about pulling out skirt creases. Raw silk can sometimes be unforgiving in these situations without an iron handy and I just had to go with it. The crew were a pleasure, all of us chipping in with reflectors and wet wipes. Unusually for a shoot, it was utterly tranquil, by far the easiest shoot I have ever done....which I put down to our team being tight and working so well together. It also helps to work with nice and wonderfully talented people.

I am so pleased, but I cannot show you the results as I am leaving it a surprise until the exhibit at the Brighton Museum opens. You will have to be satisfied for now with my docu shoot shot....

Oh, Steve ate all the cakes by the way...

The Engineerium

2011-05-25T23:44:00.001+01:00

Ah, I am so lucky. I have got permission to shoot my Couture Brighton outfit at the British Engineerium - the very Brighton icon that has inspired my whole project. Woop woop!

It was so much more sumptuous than I imagined and I was lucky enough to be shown around by a lovely gentleman who has worked there for many decades. Talking to him was fascinating..I wished my Grandfather was still around, he was a total steam fanatic!

This is Pete, his enthusiasm for the place was contagious. He is stood in front of the water pumping engine which stretches the height of the building and sinks far into the earth.

This next shot is the other end of the room. The photograph in no way reflects the majesty and size of the room. Those Victorians sure knew how to build something unashamedly beautiful as well as functionable.

The outside is as incredible as the inside, it has a lake with carp in it, an overgrown but fantastic garden which will also be fully restored to former glory. The next shot is taken from beside the lake looking up the hill.

Apparently there are even a pair of peregrine falcons that use the chimney as a look out post. How cool is that?

'Pretty Housemaid' corset made by Symingtons

2011-05-19T13:14:00.000+01:00

As part of the lecture I am giving at the Brighton Museum on June 4th I am re-creating some period pieces to demonstrate the evolution of the corset and subsequently the female ideal in society.

Today I am going for the 'Pretty Housemaid'. Seen here in a photograph from the Leicestershire Museum.

I am using Jill Salen's book 'Corsets:Historical Patterns and techniques' as the basis of the pattern and modifying it with my own first hand research from the Symington collection in Leicester. After studying her scaled pattern and my own photographs the first thing that strikes me is the proportions of the corset. It is shorter than I expected and seems very roomy at the bust. I am using 1 inch seam allowances on all except the top and bottom hems which will be bound at the end.For the most part I am in agreement with the look of the pattern pieces between Jill's drawing and my own research with only a change of grain direction in one piece which I am only making because my instinct tells me it is wrong.

My only criticism of this book really is that it lacks basic information on each corset, such as the finished bust, waist and hip measurements which would be helpful to double check against the pattern, and no technical data or instruction on how to make the corset. Luckily I know enough about it to give it a reasonable go. I have test sampled cording technique and find that the best thing is to use a zipper foot for the cording rather than use the technique used in the book which involves making a channel and pulling the cord through the channel. Doing it that way, however, presents a new problem....that the pattern piece becomes progressively smaller as each cording is made and that sewing 3 layers together with the cording can drag the fabric as it is being sewn. I must find a solution for this before going ahead.

I have chosen to use this particular corset for a variety of reasons:

it was mass produced and marketed specifically for a new emerging consumer: working women
the use of cording is an interesting bone replacement technique I would like to practice
I am interested in the proportioning of this corset

The original corset, at the Symington Collection, is beautiful. I'm always marvelled by the sturdyness of the corset. This particular corset was built to last, built cheaply and quickly and designed to give the ordinary working class woman the figure of the fashionable high society lady. The Symington Company itself claimed this corset to be "strongest and cheapest corset ever made". The corset is made of sturdy stuff: an outer layer of cotton twill, a lining of coutil and an interlining of hessian. It is french seamed where the pieces are joined instead of having seperate boning casings, and is boned only at the seams with heavy cording adding further to the strength and robustness where a more expensive corset would have whalebone.

Later post will reveal the outcome...

Engineerium project

2011-05-06T18:06:00.000+01:00

Today I have made headway into my Engineerium project. Fabric has been ordered, sequins have arrived.

I am now starting the technical side: pattern cutting the corset. Today I have made a block for my dress form and drawn up the main features of the structure of my corset, see below:

I always find it useful to photograph my work at the planning stage because it is easier to see fault in the design when it is 2d than when I am actually looking at the garment on stand. For example, on this picture I can clearly see that one of the lines is not flowing particularly well so I will need to correct this at the next stage of pattern cutting before I start making a toille to be fitted to the model.
It is far easier to make corrections earlier on in the planning process than once the garment has been half put together.

Couture Fashion inspired by the British Engineerium 2

2011-04-29T20:13:00.000+01:00

In less than a month I have to make this absolutely fabulous outfit for the Brighton Museum as featured in my last bloggy blog. Current status is searching for just the right materials and colours with which to set this piece alight. After I set up my new studio up at home I'll be getting onto pattern cutting. Still designing the detail for the front of the corset, am torn between my love for figurative embroidery and the abstract beading that seems more appropriate for the piece. It is a battle of style I hope I can resolve shortly...

Couture Fashion inspired by the British Engineerium

2011-04-27T20:13:00.000+01:00

I will be displaying a brand new couture piece at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery during June. My piece will be joining 8 other Brighton couturiers work, which will coincide with Brighton Fashion Week 2011.

The official blurb is as follows:

Renaissance Creative Design Ltd
in association with
Brighton Fashion Week and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
presents
'Couture Brighton'.
June 1st – July 3rd 2011

'Art and fashion collide in a glittering display of luxurious opulence'

Using the city as a source of inspiration, Brighton’s best known and dynamic fashion designers have worked in collaboration to produce nine new gowns that demonstrate the skill, opulence and art of the Couturier. The gowns will be staged in the costume gallery at Brighton Museum against a beautiful mirrored backdrop to create an installation of breathtaking beauty and exquisite detail.

The designers selected have all been chosen because of their strong individual style and the attention to detail in their work. Working to a brief that has asked them to create a one off piece based on a Brighton landmark or historical reference, the works produced will use a limited colour palette with a personal accent colour and will clearly demonstrate the techniques, skills and house style associated with each designer.
The gowns featured will demonstrate the use of bias cutting, printing, bead work, ribbon work, sculptural knit, corsetry, leatherwork and feathers to produce a spectacular and original exhibit using the finest materials.

The featured designers are;
Ailsa, Joanne Fleming Design, Juliana Sissons, Mazelino, Paul Milana, Chrissie Nicholson-Wild, Sarina Poppy, Renaissance and Suzie Turner

The reference for my design is the British Engineerium. Currently the Engineerium is under going a full restoration so my research has been largely second hand. There are some pretty cool you tube clips which give me a closer look, so much of my inspiration comes from the myriad of memories I have going to Steam Rallies and Railways which were an obsession for both my father and grandfather. My father was an engineer and mechanic, and he spent many an evening tucked away in the garage tinkering, and I see myself as following in his love for mechanics...just that I use fabric instead of metal.

The Engineerium was built in the Victorian era, which is one of my main points of reference for my design, which ties in nicely. The Victorians sought to re-mould the world and nature to their own design, it was about motion, power, travel, convenience, comfort and had a thundering optimism for the future. I intend to catch that spirit in my piece...motion, clean lines, structure.
I can also see parallels with the Victorian restrictions of society and gender roles and the corset which for me also represents a feeling of strength, protection and beauty.

Royal Wedding...yay!

2010-12-04T17:12:00.000Z

A royal wedding is not only a joining of two people in love, it's a national fascination. So Prince William is engaged to be married to Kate Middleton...all I really want to know is what her dress will look like!

I remember watching Prince Charles and Diana on the portable TV in the kitchen with my mum and being awestruck by the enormous dress. At the time I thought it was the ultimate princess creation and I remember drawing it for my Gran where it held pride of place on the kitchen wall.

The dress was designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel, it had a 25 foot train, was made in silk taffeta and lace, embroidered by hand and was adorned with 10,000 pearls. Awesome.

It was also very much a fashion of it's time! 1980's is written all over it. I hate to use the word meringue, but it is particularly apt for this design, with its huge skirts, neck frill and leg of mutton sleeves.

So what will our Kate go for?

Judging by her publicly displayed fashion sense my guess is that it will be very chic. She has a fantastic figure, and hopefully will take full advantage of it, with the correct nod to propriety sensitive to her future role as Queen. I think it will be understated and grand with very little bling in sight....but whatever she chooses it will set a new trend precedence in the wedding dress industry just like Diana's did at the time.

A royal wedding dress is the ultimate in what a wedding dress should be. Luxurious in every way: hand made, bespoke one-off, made with the finest materials, emotional and exactly expresses the brides personality, hopes and dreams.

I'll be gawping at the telly with everyone else to find out....

Vintage Bridal Style - The 1950's - by Chrissie

2010-11-24T16:23:00.000Z

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

2010-11-24T15:09:00.001Z

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

2010-11-13T12:05:00.001Z

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.

MIllinery...new works

2010-08-14T22:16:00.000+01:00

I love a bit of millinery.

I think a gorgeous hat or fascinator can totally finish a well composed outfit. My love of all things hatty stems from my time working in London, when I first got to learn how to block a hat as part of my training for a job. Millinery is indeed as much of an art form as anything else I have tackled during my professional training, and as such a different discipline compels me to work in a radically different way. I find that drawing, which would normally be my design starting point, is not much use except to work out the most basic shapes and idea's and that all the design process is totally led ny the materials themselves. It also requires very strong hands, and a willingness to take it all apart and start again .

I don't get to make hats from scratch anymore as blocking is such an expensive process. It requires the correct brim and crown block in the correct head size for each hat. For an insight into the hat making process this is an beautiful little film about one of the top milliners Stephen Jones workshop...

Millinery in Action: making a hat at Stephen Jones

I have recently been making quite a few fascinators for weddings and of course...Ascot.

Carol Harrison comissioned me to make her a hat for her to wear at the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. Wow, did I jump at the chane to do that! To be allowed into the Royal Enclosure the hat or fascinator must be considered substantial. She had a cute fuscia dress that she wanted to wear so that led our colour choice. The structure was made out of pleated crin, and was a crazy material to get to grips with, but loads of fun to play with. Then dyed pink peacock feathes were applied to the top surface and finally a diamante starburst applied to the centre for a bit of bling.

The following commission from Carol was for a wedding. As always my design process is initially led by the client, and Carol had a gorgeous sexy D&G emerald dress and some Alexander McQueen shoes that were bling-as! What else would have gone with this outfit but a Chrissie Nicholson-Wild fascinator?

I was given free reign from there and decided to combine our green with some more of our favourite : the peacock feather. I couldn't colour match the green to a base or ribbon so had to go for a different colour. I chose a royal blue, which didn't compete with either of the other materials, and then added in some flashes of purple to liven it up. A sexy purple veil and some beading add the finishing touches. Great fun!

Sandy Brown Cow scoops best in show

2010-05-21T09:58:00.000+01:00

For the second year running I've had the pleasure of helping out a good friend with costumes for her catwalk show for the end of year BcC Hairshow. ( Brighton and Hove City College )

As ever I had a mixture of excitement and fear when Sandy approached me. Her ideas are always radical and ott, and push me right out of my confort zone, but that's half the fun of working with her!

This year the theme was 'Circus of Glamour', and this provided Sandy with more than enough ammo for her creative vision. For the third year running Sandy's model was Nick Carter, and this year he had the dubious pleasure of being transformed into a circus show pony.

Sandy's idea consisted of black catsuit underneath a brown leather harness, saddle and bridal. We had to drop the bit idea as it interfered with the magnificent hairdo Sandy had created. I must admit that when Sandy first rolled out her idea I couldn't visualise it, but my trust in her vision bore wonderful fruit.

Photograph courtesy: Julie Sutton
Hairdresser: Sandy Brown Cow
Model: Nick Carter
Costume: Chrissie Nicholson-Wild

The Flamingo, by Chrissie Nicholson-Wild

2010-05-03T16:53:00.001+01:00

I took part in the Ususal Suspects Hair and Fashion Show on April 25th 2010. It was an Alice in Wonderland themed event featuring an avant-garde fashion show and a tea party and was put on to raise money for the Macmillan Charity.

My character was the flamingo...

The flamingo costume was a total adventure for me, and I decided my flamingo would be a showgirl. It was all about flamboyance, feathers, legs and the colour pink!

I wanted to make a fabulous bustle that reflected the shape of the flamingo body and tail and made a bustle support out of cotton twill and metal hooping. Upon the support was put layers of tightly gathered net - a technique used in tutu making. About 15 layers of graded length net made up the final bustle and gave it a great bouncy shape. The net was then embellished with individual tusk sequins in a variety of pinks to give it some showgirl sparkle and glamour.

The corset was made out of silk duchesse satin, which is the most beautiful fabric to work with. That was backed with coutil for strength and lined with the same pink cotton as the bustle. It was a major challenge to make a corset with cups as a corset itself provides no support for the individual breasts, but usually squashes the breasts into a proud mono bust and killer cleavage. A cupped corset can only be made for small breasts as the mechanism of tightening will not support the heavy bosom. There were several problems to tackle, the main one being that the cups and under-wires are more likely to loose their shape the tighter the corset is pulled. Luckily my model was uber fittie Jennifer Clarke so the corset didn't have too much more work to do.

Once the corset was made it had to be decorated. I used glass jet cut beads, pink swarovski crystals and candy pink sequins and feathers to create the glamorous look. Indeed, so decorated was my corset design that I didn't get it finished completely for the show, so watch this space for the finished item.

The flamingo look was finished off by an extravagant fascinator which I created using a simanay base and layering feathers on it like a wing. Then I curled some shocking pink ostrich spines, basted them into place and glued them onto the base using some cutting chips from the feathers wedged underneath to allow the feather to be angled high off the base. Then with some shocking pink tights, black sequin knickers, black opera gloves and some killer heels Jen was ready to strut her stuff down the catwalk.

Carol harrison's wedding dress for Celebrity 4 Weddings

2010-05-03T15:27:00.001+01:00

Carol Harrison contacted me about making her a 60's inspired wedding dress after her search for an appropriate vintage dress didn't come up trumps.

Right from the beginning Carol was full of great ideas and her knowledge of the fashion of the times hugely inspiring. She was set on her dress being long-sleeved and her materials of choice were beaded lace, silk and some form of ostrich trim. Carol has an ultra curvy shape so we decided to take advantage of her fantastic figure and create a baby doll shape dress that enhanced her decollete and showed of her stunning legs.

The 1960's is not a period of fashion history I was hugely familiar with so I had to do considerable research before I could get to grips with designing. The main elements of 1960's fashion were clean crisp shapes, sharp pattern cutting, geometry and fabric and pattern experimamtation. We wanted to capitolise on the sexiness of the era without losing Carol's innate classyness.

Carol was an absolute joy to work for, and her knowledge and interest in fashion uplifting. She even made time for fabric hunting in her busy schedule to find the perfect beaded lace, then we had to colour match the silk and ostrich trimming to the lace from there. We even had cover buttons made in matching pale pink silk and I made her an ostrich beaded alice band to match for the finishing touch to Carol's outfit.

I loved making Carol's dress, it pushed me to look at an era of fashion that hitherto I hadn't examined, expanded my skills and knowledge and allowed me to work with a wonderful lady.

The show Celebrity 4 Weddings was aired on Marhc 29th on Living channel. It was great to see the show, as I couldn't be at the wedding because of illness, and it was great that her dress went down well with the other celebrities.

Carol was even featured in OK magazine ( issue 717, March 23 2010)in which this photograph featured.
Photo by Ed Watts.

Hilde Cannoodt: Truely Tribal

2010-03-13T00:01:00.003Z

When one of Brighton's belly dance stars Hilde Cannoodt asked me to make her a costume I was very excited.

We took as inspiration Hilde's favourite colour wine, flamenco ruffles and Russian folk filigree jewellery. The costume was to include bra, belt, trousers, skirt and hair accessories and has to be striking, co-ordinated and unconventional.

The belt and bra were made of a thick brocade strong enought to support the heavy coins and beads that would complete the costume.
Taffeta was used for the skirt and ruffles and made a gorgeous sound as it moved.
The embroidery I designed from some Russian filigree jewellery, that I greatly simplified to make it as bold as possible and was done using a hoop, an ordinary satin stitch and a lot of patience. The final touches were coins and jewellery recycled from some of Hilde's old costumes and some bone and metal beads appropriate to the design.

Hilde wearing her finished costume ( photo by Russell Wood)

For information on Hilde's classes and performances

Research trip, Feb 5th 2010

2010-02-07T09:53:00.000Z

I have learnt more in one day of field research studying corsts than the entirity of books on corsets I own!

On Friday I slogged my way up to Leicestershire to go to the archive of the Symington collection, the largest collection of historical corsets in England. Being able to handle, feel , measure and observe these corsets has given me a valuable insight on how to make historical corsets of a completely different fashion to the one's I regularly make.

Laid out for me was a generous cross section of corsets dating from 1875-1911, all of them particularly special in their own way. They varied vastly in materials, cut and construction and was even a beautiful french corset was was a transitional design between the traditional corset and the first developemnt of the bra.

The first corset I saw was one I had always wanted to see:

Made in 1875, this is a triple layer corset, made of outer and inner heavy cotton and interlined in hessian.
This corset, despite being corded, rather than boned, was built for pure strength as well as beauty. Flaring at the bust and hip is created using godets, and the quilted topstitching stengthens the layers further. It also has a double busk, in which the busk fastener is backed by another flat steel to greatly strengthen it. The amazing construction of this corset has doubtless kept it in good stead over the ages.
I particularly love the contrast of stitching in amber, and the flossing is immaculate.

Symington Collection, 1875, 24" waist.

There were also many various turn of the centuy corsets, in which new idea's were being experimented with. There were a couple of interesting corsets that had removalble busks, to make laundering easier, ventilation holes to make the corset more breathable, and one corset was double laced at either side of the busk for further adjustment. There were also some inngenious methods of tightening, one which had straps instead of lacing was particularly exciting and the last corset I saw was an early Jenyns corset which has an extraordinary 3x lace pulley system for improved security and strength.

The corset will always be my first love in clothing, they are what got me sewing in the first place and being able to see this resource first hand had only deepened my knowledge and understanding and inspired me to keep reinventing and persuing the art of corsetery.

Katja Van Der Graaf's Moulin Rouge inspired Wedding Dress

2010-01-10T13:38:00.004Z

Making Katja's wedding dress was an honour for me in so many ways, but mainly because as a fellow artist I knew that she would be meticulous about getting it just perfect.

I love Katjas style, it's retro, kitsch, glamorous and immensly over the top. Her first sketch idea was of a dress she had seen another performer in, and although beautiful I thought that it didn't truely smack of what Katja was about and after seeing my initial sketches I persuaded Katja to run with my idea's. We didn't look back from there, and with every trip to my Brighton studio the dress took shape.

It's always a good sign when the bride's mother is in floods of tears at the last fitting!

Katja's Story...

Talented tattooist and artist Katja Van Der Graaf was an unconventional bride who knew she wanted a glamorous show of a wedding.

Katja and Andy's story has as much character as the bride and groom themselves. They met at Voodoo Vaudeville, a legendary anarchic cabaret night. Andy was on a date with a single vegetarian he had met on the internet, but Katja caught his eye and in just over a year they were smitten.“He likes to tell people that internet dating works, although not always in the way you would expect!” Katja laughed with the great sense of humour I have got to know her for.

Katja blurted her proposal to Andy after a wonderful surprise birthday party he had arranged for her, and the rest is history!

I really enjoyed making Katja's wedding dress because she was always open to my suggestion, and her initial idea from a dress she had seen a performer wearing developed into a creation as unique as Katja herself. Her dress was to be red, not only her favourite colour but also , in oriental culture, a colour indicating strength, prosperity and good luck. With glamour in mind, and Katja's wonderful sense of humour and drama we decided on a stunning cat print satin lining, an interesting starburst pleating and some bling swarovski crystal buttons on the corset. The outfit was topped off in style with cat print Bordello platform shoes and a metal frame mini top hat with a feather bird in it.

Katja and Andy had a great wedding day. Her favourite two comments about the dress came from her Gran, who said Katja took her breath away when she walked in and her friend Alexa telling her she looked like Jessica Rabbit.

Katja on Chrissie: “There was no alternative – I love her designs and wouldn't have entertained anyone else making it.”

Bella De Jac - Red Angel costume

2009-11-24T21:24:00.000Z

Following the success of the black Marylin dress I am always excited to hear about her new performances and consider myself very lucky indeed to get to help her realise these in costume.

Bella always brings me marvelous ideas to make up, and her red angel sketches had me itching to get going. The costume consisted of a beaded bikini set with pasties, a long flowing gown and hairpiece and was finished off with massive feather fans and some gorgeous red shoes. It's inspiration is in the glamour of the 1930's and the final dance piece was just a visual delight.

These are some detail shots. Each beaded strand had to strung by hand with elastic so that it would be able to take a bit of stretch and punishment on stage and to make it slightly easier for Bella to get in and out of the knickers with the confidence of knowing that she wasn't going to have the string break just before a performance.
It was very hard finding a best match to Bellas skin tone for the mesh, as we wanted to create the illusion of her being jewelled on naked skin.

The pasties were make out of a very firm buckram, similar to that found in staymaking and covered in the same fabric as the knickers and dress. Again the beading was done using strong elastic thread, and each bead string had to be fitted at least twice to get the best fit on Bella's breasts.

The costume was finished with an elegant dress or red crepe back satin and chiffon, and a feathered hairpiece all using the diamond themed motif.

The final costume was a total success, see Bella in action as the 'Red Angel'.

Bella de Jac Fan Dance from bob on Vimeo.

Bella also wore this costume as December in her new Calender.

Historical re-make

2009-10-19T20:32:00.000+01:00

Every so often I feel the need to experiment with my corset pattern cutting....just to keep it interesting!

Today I decided to have a go at a corset from Norah Waugh's book Corsets and crinolines'. The original 1880s pattern in the book is an absolute bugger to scale up so I transposed the pattern shapes using as much educated guesswork as possible onto my size 12 lingerie block to see how the pattern related to a modern figure. From there I mocked up my new pattern to see how it looked...

I thought it wasnt too bad for a first draft, so drawing on the elements of the original corset pattern I pretty much made some minor adjustments to make the fit more palettable to a modern wearer and got on with making the final corset.

Amore Morte Halloween Fashion Show special

2009-10-16T20:38:00.000+01:00

Its always a tricky escapade to create a 'fashion show'. There's trying to fit in the extra work in an already brimming over schedule, theme, music, choreography, accessories, lighting...and that's aswel as making the actual clobber.
But I love it, pure and simple love it! As soon as my girls are on stage the pressure is off me, and on them, phew! And then its all over...party time.

But, back to the beginning....

My inspiration for this show is deeply infused with the Victorian era, its shapes, colours, artists, texture, character. I am totally turned on by dark pinstripe, herringbone wool suitings, contrasting with brogue leather and bright rich silk with lashings of decadent trimming. I have been scouring costume sourcebooks for inspiration, adding a twist of pure seductive glamour and quietly nodding at steampunk for this collection. It has taken a few weeks to compile, simmer and reduce it down...and now it is almost realised...

The dead dolls poppy, absynthia and laudanum will be brought to life by their nefarious master and her dark magic and be commanded to strip to their fabulous underwear for her evil pleasure.

Hope you enjoy the show...

Bella De Jac's Black Marilyn Dress

2009-09-06T00:01:00.000+01:00

Bella De Jac is one of the most hard working burlesque performers I have ever met. Not only is she the official burlesque dancer for Pulp Pres Publishing but this year she won 2nd place in the Best UK Newcomer at the London Burlesque Festival.

I first met Bella when she modelled for me at my first Club Smooch show in March earlier his year, and now I am happy to count her as one of my clients. I was especially excited when she approached me for her first costume which was to be a black version of the pink dress Marilyn Monroe wore in Gentleman Prefer Blonde's.

Many watches of Diamonds are a girls best friend frame by frame revealed many things about the construction and further research on the fashion designer Billy Travilla, revealed that the dress was made with only side seams, folded into place and secured with a belt. Woh!

It would have been vastly impractical to have made Bella a true remake so I made several concessions for the benefit of the costumes longevity and the practicality of Bella's performance. A side zip was added, and the dress was mould onto Bella's body using as few pieces as possible, and then the folds stitched into place to retain the shape. Th bow proved to be more of a challenge. We wanted a really big bow, and after several trial sizes in which the bow kept dropping over we found a size we could both live with. The original bow was stuffed with horsehair and ostrich feathers, but I had to be satisfied with some pretty stiff net for now.

Resources:
http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/galleries/costumes/travilla/
http://www.travillatour.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7533476.stm

'Peripheries' Hair Competition, Brighton Collge 2009

2009-04-03T18:52:00.000+01:00

The City College theatre was rammed for the 2009 hair competition, with good reason. The art of hair design and styling is very much alive and kicking. Months of planning and two intensive days for the competitors came to fruition in a show that really kicked arse, hair - wise.
The show opened with a short film displaying the college's success stories and close ties with the salons of the competition judges and although a little twee for my liking was never the less very inspiring.
I admit that I'm a kinda wash and go girl myself...but occasionally when I have to think about hairstyling that fits in with a particluar theme of my work I have to rely on the people that know best to do that for me. On this particular night I knew two of the entrants, and they both blew me away with their artistic vision. I never thought of hair as art before...and I stand corrected!

The standard across the board was impressive, very creative. And although I confess I know absolutely nothing about what makes a hair style technically good or bad I think every one who worked on the show should be very proud of themselves.
I'm sure tht in the future my path will cross with a few of the stylists from this show. I hope so anyway.

The Grand Plan

2009-03-30T01:27:00.000+01:00

I have a dream...
I think that the way forward in business, as in life, is through learning and co-operation. In my own little way I enjoy helping and nurturing people in their endevours which is one reason why I started my sewing circle. I tihink that it's important to nurture people and support their skills, teaching new one's and working in a more co-operative way with each other in a community.

All too often sharing seems to be in direct conflict with business, which I think is a great shame. Sharing feels like giving something away for free wheras business builds upon the idea that you must pay for the things you want, whether it be a house, pair of shoes or a new skill. Apparently "that's just the way it is".

My dream is to have a community local space where work, meet and display space is provided for creatives, artisans and crafters to meet up, discuss, swap idea's, learn, display, sell and promote their work. Be nice wouldn't it?

Material Girl Fashion Show

2009-03-08T16:49:00.000Z

Material Girl: Club Smooch 7/3/9

I always find it hard to watch my fashion shows.

There's something intimate and squirmy about the whole experience. Crowd reaction is always a good guage of the show, but no matter how much or loud it is there's something very personal that is blindingly obvious that I could have done better. I think it keeps an artist very much on their toes to be their own strongest critic. And in this instance I definatly was...

But as for the rest of the girls, they all did their job perfectly:

Make-up: Tabitha Adams
Hair Stylist: Samantha Louis
Choreographer: Arwen Matthews

Performers:

Honeymoon
Bella De Jac
Arwen Matthews
Therese Le Tease
Rebecca Hill

For backstage photo's

Very Vintage- notes on adapting/repairing and altering

2009-01-15T20:42:00.000Z

A huge trend in the past year is in re-styling or altering vintage frocks for weddings.

It's very important to be sympathetic to the original garment no matter what you intend to do with it. Treating it with care and respect will pay off in the end result. All this seems pretty obvious...but you'd be suprised how often this doesn't happen.

Hand washing it in mild soap by hand will give you the best results unless the garment is dry clean only - in which case send it to a reputable cleaner. If you do not wash the garment and then go about matching new fabrics, thread and trimmings you might be unpleasantly suprised when you eventually do clean it as your cleverly chosen colours might not match it.

It's also really important to be really careful when unpicking stiches, as old fabrics will be more likely to rip and tear if you man handle them. Since there is no way in hell you will be able to match the fabric it's best to be over-cautious.

When you adapt vintage to a modern figure it's always useful to remember that a lot of the vintage shapes are created primarily with the correct undergarments. Really satisfying results are acheived when the essence of these underpinnings are copied and the garment fitted over the top. An hourglass vintage 50's dress for example is not worth taking in unless you can re-create the shape it is supposed to make with corsetry and petticoats and the twenties flapper look completely unacheivable without flattening the chest. Unless of course you are very lucky and god gave you the correct bodyshape for the look that you love the most.

Taking note of the way it is put together, and remaining as true to that as you can can be a very good learning experience. I love looking at old clothes - I find it such an education, and always inspiraional. Try to replace anything with materials appropriate. For example repairing an old corset with rigelene would be a total waste of time.

I also think it's really important to remember that antique clothing is just that - antique. It's not a throwaway item like somethng you would get from today's high street. It has survived the ravage of wear and tear and time, so treat it with the respect it deserves.

Design philosophy

2008-11-30T20:15:00.000Z

It's always interesting to get an insight into how a designers head works. I'm constantly educated, suprised and inspired by the people I talk to on a daily basis, and sometimes disgusted and outright opposed to their viewpoint.
At the moment I feel like a designer in conflict. In conflict between the market forces which keep my business afloat and the intrinsic artist in me whose strongest desire is to create according to my own core values.

Conflict...

The thing I love about what I do is the constant challenge of each individul project. The excitement of inspiration, provided by the client and their ideas and tastes, through the designing process, hunting through shops for suitable fabrics and trims and then....finally....to have it finished and be proud at my acheivement. The cherry on the cake is when my client loves it as much as I do. I adore it, and I adore them for seeking me out.

The idea of commerciality seems quite a foreign concept to me - and one I battle with constantly. In words it all sounds very simple...to mind a market, find out what it wants and then give it to them. (I'm actually wincing as I type this so much is it against my passion) But as an artist it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I find that the problem with this type of designing for a specific market is actually really offensive. It assumes that rather than individuals, you're serving a type of person and producing products with that in mind. It relies on a kind of unconsious type of consuming, and a contrived and insidious design and marketing mechanism with the only intent of stripping money out of people. But is that actually the reality? It could be the reality of a consuming culture, but not the intent of an artist. Good work has vision, intent, passion and always creates reacion, an emotional or conceptual shock. A really good piece of art is an innovation, a pure expression of an artist which is admired or treated with derision

That's where I want to be.

In this business climate it will be interesting to see which side must win out in the end.

Corset Diary

2008-10-27T21:49:00.000Z

Tonight I started my coset diary for 2009. Hurrah!

I've started to design my new collection for Spring 2009, and it's so exciting. To date my corsets have been bespoke only, so the new challenge of designing an off-the-peg collection fills me with much elation!!!
New life, blossoming flowers, bright pastels and a smattering of gilt are my themes with pasties and knickers to match.

Pasties and tassels I find particularly fiddly at the moment, but with practice I'm sure they will come along. There are lots of sequinned one's kicking around, but I'd like to make ones that are in matching fabric to my corsets and knickers. It has been very entertaining testing the tassel designs at home.

I'm getting my teeth right into pattern cutting, and surrounding myself with inspiring things in my studio.

Usual Suspects Fashion Show

2008-10-26T13:51:00.001Z

Woo hoo. I've needed a whole week to recover!

Raising for the Macmillan Cancer Support, the Usual Suspects Hair Salon put on a fashion and hair gala with local design talent at Digital Club. With such distinguished guests such as the Mayor the night was a huge success.

With a packed club, the show was started by UK model, and former 'Miss Brighton' Lindsay Fergusson. Who gracefully opened the show wearing a dazzling beaded evening corset and fishtail skirt from Curve Couture. I created this outfit especially for Lindsay for this occasion. Lindsay had given me the idea that she wanted to be a sparkly and dramatic. I had this beautiful jade/purple shot dupion silk in my cupboard that was perfect for the job, and I scoured my bits and bobs for suitable sparkly lovliness. I'm totally in love with tulle at the moment aswel, so I wanted to create a fishtail with a ballet style gathered tulle train that blossomed out from the split of the skirt. I think the back of an outfit is mostly overlooked and I wanted there to be visual interest on the bodice and dynamically opposite it in the back of the skirt too.

T. Elaine Saunders, also known in Burlesque circles as Therese La Tease, sauntered down the catwalk with raunchy elegance. Wearing a halter neck corset in gold threaded tweed and a bias cut fishtail skirt in bronze liquid satin she whipped the audience into a veritable frenzy. Elaine is one of my favourite models, she has an aura of total class about her, which was specifically need to carry off this oufit. We came up with a character for this outfit...a feisty, naughty lady of the manor, truely eccentric with an air of dominatrix about her. I had shown each of my beautiful models the layout of the club earlier and instructed them to simply do their thing on stage, to take their time and make my clothes look good. I was so pleased when I watched Elain walk onto the stage. There is always a feeling of great anticipation for a designer just before their models goes on, and mine was of jubilation.

As Elaine was finishing her walk, with her riding crop under her bosom and snarling at the audience Chloe Williams came on stage wearing an all black number which had been only a bit of flat fabric the day before! Chloe's style is of youthful sass, and she played with the audience cheekily. Her skirt and corset evening combination was all black, the skirt in sequinned taffeta was bell shaped and made that lovely rustling noise with it's net underskirts. The corset, in scroll brocade was trimmed with satin ribbon, ostrich feather and beaded and sequinned lace. For this outfit I really wanted the drama to be in the play of light on the textures of the details.

Lastly and most dramatically Arwen Matthews used her formal acting talent and incredible sass to wear a glorious gown inspired by Marie Antoinette. Dressed in a side bustled skirt and corset of ivory duchesse satin with a six foot peacock feather train. This outfit has gone through some serious re-designing in the week running up to the show. Originally I wanted this to be more dramtic, and in red and white, but a fortuitoius run in with a previous client mant that I got to borrow back the peacock feather train I had made over a year ago. So Marie-Antoinette changed into a peacock. Funny that.

And did she ever! Arwen totally embodied the idea of the outfit, and haughtily sneered her way down the catwalk lie the queen she is! With only a fleeting rehersal on a stairwell Arwen strutted and posed to perfection what had only been in my mind til then. And although in the dressing room Arwens outfit, toppd with full-on Marie Antoinete wig had caused several giggles the resulting reaction on the catwalk was all worth the effort we had all put in.

The night before the fashion show... 18th October 2008

2008-10-20T18:21:00.000+01:00

15 hours after I started work today, about midnight and I'm sat looking at the work so far and there is still so much I want to do. This is my third breather today so I'm taking the opportunity to scribble down what's going through my head right now.

I don't carry much 'stock' in my studio, since pretty much everything I do is bespoke. So that pretty much means that in the last few weeks I've known about this show I've been busting a gut to get some good work done for the show. Which for me has meant designing and making 4 outfits within an unusually short time frame.

Since last Monday I've made 3 outfits from scratch, with some older pieces getting a spruce up. I've had lots of help from Arwen, whom without this feat would not have been possible, who has been cutting and hand sewing diligently while I've been chained to my machine. For, as well as the show workload I still have to keep my business running and do my clients work. I feel a bit like a stufed toy right now - but without the stuffing.
Looking at one of my creations now and I can't decide what to do with it next. It's going to be a 3am decision ( I can feel it coming!). Since I spend much of my time designing for clients with their aesthetic in mind I've found it very hard to put my own design head back on.

Mental brick wall. Tidying the studio might clear my mind a bit.

Half an hour later - still tidying.

Leaving the studio at 2am. Still have beading to do tomorow morning before dropping off the clothes to the Usual Suspects. Wish me luck.

Dressing up for Charity

2008-10-05T12:57:00.000+01:00

The late night screenimg of Moulin Rouge at the Duke of York cinema in Brighton set off the Burlesque ABC campaign with a bang!!!

Dressing up in my glad rags is a bit of a treat for me, since I spend so much of my time working my arse off in my studio making things. So I donned my new waistcoat corset design, put on some slap and donned my usherette tray to promote the Burlesque Against Breast Cancer campaign and to raise awareness and promote the Burlesque Ball in Brighton on November 6th.

While I stood there, in some very high heels, trying to shout about the campaign I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people had made so much effort. The feather boa's were out en masse, the men were dapper, the women beautiful.
The best little thing for me was a lady donning a red glitter windmill hat/ fascinator. I'm sure it must have annoyed the heck out of the people sat behind her in the cinema, but I thought it was just fabulous!

The indomitable Atters opened the nights proceedings in his unique cadish way, followed by a super charged can-can troupe followed by the film itself. A very excitable night of fun, energy and frivolity!

Burlesque Against Breast Cancer

Protect your intellectual property

2008-10-02T21:05:00.000+01:00

As any designer will know the issue of design and intellectual property theft is one that affects all of us. It's a very tricky subject because it is very hard to actually prove and is an emotional hotspot, that more often than not is learned the hard way.

I have heard of a fair few stories of small designers who have had their idea's nicked and put into production by other people, sometimes big corperaions who have not paid the designer for the original idea. I've also heard stories of young enthusiastic designers going to job interviews and being asked to produce a mini project or moodboard for the company to keep only to find the position taken even before their interview and their hard work being used by the company.

In an ideal world a designers intellectual property is acknowledged and protected, in fact it is...but only if you can prove that the comptitors design is at least 90% similar and you have relevant documentation date stamped to show you did it first.Maybe it should be more pertinent to say that in an ideal world there would be no-one who would want to nick your idea. But, we don't live in a world like that.

The bottom line is that prevention is better than dealing with the consequences. Copyright is a very convoluted thing, but do make sure that you copy your designs and post them to yourself leaving them unopened with a postmark should any future problems occur and if you do share new methods of construction that you patent the process. If you think you have a killer idea don't discuss it with anyone until you have it in production. If you feel that this has happened to you seek legal advice to nip it in the bud.

For further information:

What is Copyright
Copyright Services

I rant....therefore I am

2008-09-29T19:38:00.000+01:00

Homogenised fashion is the enemy of individual style???Discuss...

Today someone told me that headscarfs were in. Worn, very particularly, in a style common to housewives in the 50's apparently...hopfully the housecoat won't follow!

Well, no sooner had she said this that I suddenly noticed that it was true. As I walked outside my studio there was a very beautiful lady, dressed in fitted denim 3/4 length trousers, killer high heels and perfect 50's makeup wearing a beige headscarf the way Nora Batty used to wear. (Lost reference if you're not over the age of 27 or don't have UKGold!)

Soon they will be everywhere, they are probably in H&M right now...and next week they will be in New Look. But if you're real denizen of High Street fashion you won't get them until they appear in Primark because there's just no point in paying more than you have to!

The point is this...does it increase you're being more individual, or ar you just baa-ing along like everyone else? Does the increase in choice allow you to become more of an individual by being selective in your choice and styling...or does it mean you'e simply opting out of thinking for yourself and buying what Gok thinks you should this week.I wonder how many people buy that thing that they love that they can't wait to wear and on it's virgin wear notice someone wearing it too. Of course...they could be copying you, because you definatly did it first. Yunno, before it was in fashion.

I was having an interesting talk with the stunning Therese La Tease today about a tartan jacket in Peacock's that was OK - but not great - which she was considering buying and adjusting to her fit and taste. A worthwhile endevour if having something made bespoke is a bit out of budget. But very few people actually do that sort of thing themselves.

Wearing someting that no-one else has is an elitist thing. It marks you out as someone more unique, more stylish, more free thinking and not subject to others' opinion. It gives the impression of being more worldly, richer, more powerful, maybe even ( I hesitate to say) more mature.

Clothes make statements about you, your class, your income, your politics, your humour. The fundamental nature of your personality.

Todays endevours.....

2008-09-29T01:27:00.000+01:00

Today I've have really frazzled my brain.

Today my main task was to get onto re-designing my new website. The site I have had for many years was built in Flash, of which I have no knowledge or intuition for, and so was impossible to either update or change without the assistance of a Flash bod. So I've been learning how to write websites to add another string to my creative bow, and after about 3 months or so of dogged thinking on the subject I have finally arrived at a design that I am happy with.

There were sacrifices along the way....My pretty new logo had to be given the boot as all the decorative flourishes just wouldn't sit right in any design I was happy with. The colour scheme was completely re-developed and my beloved red was shown the door. I feel like my taste and design is reaching a more mature phase and now it's bout setting up the basic format.

It's actually quite an organic process, my initial site plan is developing in new ways, and quite unexpected. All I have to do now is trawl through my extensive portfolio to select the best and most relevant images.

This blog I am intending to use as my designers diary within my website, to be more interactive for my clients and a good way of keeping news up to date. I hope that someone finds it interesting.....