The Alkonost

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

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

This was my original sketches:

  

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

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

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

Hilde Cannoodt: Truely Tribal

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