Midnight Bride

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on February 12, 2015

12 Feb

Black is a colour being embraced more and more at weddings. Living in Australia we are naturally drawn towards the sun so as a contrast to that I have been searching for the pieces to put together a wedding fit for midnight.

A bride likes to stand out on her day and white is certianly a great way to do that. To stand out in a black or coloured dress is also possible, the dress just has to be a showstopper.

Above Tara Latour, Vera wang, Vintage charles james, Dior, Dior, Zac Posen, Dior, Marchesca.

To go with the dark and moody dress some dark and moody flowers

Begonia leaves, Autumn leaves and artichokes, Black berries and purple roses, eucalyptus and ferns painted black.

channel Queen Victoria with a mourning tiara.

Save the money you would spend on a venue with a view and use it for wine and chocolate. Any venue filled with candles is going to be wonderful. Choose winter so the sun sets early, or better yet if you think your guests will not whinge too much set the ceremony time for midnight.

Feather obsessions

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on February 8, 2015

08 Feb

Feathers are amazing structures and its no wonder they have been used in fashion since as long as people have been adorning themselves. There are a large number of feather types commonly used in fashion and even more ways to use them. In this post I am going to look at Ostrich. A versatile feather as it can be used as a whole feather or pulled apart.

This dress is probably the most simple way to use feathers, a light scattering of ostrich wisps applied to lace. When feathers are added to light fabrics they are usually stitched which can be time consuming so to keep the numbers down can save time and effort. These feathers have been dyed to match the dress colour. Dying feathers is actually quite easy.

Shoes by Jimmy Choo, well outside of my budget but I wonder if some glue and feathers could make a more simple pair of heels this incredible?

I am sure this couture feather skirt by Giambattista Valli was hand sewn individual tufts of feathers. It is possible to cheat a little as feathers are available already strung like a fringe. These fringes would then be applied to the skirt.

Vintage feather cape.

This vintage cape is using Ostrich feathers in their natural untreated colour. These feathers are likely applied by splitting the main quill and sewing down each half.

Here are some feathers looking lovely for your enjoyment.

A gown for Queen Elsa

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on January 25, 2015

25 Jan

If she was real and couldn’t make herself a gown with her magic, I would suggest she headed to Paolo sebastian. The perfect shade of Ice blue and layers of sheer instantly reminded me of Queen Elsa. I think my daughter has watched Frozen too many times.

Petals

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on January 22, 2015

22 Jan

Two of the icons of post war Haute Couture have to be the Venus and Junon gowns by Christian Dior. Both gowns are held at the Met museum (Venus. Junon) where they belong so they can be marvelled at into the future. I am staggered that there once was a time when women (undoubtedly wealthy women) would have somewhere to go that required a gown like this.

The sequins are applied to a mesh which would have been stretched onto a frame and the petals marked. The petals would only have been cut out after the embroidery was complete.

Here are some rare photos of these dresses on models.

Foundation techniques – Crinoline hem

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on December 27, 2014

27 Dec

To create a wonderful curl at the hem of a skirt a woven trim can be used, Sometimes called Crinoline braid or horse hair braid. Originally woven from horse hair this trim has been used as a stiffener throughout victorian fashion. Developed in Synthetic materials it was used for hats in the 20’s and kept the skirts wide in the 50’s. The flexibility comes from the way it is woven in a strip so is technically on the bias, this allows it to be shaped through curls and circle skirts.

The width and weight can be selected depending on the application. Here is an example from the house of adorn.

Below shows the braid used to emphasise the curl in a ruffle.

Here and the top image show a heavier version holding the shape in an amazing gown. Zac Posen uses this technique a lot.

A more subtle example where the braid is used just to add some extra stiffness to a straighter hem. You can see a little line where the top edge of the braid is tacked inside the skirt. Without it this skirt would be falling closer to the legs and the fish tail would not be so exaggerated as it is.

Here it is left visible as a contrast at the hem. Dior Haute Couture.

A fine strip of crinoline can be used to give the same curl to the edge of a veil.

Spots

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on December 4, 2014

04 Dec

The ladies of the 50’s really did have style skills that have been almost lost to us now. One of these was their ability to wear polka dots. That perhaps isn’t entierly true as there are below some lovely modern brides re-interpreting the spot.

Large and small dots together. They look great in black and white but I wonder what colour they were?

A fine spot in a chiffon fishtail dress.

Another cascade of spots in chiffon. A little contrast added through a fine black lace trim on the hem. I would love to see the front, Is the strip around her shoulders a shawl or large collar?

A wonderful way to wear spots, A maxi skirt with a contrast top to break up the pattern.

I love this spotty tulle over the contrast lining.

Incredibly stylish spots from Valentino. Perfectly matched shoes as well.

Foundation techniques – waist tape

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on November 22, 2014

22 Nov

The internal structure is critical to getting the fit right for a dress. The more formal and complex the outside the same will be true for the inside.

There is a vintage technique I commonly use for formal and wedding dresses and that is adding a waist tape.

the waist tape is a strip of rigid ribbon placed inside the gown at the narrowest point. I love using it for a few reasons. If the dress is tight it will be closed before the zip making it easier to pull the zip (or buttons) up. keeps the dress sitting well and not riding up. It can be raised to around the ribs giving more support for a strapless dress or larger bust.

I have added some images showing the inside of vintage gowns where a waist tape is visible. Before the 1900’s it was used to keep the bodice in place over a corset, gowns were usually made of a top and skirt and the gap between should never be visible. Later it was used to keep the waist of the dress close to the tiny wasp waist in fashion in the 40’s and 50’s.

Illusion waist

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on November 19, 2014

19 Nov

A trick of the eye, panel lines and colours carefully selected to slim down a waist. The ladies of the 50’s had it right (their smoking and now banned diet pills helped too….)

Gingham

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on November 8, 2014

08 Nov

A gorgeous choice for a summer day wedding.

Above is the Incredible Ulyana Sergeenko in a striking gingham dress. The skirt shows the gingham pattern stretching and moving. This is because of a full circle skirt which shows off fabric beautifully because 4 points in the skirt sit on the bias.

Brush strokes soften the bold gingham print on this Caroilna Harrera skirt. I wonder if I could create this look with actual brush strokes, I like the thought of using white silk with a hint of colour in the paint.

This Oscar de la Renta gown uses a sheer ribbon sewn onto the fabric to create the gingham effect.

The same gingham effect is created by Aria bridal using 2 layers of stripes at 90 degrees to each other. I love the look of this dress for a day wedding. The gingham effect would shift as the layers of the skirt moved against each other. This dress is called Dorothy, after the Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and her iconic gingham dress.

Another way Gingham is created is through pleating the fabric in 2 directions, 90 decrees to each other. I love this Christian Dior dress for the variation in width of the pleats which create a modern take on gingham.

All the methods of creating gingham through layering of fabric would be achievable in a made to measure dress. Using white on white would give texture in a more subtle way than some of these examples. Creative ways of using basic fabrics can give amazing results.

Modern Crochet

by Kathleen Brewster. Posted on October 31, 2014

31 Oct

I love crochet and am happy to see it find its place in the world of modern weddings.

The star of the crochet resurgance is this lovely cotton and crochet gown by Jane hill. It has been featured recently on the final episode of the block. I had seen it before and fell in love with the way the crochet was mixed with other laces on a base of cotton voile.

For a more lavish use of crochet I cant go past this Alexander McQueen couture gown. The crochet detail is made of small motifs that have been attached to the dress at only 1 point allowing the crochet to be lifted up from the surface.

I also found this sweet little tee shirt with a lace panel on the back. With the right panel this idea would work beautifully for a wedding dress allowing a little glimpse of skin.

Lastly this little crochet cocktail frock, perfect for the reception. Crochet given a little edge with threads pulled across the lace.

I would love the chance to work with a bride to use some crochet panels in a gown. I can crochet myself but if there is an Aunt or Nana in the brides family who can crochet I dream about working with them to create lace panels to be incorporated in a wedding dress.

This method of using panels of crochet will also work if a bride has a special piece of family lace, The lace can be gently included without any damage to it, ready to be passed on in the family.