Thursday 21 November 2013

Black Tulle Dotted Cocktail Dress - Matte



Black Polka dot Tulle Prom Dress 

This black version of our classic tulle prom dress was made earlier this year for a bespoke client. When she suggested the idea of black sequins on the black tulle, I just loved the idea of using matte black penny paillette's to make the dots.

This subtle detail really changes the mood of the dress, a little less Prom Queen and a lot more Black Swan. 

N.B Please excuse the slightly blurred images, getting the dots to show up was a little tricky when photographing.




Wednesday 20 November 2013

Artisans - Lindsey King Embellisher of Beautiful Things - Wedding Garlands



Lindsey King - Bespoke Sequinned Garland Decorations.

Lindsey King is not just a talented lady when it comes to beading and painting but also with a needle and thread. 
Lindsey and husband Rich first made their fabulously decorative bunting garlands together (with an original 1900s Singer sewing machine with hand wheel!) for their wedding earlier this year and the bespoke orders just kept coming for every kind of event since. 

Now if I'm honest I haven't always been a fan of bunting, It usually tends to be a bit washy in baby blues and never really is enough to style a room properly, but Lindsey's bright and colorful sequinned garlands completely won me over. 

By confidently combining big, bold and bright prints, with saturated colour trims and working them further with hand embellished sequins the result is a statement decoration that really makes a room. The lettering is divine, shaped in perfect fonts of curls with such precise needlework. These really will become beautiful family heirlooms taken out for special occasions over the years. 

Lindsey King is someone with an untainted outsider talent who simply adds joy to every project she works on. She's quite an inspiration. See more of Lindsey King's painted things in her Etsy shop HERE. 





Monday 18 November 2013

Sparkling Cocktail Purses


We've been very busy here at the studio prepping for our Pop-Up shop at the end of the month in the beautiful city of Bath.
Here are a few of the sparkling glitter purses that will be available over the weekend from the 29th November to the 1st December. 

You will be able to pick up these little luxuries (they are all lined in sumptuous silks) along with our favourite accessories ..... belts, key fobs and our classic velvet hair bows. Great for special stocking fillers.

Of course, if you are not visiting Bath that weekend all of these gifts are available to buy in our online shop HERE. 




Thursday 7 November 2013

Bespoke Gown for the Barbican


This dress was made for a wedding at the Barbican Arts Centre this September and was commissioned as a bespoke piece for a bride looking for something to fit perfectly with the venue and her style.

Based on our Christy dress the French corded lace used was a deep champagne colour to match the dark ivory of the silk duchess satin. Once again we turned the silk on it's back to give the lustrous depth of sheen without the high shine.
This fitted design with its dramatic low back, smoothed hips and feminine sweetheart illusion over the bust gave a beautiful balletic quality. Contrasting with this delicate fit the double full circle skirt drapes in dramatic curls to the hand bound hem made from the matching silk satin.

The bride chose a fabulous pair of spectator shoes from Chie Mihara with a lemon yellow bow which we picked up in stripes over the finely beaded belt.
Each of the covered lace buttons was hand beaded with Japanese foil lined glass beads in a mix of champagne and cream tones. This design matched the edging of the neckline also adorned in subtle beads.

It has been an honor to design a dress to be worn at the Barbican surrounded by so much inspiration and style.















Wednesday 6 November 2013

Proud Moments - Larry and Daniels West Point Wedding

Photography by Jill Knight 

This all started with a little glitter bow tie that I made as a bespoke order for a Mr Larry Choate III. He explained via email that the wedding was very important as they would be the first male West Point graduates to marry at the United States Military Academy.

I didn't really consider how HUGE this was. Equal marriage will at last be an everyday occurrence here in 2014.
I naively really did think everything was equal already until I read into this on Stonewall and have to say I'm quite ashamed of my ignorance and the British government for taking so long on this. The thought of other human beings having to abide by different laws to me (an average whitish person married to a tall grey haired person) because of the skin between their legs is utterly ridiculous.
Thankfully Larry has documented the challenges Daniel and himself faced in the U.S military very eloquently on his blog here.

Photography by Jill Knight

I was mostly excited that this bow tie was to match Larry's Jimmy Choo Sloane shoes!

I designed and made the bow tie with the matching coarse glitter they use at Jimmy Choo and lined the bow tie in silk with another silk bow underneath to keep the bow plump. The bow was then centered with the hand woven silk and placed it on a narrow silk band. Larry teamed the tie with a beautifully cut black tuxedo (which took some finding) and a classic white shirt. Perfection.


Larry sent me an email last night reading .... " Alexandra, I wanted to take a second to let you know that your bow tie is getting quite a bit of attention. The New York Times selected a photo of it from their story that covered our wedding this past weekend. I have received countless compliments about it and wanted to share the link with you so you could share it if you wanted. Your work is so great and I wanted you to get the credit for what you made for me."

A very big sparkling congratulations to Larry and Daniel, I am so proud to be just a tiny little part of this addition to equality!

Read and see beautiful photographs on the New York Times Blog Here. 
Read a great article by Nina Ippolito on Policy Mic here. 

Monday 4 November 2013

Artisans - Lindsey King Embellisher of Beautiful Things - Bridal Sashes


Lindsey King hand beaded bridal belts. 

I met Lindsey last year whilst working on her wedding dress and we instantly shared our love of all things embellished and sparkly. Lindsey really wanted a beaded belt to wear with her wedding dress and knowing her skills with a paint brush (check out her hand painted table wear here) I gave her the option of making one herself.

After a few months working away on the belts a little at a time, Lindsey arrived with the most breathtakingly beautiful beaded sashes. Very different from my strictly patterned designs, these belts included vintage 1950s rhinestone hearts glistening in scarlet reds surrounded by silver, gold and pearls, all individually picked and placed. Coral and blue Swarovski crystals are hidden amongst opalescent vintage milk glass beads and tiny crystal bugles that contain the sparkles.

Turn the belt over and you can see the painstaking craftsmanship in fine beautiful stitches where each of the two and half thousand beads have been hand sewn.

One of these belts is all you need with a simple ivory dress to make your wedding dress shine and you will most certainly wear it again!

These belts are available from Lindsey's Etsy shop here.