Talk about 'no pressure'....

A friend of friend asked me if I would help her, as she had purchased her wedding online and turned out be absolutely awful, it was poorly made, the fabric was cheap and looked yellow when it was supposed to ivory, the beading on the front and at the back of the dress were hanging off. She hated the dress and could not afford to send it back or buy another dress, so I said I would try and help her.

                                               The back of the original dress with beading

I found some lace motifs from a fabric shop, they were quite big, I brought 4 for the back. I cut around the floral lace shapes to create a new floral motif . It made the dress look more like a wedding dress, I am really happy with the outcome. 

Before I brought the lace I decided to bead the top of the bodice... which took hours. I am a bit of a perfectionist so it all had to be perfect, especially if its for a wedding. However I later on then found the lace after I had beaded all of the front and had sewn the lace onto the back which looked so much better than the beading, in the end I decided to take all the beading I had done on the front of the bodice and then put the lace on there instead. It was horrible to take all those hours of work I had put into it out, but I believe it was for the best... and I am so glad I did.

The lace motifs on the front of the bodice, which I dont the same as the back cutting the lace motifs up to create my own floral lace motif, making sure it was symmetrical on both sides. Its beautiful I am really happy with the outcome..... and so was she! Its rewarding knowing that I have helped someone with something she hated and turned it into something she loves!

Designer Inspiration - Valentino

Valentino Haute Couture Fall 2012

My pre collection at the start was inspired by Egypt, and once I started experimenting with my prints they began to look more oriental than Egyptian, with this I then began to further my development with this by looking into designer whom have used oriental as an influence. I came across Valentino, whom has used oriental prints within this collection.

Valentino has used very subtle prints with added surface detail, which is beautifully made. I love the use of colour and the femininity of the entire collection. 

I love the sheer pleating on this evening gown

 All in one jumpsuit with repeated subtle print

I love this dress, the print on this fabric is so beautiful, its very pretty and girly. I love that the print is symmetrical

This gown and jacket is my favourite of the Valentino collection, the colours of surface detail, I really love the yellow floral print on the jacket and the novel surface detailing on the sheer full length gown.

My pre collection

My pre collection hand sketched.. I can not draw heads, they end up looking very manly. They are full length evening gowns, with attachable leather harnesses on the bodices of all of the gowns.

I think I could have experimented more with the designs, however I did not want them to be too much and too complicated. They tend to look quite oriental, which I m going to use for my final collection which I am starting to research for now, playing more with different lengths rather than just one length. They also lack sexiness and femininity.... 

This design is a dress I have decided to make as we could make one of the six that we have designed as a toile as I think it looks like the most complex and uses a of fabric.

                                                         This dress looks very oriental

I like this dress however I think it looks a bit frumpy, I think all the dresses I have designed lack sexiness, they are not feminine enough which is something I need to take into consideration when designing my final collection.

This is my least favourite design, I am not too sure why I just really do not like it.