Our boutique - Inside The Shop

After four months we are still working things out in our little shop. The move from online to bricks and mortar has been a huge change. No more having a nap on the studio chase or sitting on the floor sewing all night surrounded by fabric. We have people popping in and out, the dresses are on display and I sit at the counter listening to all the comments outside. Our window is made from paper thin glass!

The first time I saw the shop I fell in love, certain that this was the one. The alcoves where the dresses hang are hand built and perfectly lit in a tasteful french grey to match the outside of our five storey atelier. But maybe it's time to really make it ours? A complete colour change to show we are here and this is us!
Its hard not to react to every mean comment? I can never decide how to space the rails, do we have lots or very few? Some people say it's too fancy? It's all very strange this new world.

Its been interesting to see what people are like, who comes through the door, who doesn't. Mainly the customers of the ladies outfitters before us, to see what we've done to their much loved shop.
There are times I wish I could just grab the girls walking past and say "come and try our dresses, they'll look amazing on you!" And times I wish I had a giant boxing glove to boing spiteful tongued frumps back onto the pavement. This has been the biggest challenge, having the general public come in and comment on your work. I'm no longer in the safe surroundings of my online vintage niche.

Wonderfully, Wells is filled with fabulous people who do understand the beauty of a vintage gown and get excited about the possibilities of having something designed for them. Our new customers are brilliant and it's special when they put on their dress and say how great they feel and look.

Everyone is so interesting too. Gorgeous girls who squeeze their baby buggies through our awkward door with the hope we can tweak their dresses before the weekend, to farmers wives who have decided it's time to treat themselves to a bespoke dress with new found confidence. There's headmistresses, owners of MBE's, students, new Mums, Mum's to be, brides to be and little girls who run in just to tell me how pretty the dresses are and "did we really make them?!" To my absolute delight, girls with skateboards come in with nirvana T shirts. I love them all and hope I to can share some of their style here soon.

Our New Bridal Boutique in Wells

                                                    

We opened our first boutique last Saturday in the beautiful city of Wells, Somerset. It was fabulous to welcome our customers (new and old) to our little shop right in the heart of the city. The first floor is all about vintage and prom dresses with wall of sparkles and vintage accessories. Upstairs is a dedicated floor for bridal and consultations with a collection of vintage wedding dresses. 

We are also moving our studio to the building and will be making gowns in house.  

We will have many more photos to come, especially when we get our new sign! 

Book an appointment or just pop in to our Sadler Street shop to browse our dresses and say hello. 

New address 

8 Sadler Street, Wells, UK BA5 2SE

Our Packaging

We spent a long time finding the just right packaging to transport your dress to you and here is how it's packaged ....

Firstly your dress is freshly steamed then lined and padded with tissue paper. We use colourless tissue paper to protect your dress that is lightly scented so the whole experience of your receiving your dress is just that little more special.

Your dress is then neatly placed inside the large matte black dress box along with everything it needs to belong in your wardrobe, a satin padded hanger, care slip and dust cover. For vintage pieces this is the ideal flat storage too.

The box is then sealed and tied with the 'Alexandra King' ribbon ready to be finally placed in its protective shipping packaging.

We love that old-fashioned way of receiving a dress in a proper box and this is what we give to you. x

Studio Diary - Beading the Bridal Collection

Today is the start of the final leg of the 2014 bridal collection production. Beads and feathers scatter the carpet of the studio where I work on the collections whilst crystals and sequins are silently sewn individually to the dresses. Every time I think a dress is complete I say to myself, just a few more beads and then it really will be something special!

Introducing The Dress Cabin

We're very happy to introduce our new 'Dress Cabin'.

Those of you who have visited the studio for bespoke dresses have been wonderful working around the cutting table and pins but now we have a dedicated area just for you in the form of our little wooden cabin.

Open on Saturdays by appointment only, you'll be able to try on and view our bridal collections, cocktail dresses and accessories. There's plenty of space to look at your dress in comfort, have a cup of tea and relax whilst we discuss all your ideas one to one.
You are also welcome to try on the ready to wear dresses and can purchase items on the day if you fall in love with something.

We look forward to seeing you at the cabin, for appointments contact alexandra@alexandra-king.com.
Consultations for bespoke dresses are charged at £50 on booking and fittings are £50 per session.

Behind the scenes of the new collection shoot

A couple of the behind the scenes images from shooting the new Spring Stripes collection.

The photo shoots are usually very unorganized on my part, I spend so long working on the dresses I always put the shoot second. This time I had the dresses ready and a bit more of a plan, all I needed was photographer Laura Power and a couple of beautiful models to put the dresses on.

I like to use the same photographer for shoots, it's important to find someone on your wavelength and a person that feels free to experiment. I completely trust Laura to produce the images I want for lookbooks and when it comes to fashion photography, she knows her stuff. I love that she uses digital, film and allsorts of exciting looking cameras and isn't pretentious in her work. She simply captures something no one else does.

I wanted to work with Natalie and Kim again, they are very natural together and despite Kim being 7 months pregnant she looked radiant at the shoot. It was the first time I have ever seen a pregnant tummy in real life she she looked so incredibly beautiful.

We started the day outside as I wanted to get a single image that would capture the mood of the collection. The rest of the day was spent shooting the looks (quite a tiresome exsersise for everyone) and then some more experimenting. The backdrop was kept to simple white walls and lots of Vogue's. The light in the Winter goes so fast so my grand plan for visiting the local decaying seaside resort had to be put aside for another day. Making Kim and Natalie stand out in the freezing wind in sheer summer dresses wasn't really fair either. Natalie was already in shock from the morning shots. Fur coats and hot water bottles needed.

As usual the last shots of the day were to be some of the best. I can't wait to share them!

HUGE THANK YOU'S TO LAURA, NATALIE, KIM AND ANNA FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK xxx

A Day At The Studio ....

The day starts with going through emails, ordering fabrics and basically being glued to this desk for a couple of hours. As you can see my desk (a lovely solid oak, brass handled beast with a green leather top salvaged from a vets skip) is rather covered in stuff, sketchbooks, to do lists, paints, calculators, lollipop wrappers etc. This part of the studio is not tidy.

Then the post arrives with fabric orders, zips, trimmings and everything we need to make dresses with. We have quite a few gentlemen callers at the studio door with packages for us. (sorry!)

 Sometimes our lovely customers hand deliver the fabric they have personally selected in lovely wrappings.

Today we needed to source lace for a consultation later this week so Anna and Me selected options that would work for the design and ordered a few more laces.

Eventually it's time to start work on the actual dresses, laying out and cutting the silk. These colours are part of the prettiest bridesmaids collection for a wedding this year, I can't wait to share it.

 Anna sews the bodices of the dresses, super carefully .................... whilst we discuss each stage, seam finish and how it fits.

Dresses we are working on get added to rail, the rail is nearly full at the moment.

And finished dresses get packed in their white boxes ready for shipping to the other side of the world. Today dresses are off the the US and Australia.

So there is our day in the studio, I'm still here typing away and working on sketches and lists for tomorrow. We will share more days with you from time to time xxx

Photo Booth Photos

Last Wednesday we were invited to a 1st Birthday party tweet up at The Manor in Wellington.  It was to celebrate Marry Me Somerset's 1st Birthday (Happy Birthday Ladies!!!) and it was a lovely evening of cakes, bubbly an incredible illustrator (who we will tell you all about on Friday) and this fabulous photobooth.
The party photobooth is amazing and has very good lighting and picture quality, we're even thinking how we can do a whole photo shoot in this one. Ran by the lovely Mike and Sue based in Bournemouth and they travel all the way up to Bristol and Oxford. Really wherever you would like. It's also a great way to get photos of all the guests at your party.
I think the bubbles had gone straight to my head but I do love a sailor hat!

Dresses on the Catwalk ....

The gorgeous Kims look suitably fifties Miami with the cats eyes glasses.

We so want one of these lightbulb make up cases!

Anna was very busy last week representing us at a fashion show in Street. Unfortunately I couldn't be there as I was attending my best friend Sara's hen do,  but here is Anna to tell you all about the wonderful night. I so wish I had been there, it looks like everyone had a fantastic time!

Huge Thank Yous to Anna, Kim, Kim and all the make-up artists, hairdressers and organisers! x 

Over to Anna .........

Last Saturday night I took along some of our dresses to a fashion show in Street, my hometown, in aid of Breast Cancer Research.

At Alexandra King we are lucky to be able to make dresses for ladies worldwide through the wonders of the Internet, but it's also great to get involved with other local businesses and showcase what we do in Somerset.

The fashion show was organised by Oomph and Lift Lingerie, which is run by mother and daughter team Elaine and Natalie. Elaine and Natalie decided to open their shop last year after struggling to find correct fitting bras for themselves and spotting a gap in the market in this area. When creating our dresses we are very aware of the difference good underwear makes and often offer advice on this, so it's great to have them on our doorstep.

Jewellery to go with our dresses for the show was lent to us by Rachel from Ayerst and Graces. Ayerst and Graces is another local shop that stocks jewellery from designers and makers from around the UK. It's great to support stores that stock the work of British craftspeople, and of course this is the natural choice to go with our bespoke handmade dresses.

Kim Heal and Kim Hill modelled for us, we all had our hair and make-up done and a great night was had by all. There was a fabulous selection of underwear, swimwear, dresses, clothing, jewellery and nightwear on the catwalk and everyone enjoyed a few glasses of wine and yummy homemade cakes. Around 70 people attended and we made nearly £500 for Breast Cancer Research - not bad hey?

 Thanks again to all involved xx.

Blue velvet in the making

 
A little making of the blue velvet princess coat which we made earlier this month to go to Italy, Most of the lining is hand stitched in place and I love the way it sits over a full skirt. Perfect for the opera in this gorgeous jewely dark blue.

January has well and truly come and nearly gone already in all it's manic, whirlwind of wedding splendour. It was like everyone set their alarm clocks to start plans this month and I have had to force myself to sit down and do a post. The scary thing is the longer I leave it, the more I am struggling to find something interesting to post. I need to start rambling more again.
I also can't share anything like sketches or dresses until the weddings have been so I have lots of secrets sitting in my studio at the moment! 
Time for new collections too ......................................................

Katie and her forties Hollywood Dress - Part 2 - The corset

my numbered pattern so I don't forget the order of the pieces, they all look very similar

the base of the corset

the fine chanels need to be cut on the bias in strips

the all important strengthening stitches

the spiral steel boning

the pressed bia channels ready to be sewn to the corset base

the corset before the hem is sniped shorter so that Katie could sit down easily

the corset placed over the toile of the bodice to check the neckline positioning

the final corset with it's tweaks

the lower cut back, always fasten a corset in the centre

Katie really wanted some added 'hug' to her dress and to enhance that Hollywood hourglass silhouette we decided that instead of a strapless bra or basque we would make a corset. The curve in the back of the dress and the strapless design along with needing some secure support meant a custom corset was going to be the best option.
I was really lucky to be taught corsetry at University by an excellent pattern cutting lecturer Lee Hollahan who worked on Kate Winslet's 'Titantic' corset and the corsets for Back to the Future Part 3 to name but a few. Sorry this is a little name dropping and tenuous linking to my corset here!

This gave me some great foundation skills to make the all important bridal corset. This one went through quite a few changes being nipped and tucked as inevitably our model changed shape on the run up to the wedding. As this was to be worn all day it needed to be comfortable and most importantly light even with the steel boning.
I used a single layer of silk taffeta which is beautifully light and strong. Sometimes corsets are made with two to three layers for strength but I really didn't want to add any bulk or for it to be seen underneath the dress, so the decorative stitching you see isn't just fancy its adding re-enforcements.
The low back (corsets usually have quite high backs to give all round uplift) and maintaining support at the front was something that kept me up at night trying to figure out but we got there in the end and I love the fifties shape it has.  Bra designers are really the best engineers in the world to keeping us perky and bare backed, they are quite amazing!

The corset had extra narrow fine boning with is spirals so that it curves with your body and was then trimmed in lace at the hem and top to give a very soft edge that wouldn't show through the dress.
I really need a corset dummy as these standard ones can't have their waists cinched with their super tough tummies!