Tartans

 After visiting the costume museum and viewing Princess Alexandra's Victorian era tartan party dress, using plaids for the Winter collection was a must.
The silks are so highly saturated in colour and gorgeously festive rustling as you walk. It's Victorian, Royal and traditional on one hand but tartan also is about rebellion, punk and  identity too. It's certainly not just reserved for Princesses.
I wanted to use a real Scottish wool tartan for the skirt, the weight is wonderful and heavy like a kilt in the form of a Fifties swing skirt. The added blush nets underneath for structure give a really cool colour contrast which makes the red pop even more.
I imagine this skirt with a white sweetheart bodice too which would make awesome festive party attire!

Our homage to Norman Rockwell which inspired this skirt too.

So here's our tartan offerings for the Winter. Warming, nostalgic and fabulously Victorian. There are so many versions and ways to wear this pattern, I wish we had our own in my family. How amazing would that be to make a collection from? Who else has their own tartan and how do you style yours?

The black lace illusion dress

 The black lace illusion dress. 

This is the dress inspired directly by Princess Margaret's couture gown produced by Norman Hartnell that I went to see at Bath Fashion Museum. The dress was stunning on the outside with a full circle skirt in corded lace over a fitted, padded, pencil skirt underneath and has a strapless sweetheart bodice. I Loved the illusion of having a fitted silhouette underneath the fullness of the lace and the skill of getting the top layer to stand away from the body.
The asymmetric neckline was chosen to drape over the sweetheart underneath as this line is always very elegant and added more to the illusion dress underneath. The disappointment with the Norman Hartnell dress was that it was un-lined. This may have been so that another corset could be worn underneath or it had been taken out at some point but it looked a little tatty so our dress is lined in silk nice and neatly.  Finished with a black velvet bow.
Model: Nicole Handley
Crown: Janine Basil Millinery
Location: Banwell Castle, Somerset UK

Nicole with the giant bear at the castle, he knid of looks a bit Royal too.

Princess Coat and Hood

The princess coat and the studded hood. 

To match the velvet dress, as it's winter a coat was needed to match and instead of fixing a hood I wanted this to be separate so that it could be worn in different ways.
The coat took inspiration from fifties cocktail coats and the coats worn to the opera. It's to keep you warm and look fabulous with your dress whilst being seen entering the theatre or jazz club.
The cut is once again princess line through a fitted bodice and tightly fitted full length sleeves that are shaped at the shoulder with tulip folds. The skirt is full and pleated, to accommodate a full skirted dress  and to make an impact from behind. Fully lined in a heavy satin to the edge so that you get a peek of the pale gold every time you move.
The hood co-ordinates with the dress with a studded velvet lining and tie bow fastening. It's large enough to cover your whole head is is entitled the 'hiding hood' as every Princess needs to guard her face from the paps whilst leaving her lovers hotel room! It also has a great drape to it over your shoulders and would looks equally good styled with a skinny fit leather jacket.

The coat is available made to order from £365 and the hood is one size and from £90 direct from our online shop.  As you know with our made to order garments you can pick a different colour too if you really want, a dark red would look amazing!

The Blue Velvet Dress

Model: Nicole Handley - she has done a completely awesome job and magically fits all of the dresses perfectly
Crown: Janine Basil, London - I am so thankful for this crown it was gorgeous and so are all of her hats. Go check them out they make great presents to a friend or yourself.



This was the first dress I designed for the princess collection. The blue silk velvet dress.

I love velvet but it is horrible to work with a lot of the time, fluff everywhere and slippy slidey on the machine. Even more so with this silk velvet that wibbles all over the place but, the outcome is so completely worth it!

I sourced this from our favourite suppliers Beckford silks who have beautiful fabrics and colours to pick from. Being a 'Royal' collection, blue was the first choice and this is deep dark blue that shimmers brightly when it hits the light.

To go with the velvet we needed an ermine trim, a must for Princesses and Royal ceremonies of course. I could have used ermine or rabbit fur but this would have required butchering a vintage coat or cape (butchering vintage clothing that isn't falling apart is nearly as bad as killing the animal in the first place) I thought of using marabou feathers too and then thought of fluff and velvet wasn't too great an idea.  So more silk velvet which has a super soft fur like pile and black swarovski rhinestones were used to make a dotty ermine print.

I said before about my disappointment of not seeing Princess Margaret's dresses lined in gold (when you call yourself a Princess surely there are some perks? I suppose she didn't look in other peoples dresses?) so in my dress we used a metallic gold binding inside the dress to finish the seams and add a little internal glitz.

Then to the dress shape itself, something simple, a princess line cut was the obvious choice to use when cutting the patterns and this velvet gathers so beautifully without too much bulk being induced into the seams. And there we have a little blue velvet dress. ............ oh no, I keep thinking of David Lynch now. My dress is still pretty!

the view from the castle

The first stage of the photos were taken at Banwell Castle. A local Gothic Revival Mansion house built in 1847. If you're ever in the area it's the officially best place to go for cream teas, all freshly baked by the owner and served on blue and white china.
It's the kind of country house that is very honest, it's not sparkling or commercialized and you feel like your in a guest in someones home instead of just renting a room for B&B. It's eclectic, romantic and really quite special. It's not too fancy, the furnishings are gathered over time, there is stunning printed wallpaper, family photos on the mantelpiece, old sofas and textiles, incredible views and peacocks!
They were very kind to lend us a room to use whilst we did the photo shoot and this wonderful. A four poster bed trimmed in textiles from around the world, roll top bath and a beautiful linen cupboard that stretched the wall of the room. It was a rainy day when we visited and just looking out of the old Victorian windows in that room was so cosy. A blustery Winter weekend in a castle sounds very appealing.

Winters Here ...... Finally!

Rhinestone Studded Princess Hood

Blue velvet Princess coat

Black lace Illusion dress

Blue silk velvet princess dress with rhinestone studded trim

Silk organza sheer illusion dress

The 'Debutant Debby' updated tulle prom dress for the Princess collection

Silk tartan Halter dress

Blue silk tartan princess dress

Herringbone tweed princess coat

Soft tweed shift dress

Wool tartan full circle skirt

Saffron pink silk cocktail dress

Silk asymmetric debutant Princess dress

So here they are, the new dresses for this season. All ready and waiting to be hand made to your specific requirements and worn out on show for the world to see. I have lots more pictures and details of each dress to follow and in the meantime, have a peruse through our shop. Each garment takes up to two weeks to make to order and you can choose any tartan you like, quite exciting if you are lucky enough to have Scottish roots and your own pattern.

Model: Nicole Handley
Accessories: Janine Basil and Alexandra King