Prom Dress

Firstly I'm sorry for not posting for three weeks now. Things have been very busy in the studio with weekends of weddings and festivals and a huge private commission which has taken all my time away. 

This dress was one of my favourites recently and I have been dying to show this for a while. A really quite perfect, a gorgeous customer wanted a proper 1950s debutant prom dress for her end of school prom and I was very, very happy to accept. 

I've been lucky to have intelligent, individual prom girls who are wonderful to work with and I am even even more grateful after I read an article on 'Promzillas' and saw what most girls don for their end of school prom. It sure must give the boys a fright being escorted by brightly coloured, full length polyester and hot fix gems complete with tiara and curls.

My prom girls have been amazing with their own sense of style and have had  ideas for their dresses. 

This is the latest..........................

The dress was made just like our other classic fifties prom with the hand pleated and stitched bodice, gathered bust and its layered full skirt. The difference here was the blue hem which needed to be layered to an uneven graduated hem which required pinning and stitching in place ribbons of the blue tulle to each layer of the skirt and adding a gathered hem to the underskirt to ensure is was vibrant at the base.

You can see our classic prom dress here which is made to order

 And here is our debutant in her dress.

Vintage Bridesmaids Dresses

I'm very excited to show you these two bridesmaids dress commissions we have just completed,  both with a 1950s theme but two very different looks. 

The first is a brilliantly summery collection of halter neck fifties swing dresses with full circle skirts and blue silk pleated belts to match the blue tulle underskirts. Made in a Tanya Whelan print fabric chosen by the bride The matching flower girl dress Anna made is just adorable with the pretty ruffle hem.  I have already seen a sneak peek and one maid in her dress and they look fabulous! 

The second are a sophisticated cocktail style in a beautiful cafe tulle and lace that we sourced on our trip to Singapore. (I'm still kicking myself for not buying twenty more metres of that tulle as the colour is gorgeous, I could only fit enough for these dresses in my suitcase!) Again Anna produced the prettiest flower girl dress to match, complete with dusky pink bow. 

Floral Dotty Tulle Summer Dress

Our dotty tulle summer dress has been created once again, this time for a wedding guest in the US, she's going to look quite fabulous in such pretty fabrics.
I photographed the dress whilst making and got some good shots on the dummy next to a shadow of my old ballet shoes (this is all sounding a bit overly pretty right now, the shoes were an accident that I kept in the picture!). In my squirrelling fabrics away I forgot how vibrant the print was and how great the tulle worked over prints, will have to try and order in some more of these fabrics so we can have these to order.   I wonder what shoes she will wear with the dress?

Coral Pink Grecian Bridesmaids

 

Italian Actress Sophia Loren wearing Bvlgari jewelry and photographed by Richard Avedon.Vogue,December 1969.

Anna has been very busy over the past few months working on these beautiful Grecian goddess dresses for Lisa's bridesmaids. The colour is bold and when Anna showed me the silks in the stunning colour soaked chiffon's and crepes from Beckford Silks it confirmed that this was a geat choice. (Beckford silks fabric selection is small and perfectly formed with the highest quality silks and dying service that is second to none.)

The dresses were custom made to the brides specifications and made to measure with a few fittings for the bridesmaids to make sure the length and fit was perfect.
A full length design was requested and the flowing skirt was created by hand draping from the empire line giving the lean line to the dress. Anna trimmed the dresses with a contrasting gold metallic ribbon which works well with the coral and she hand stitched the amazing silk chiffon roses on the shoulder.  These would also look gorgeous on a belt or as vintage style wrist corsages and the finishing touch is the adorable neat bow to the back.
The gold and corals remind me of fabulous 1960s Italian evening gowns worn with gold heels and wonderfully plaited hair, think Sophia Loren.
Overall the look will be four statuesque Grecian Aphrodite's accompanying the beautiful bride on her wedding day. I can't wait to see the pictures!

Polkadot Wiggle Dress Number Two

The second of these polka dot bridesmaids dresses (the first a voluptuous 'Mad Men' inspired lady) in a crisp cotton with a fine silk bias trim and piping detail. We cut this bias trim ourselves to achieve the finer edging and matched the metal covered buttons that embellish the cuffs and hem of the skirt. 

We've started focusing more on the internals of our dresses with boned waists and stays to cinch in the waist.  

Apparently the stays (a grosgrain ribbon that fastens inside the waist and often found in vintage couture dresses) help with posture too!

This dress was a custom order, for more details please contact us via email.

Silk Party Dresses

Two of the last party dresses for the holidays so far. The choice of royal blue was excellent as this silk has a slight green shimmer to it and is beautifully rich in pigment. The Royal blue has really inspired, it's a colour I have avoided in the past (quite unnecessarily!) and this looks to be a perfectly gorgeous colour, especially for full skirts. 

The little black dress is our classic and this time with a sultry low cut back to the waist which works well to balance the high neckline at the front of the bodice. Trimmed with a vintage rhinestone brooch and velvet ribbon. Both dresses are available made to order and can purchased from our etsy shop or our direct shop

I'm thinking these are the last of the Christmas Holiday dresses as my head is full of Spring designs and wedding gowns waiting to be worked on. Florals and organdy blushes coming soon.

We're off the London for a few days to the theatre and a pre-Christmas break, no doubt I will find myself amongst fabrics as soon as I arrive.

Little Tulle Dress

Popped over the Anna's today where she gave me this gorgeous little dress to show you all. Like Anna's other dresses for makemeadress mini, this one is made from an adorable, ditsy vintage cotton. Matching tulle ruffles sleeves and a full skirt makes it ideal for a party dress and gives you're little lady some vintage style!

Simple Silk Dresses

Gorgeous silk dresses in striking silhouettes, available at etsy or design your own at our makemeadress.com website.