Vintage 1950s Floral Dresses

New arrivals to our vintage collection with three floral dresses. I love florals to soften and feminise a look, they look great dressed down with long messy hair or a short boyish crop and 90s grunge boots.
The new pieces are .... A 1950s Horrockses full length gown with strapless ruched bodice and pink gladioli print. A 1930s delicate peach rayon tea dress with roses and a sweetheart neckline. And a great 1950s Mid Century modern print party dress with olive green bow back.

Click the images for more info ....

Hayley's Orange Silk Dress

One of our most inspiring customers commissioned a special dress for a Paris birthday in the most vibrant of vermillion orange silks.
The dress was designed as a one of a kind piece with a plunging back, classic bodice and a voluminous skirt that featured a graduated hem. Of course with pockets.

The dress looked fabulous in Paris! Check out our instagram for more photos @alexandraking

The Red Dressmaker Dress - Bespoke Mother of the Bride Dress

One of our first customers to the boutique was a very lovely lady looking for something to wear to her daughters wedding. The time scale was short (three weeks!) and as I was saying how "we really need at least six weeks and sorry we can't help on this occasion" the lady said how she really loved Kate Winslet in the dressmaker, a knockout red dress was what she was looking for .... 

"Of course we can make your dress"! 

So we sketched up the design quick sharp and found the perfect lipstick red silk to make a mother of the bride dress that looked fabulous and sexy not frumpy. 

We took inspiration from the dressmaker film dress with a large picture collar and cut the dress to the hourglass with a sash belt and pencil skirt to the knee. A simple bow design headpiece was created from the same silk with pheasant and arrow head feathers as trims to sit elegantly at the back of the head. 

We have so many women visit us looking for the mother of the bride or groom outfit after bad shopping experiences. Sadly preconceptions of women of a 'certain' age have produced a rather ugly conservatism in design from some other shops and has done serious damage to self esteem. 

 To me, women over 50 look incredible and deserve clothes to match. They have such style, elegance and a fabulous beauty we can all look forward too. Just look at Advanced Style. 

Our dress below was worn with hair styled at Karen Christensen and killer red heels. 

To book a free design consultation for a bespoke dress please call or message alexandra@alexandra-king.com. Or visit our boutique at 8 Sadler Street Wells, Somerset, BA5 2SE

Prices from £600

The Red Gown

Prom Night 2016 

The first prom night in Wells has been and gone and we can share the first dress of the season. We arrived a little let to the city to really capture the imaginations of the teen population but those on the uptake had some gorgeous ideas. 

This is the red gown, Rose red to be precise in a French silk chiffon for a beautiful girl at the Blue School in Wells. I will need to keep tabs on who is wearing what from which school next year, as there are no fewer than six schools in the area!

This particular 16 year old was looking for simple and elegant, something without the sparkle of the 'normal' prom dress shops. To me it was important to have a dress that could be worn again and altered in the future. And most importantly a design that was a knockout beauty on the red carpet instead of hotfix poly-satin on the tarmac.

So we looked to Valentino, the king of the red gown for inspiration and an early 1950s old hollywood silhouette with a draped sweetheart bodice, wide halter neckline and a full circle cut silk chiffon to billow around the hem. We used a selection of trims for the belt, a little sequin (the disco sequins didn't go down too well,  note to self to remember what it was like being 16!) grosgrain and satin, the matte of the grosgrain was the winner. 

I couldn't be more happy with this gown and hope it will be worn for years to come. It was a little difficult to let it go especially after documenting the fit as it felt amazing on. A bespoke gown is always incredibly special and someone in Wells has this dress that should be treasured forever. 

Barbie Dresses in Stripes

Just before we moved to our new boutique we were working on a mini collection of 1950s Barbie inspired dresses.

Here are the first two results as the Sindi and Humbug designs.

The Sindi Dress is cut with a full pleated skirt with fitted shell bodice and low scoop back. Grey velvet ribbon stripes pattern the silk dress with a luxurious texture. Gorgeous for Summer and Winter parties alike.

The Humbug dress is pure cocktail hour with a draped strapless bodice and asymmetrical stripes sweeping across the body to the full puff ball drape. The black velvet stripes were appliqued to the silk satin and then draped to the dress by hand. A striking piece for parties and events!

Green Atomic 1950s Bombshell Dress

Our New green ombre hourglass gown.
This dress came about as a fitting idea for the musical Miss Atomic Bomb. The lead was to have a bombshell style dress with a fabulous hourglass shape.

This gown is made from a beautiful one off a kind pleated satin in an ombre shade of emerald to silver.
The bodice is strapless and hand draped over a boned bodice and internal corset that cinches the waist right in. The skirt is pencil cut to show off the curves and is cut a little longer making this a show stopper of an evening gown.

Available as a one of a kind piece in the online boutique here. 

MacKintosh Silk Tartan Dress

Our updated design of our tartan dress from the 2010 Princess collection. Tartan is a Winter classic and if you have Scottish heritage can be used to personalise your attire. We chose the MacKintosh pattern for its classic colours and used a deep black velvet to add to the luxuriously rich feel of the fabrics.
Cut with a 1950s style sweetheart bodice, a shaped hip and dipped hem to a full voluminous skirt. The dress comes with a separate tulle underskirt to plump the skirt. Available ready to wear or made to order in your choice or tartan.

Also made at the studio this month was a full pleated skirt in the MacKintosh silk to team with vintage 50's sweaters or strapless bodices. Again, you can order this in your family tartan.

Click the images for more information.

Silver Lace Gown for Laura

This bespoke gown was made a couple of years ago for our photographer friend Laura Power and we recently had it back to photograph all the details. 

The dress was made with a polkadot tulle layered under metallic Chantilly lace and then hand appliqued with a corded lace trim to add texture and detail. 

The cut was a classic Edwardian style hourglass with a sweetheart neckline underneath the sheer lace and three quarter length sleeves. A small chapel length train finished the flared skirt with a border of the heavy corded lace. 

Laura looked stunning in her gown on the day.