The Freya Dress

The Freya dress is for the Follies girl dancing through the night with curls in her hair and feathers fluffing everywhere.

The key detail in the Freya dress is the huge plume of Ostrich feathers that weigh down the hem and tickle the sequins hidden underneath. Ostrich never fails to insight the imagination and in the making of this dress were delicately dipped in tea and blow-dried to get the right tone. The feathers tended to look a little too new and unnatural when they first arrived so needed calming.

On designing, this needed to be a dress that really moved. Tiny pearlescent seed beads were used to tassel each Swarovski crystal that patterns the dress to catch the light with every step.
The same beads trim the neckline and cuffs of the silk Georgette with fine feather motifs that were carefully beaded by hand here at the studio. Underneath a silk slip is sequined over the hem and bodice which adds another secret dimension to the sheer dress above.

The dresses all have a character to play and the Freya dress is all caught up in fantasies of the Ziegfeld Follies, Boardwalk Empire Molls and the original fearless flappers. It's cute with the fluff and prettiness but it also packs a hell of a sexy punch when worn.

Available exclusively online here. 

Divine Creatures 2014 Collection

Aphrodite

Fortuna

Freya

Hera

Juno

Pandora

Venus

Divine Creatures Collection

Here is the collection we have been passionately working away on over the past few months. Our very own goddess Nicole captured the mood of each dress beautifully during the shoot which took place at our dress cabin.  

Here's what it's all about............. 

Seven exquisite exhibition gowns make up the latest 2014 collection from Alexandra King, each piece an individual idea crossing the lines of fashion and art. Heavenly beaded stars encrust the cinched waist of a goddess gown, there is a 'birds and the bees' gown a literal symbol and labour of love whilst big blushing feather plumes flirt with hems on dresses fit only for the most vampish of starlets.

Colours are the classics in ivory, marbles and whites with precious metal embellishments in golds, coppers silvers and pearls.

The collection was designed for that dream goddess or starlet character that fills our secret imaginary fantasies. Be it Marylin backstage with Bobby and Jack, a divine icon on the silver screen or simply sat upon a pedestal, a beauty amongst the gods swathed in one of these gowns. It's pure indulgent fantasy.

• The gowns are available exclusively online direct from Alexandra-King.com
• Prices from £1,200
• The Juno and Fortuna dresses are available made to order
• contact alexandra@alexandra-king.com for more details

Collection 2014 - The Sketches

Freya

Each of the final designs you see, all beaded and beautiful starts with a sketch. In fact a number of sketches and bits of paper, backs of envelopes, midnight scrawls, digital scribblings of all the details that make up a single dress. As Paul Smith says, 'you can find inspiration in everything' and in my case everywhere.
Once these many sketches are brought together to form a single garment or accessory the magic really begins with the fabrics. Beads and colours are selected whilst patterns are cut and the sewing begins in a fury to see what the finished dress will look like.

These are the final sketches and a preview of the Divine Creatures collection, 2014.  A set of seven pieces that will ignite the imagination and soon leap off the page into reality.

Pandora

Juno

Fortuna

Aphrodite

Hera

Venus

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!

Black Tulle Dotted Cocktail Dress - Matte

Black Polka dot Tulle Prom Dress 

This black version of our classic tulle prom dress was made earlier this year for a bespoke client. When she suggested the idea of black sequins on the black tulle, I just loved the idea of using matte black penny paillette's to make the dots.

This subtle detail really changes the mood of the dress, a little less Prom Queen and a lot more Black Swan. 

N.B Please excuse the slightly blurred images, getting the dots to show up was a little tricky when photographing.

Artisans - Lindsey King Embellisher of Beautiful Things - Wedding Garlands

Lindsey King - Bespoke Sequinned Garland Decorations.

Lindsey King is not just a talented lady when it comes to beading and painting but also with a needle and thread. 

Lindsey and husband Rich first made their fabulously decorative bunting garlands together (with an original 1900s Singer sewing machine with hand wheel!) for their wedding earlier this year and the bespoke orders just kept coming for every kind of event since. 

Now if I'm honest I haven't always been a fan of bunting, It usually tends to be a bit washy in baby blues and never really is enough to style a room properly, but Lindsey's bright and colorful sequinned garlands completely won me over. 

By confidently combining big, bold and bright prints, with saturated colour trims and working them further with hand embellished sequins the result is a statement decoration that really makes a room. The lettering is divine, shaped in perfect fonts of curls with such precise needlework. These really will become beautiful family heirlooms taken out for special occasions over the years. 

Lindsey King is someone with an untainted outsider talent who simply adds joy to every project she works on. She's quite an inspiration. See more of Lindsey King's painted things in her Etsy shop HERE. 

Sparkling Cocktail Purses

We've been very busy here at the studio prepping for our Pop-Up shop at the end of the month in the beautiful city of Bath.
Here are a few of the sparkling glitter purses that will be available over the weekend from the 29th November to the 1st December. 

You will be able to pick up these little luxuries (they are all lined in sumptuous silks) along with our favourite accessories ..... belts, key fobs and our classic velvet hair bows. Great for special stocking fillers.

Of course, if you are not visiting Bath that weekend all of these gifts are available to buy in our online shop HERE. 

Bespoke Gown for the Barbican

This dress was made for a wedding at the Barbican Arts Centre this September and was commissioned as a bespoke piece for a bride looking for something to fit perfectly with the venue and her style.

Based on our Christy dress the French corded lace used was a deep champagne colour to match the dark ivory of the silk duchess satin. Once again we turned the silk on it's back to give the lustrous depth of sheen without the high shine.
This fitted design with its dramatic low back, smoothed hips and feminine sweetheart illusion over the bust gave a beautiful balletic quality. Contrasting with this delicate fit the double full circle skirt drapes in dramatic curls to the hand bound hem made from the matching silk satin.

The bride chose a fabulous pair of spectator shoes from Chie Mihara with a lemon yellow bow which we picked up in stripes over the finely beaded belt.
Each of the covered lace buttons was hand beaded with Japanese foil lined glass beads in a mix of champagne and cream tones. This design matched the edging of the neckline also adorned in subtle beads.

It has been an honor to design a dress to be worn at the Barbican surrounded by so much inspiration and style.

Proud Moments - Larry and Daniels West Point Wedding

Photography by Jill Knight 

This all started with a little glitter bow tie that I made as a bespoke order for a Mr Larry Choate III. He explained via email that the wedding was very important as they would be the first male West Point graduates to marry at the United States Military Academy.

I didn't really consider how HUGE this was. Equal marriage will at last be an everyday occurrence here in 2014.
I naively really did think everything was equal already until I read into this on Stonewall and have to say I'm quite ashamed of my ignorance and the British government for taking so long on this. The thought of other human beings having to abide by different laws to me (an average whitish person married to a tall grey haired person) because of the skin between their legs is utterly ridiculous.
Thankfully Larry has documented the challenges Daniel and himself faced in the U.S military very eloquently on his blog here.

Photography by Jill Knight

I was mostly excited that this bow tie was to match Larry's Jimmy Choo Sloane shoes!

I designed and made the bow tie with the matching coarse glitter they use at Jimmy Choo and lined the bow tie in silk with another silk bow underneath to keep the bow plump. The bow was then centered with the hand woven silk and placed it on a narrow silk band. Larry teamed the tie with a beautifully cut black tuxedo (which took some finding) and a classic white shirt. Perfection.

Larry sent me an email last night reading .... " Alexandra, I wanted to take a second to let you know that your bow tie is getting quite a bit of attention. The New York Times selected a photo of it from their story that covered our wedding this past weekend. I have received countless compliments about it and wanted to share the link with you so you could share it if you wanted. Your work is so great and I wanted you to get the credit for what you made for me."

A very big sparkling congratulations to Larry and Daniel, I am so proud to be just a tiny little part of this addition to equality!

Read and see beautiful photographs on the New York Times Blog Here. 
Read a great article by Nina Ippolito on Policy Mic here. 

Artisans - Lindsey King Embellisher of Beautiful Things - Bridal Sashes

Lindsey King hand beaded bridal belts. 

I met Lindsey last year whilst working on her wedding dress and we instantly shared our love of all things embellished and sparkly. Lindsey really wanted a beaded belt to wear with her wedding dress and knowing her skills with a paint brush (check out her hand painted table wear here) I gave her the option of making one herself.

After a few months working away on the belts a little at a time, Lindsey arrived with the most breathtakingly beautiful beaded sashes. Very different from my strictly patterned designs, these belts included vintage 1950s rhinestone hearts glistening in scarlet reds surrounded by silver, gold and pearls, all individually picked and placed. Coral and blue Swarovski crystals are hidden amongst opalescent vintage milk glass beads and tiny crystal bugles that contain the sparkles.

Turn the belt over and you can see the painstaking craftsmanship in fine beautiful stitches where each of the two and half thousand beads have been hand sewn.

One of these belts is all you need with a simple ivory dress to make your wedding dress shine and you will most certainly wear it again!

These belts are available from Lindsey's Etsy shop here.