Goddess Dresses - How to Wear One Shoulder

Our latest asymmetric cocktail dresses

It started with the goddesses and was last seen on the red carpet at the Oscars 2014. The one shouldered asymmetric neckline dates back to Ancient Greece and Ancient India in the form of Chiton's and Sari's.

The Romans then took on the draped design for their togas which would be held at the shoulder with a clasp and cinched at the waist in various styles.  Not until the 20th century did designers return to the classics starting with Poiret and Worth's softened silhouettes and inspiring the queens of drape, Vionnet and Gres in the 1930s.
Halston took on the design in the 70's turning the asymmetric into a chic disco classic.

The asymmetric neckline can be one of the most elegant cuts to wear with the sweeping of the cloth up to one shoulder leading to the face. Jewellery should be kept to a minimum, drop earrings to continue the line, a bare neckline and bangles at the wrist finish. If you want to maintain a goddess like grace keep hem lengths to below the knee unless it's a toga party with lots of drape.

Roman Copies of Ancient Greek bronzes with draped Chitons

Marion Bender A Dancer from the Ziegfeld Theatre 1920s in lace asymmetric.

Fortuny, Balenciaga and Halston asymmetric designs from the 20th Century

Madame Gres draped silk jersey gown

Asymmetric designs on the red carpet 2014. Amy Adams in Carolina Herrera draped gown, Lupita Nyong'o in a modern Stella McCartney nude body con dress and Suki Waterhouse in a soft tulle Marchesa gown. 

Further reading

The Met Museum - The Chiton, Peplos and Himation in modern dress Harold Koda

The Met Museum - Classical Art and Modern Dress Harold Koda

The Met Museum - Contemporary Deconstructions of Classic Dress Harold Koda

Silk Sari Dresses

Two new arrivals today in the form of these beautifully printed sari dresses.

The Sari's were sourced by a wonderful family friend on a trip to Bangalore and are hand printed with decorative paisley and floral wooden blocks. The silk is very crisp and light as a feather. I adore the way the ink really saturates in the red.

Keeping to the basics of the sari the skirts are hand pleated and very full with a classic one shoulder drape design. I imagined these being worn to Summer parties with just a pair of flip flops (nice ones!) and hair in messy ballet buns. There is a definite feeling of the Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe in the romantic Eastern prints and full ballet skirts.

Titled Serge and Pavlov they are available as one of a kind dresses in the shop now.

A Chartreuse Green Silk Dress

Introducing a new cocktail gown in the electrifying colour of Chartreuse. Named after a naturally acid green French liquer, this dress is just as demure. 

Featuring a sculpted bow on the shoulder embellished with a contrasting scarlet beadwork and tethered to one shoulder in a classical 1950s sweep. I wanted this dress to have a strong lone so after cinching the waist with scarlet velvet the skirt was to reflect a certain weight and sharpness. This was achieved with a luxurious red satin lining and deep draped pleats. 

The colour really is delicious and crisp as an apple laced with Chartreuse. The dress is available in the shop as a one of a kind piece from today. 

Green, organic and fair trade

So the 'Betty sure was Good' dress, was brilliantly good and gorgeous along with the 'Betty's Good Tee' and 'Betty's Good Night' dresses made in an organic, fair trade cotton produced by Bishopston Trading company. 

I now have 'Betty's good night' in sea foam green as requested by one of our lovely Australian customers. Isn't it great in this colour? I'm always happy to receive requests for bespoke colours. Send me an email or a colour swatch and i'll see if I can match it for you. 

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.

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!

Purple, Mustard and Grey

Another gorgeous commission specifically ordered in violet purple, mustard yellow and a dove grey silk for pre wedding photos. The rich mustard double bowed sash works perfectly against the dove grey which seems to make every colour pop.
A vintage paste brooch trims the shoulder and the dress is fully lined with structuring to the waistband to nip the waist in.
You can take a look at the same dress in emerald green here with more details