Oppulent Gypsy Dress

Image copyright to My Fabulous Life

Image copyright to My Fabulous Life

Image copyright to My Fabulous Life

Image copyright to My Fabulous Life

 This dress came about for the Gypsy Luxe shoot with My Fabulous Life recently. I am a huge fan of Frida Kahlo and her gorgeous use of colour and the romantic tales of old Gypsies with their rustling skirts.

The gypsy theme is something I have wanted to workon for a long time. Every year since I was younger my Mum and me went to a horse fair on the Mendips in Priddy. It was originally a sheep fair but became a yearly meeting place for Gypsies and Travellers to trade horses and get together.
It was always exciting to see the families all dressed up, babies laden in gold bangles and so many ruffles you could barely find them in their Victorian style prams,  girls with the most incredible lengths of Rapunzel hair and boys in crisp smart shirts and polished shoes.  Beautiful young men and women would leap, bare back  atop spotted shire horses and parade them around the bustling field complete with donkey's, chickens, puppies and all sorts of animals. It was inspiring and romantic and so far away from how people see Gypsies and Travellers today.
I'm not saying there weren't the dodgy goings on (who knows if the 'jack russel' puppies really grew into Great Danes) with trap racing, bare knuckle fighting, all sorts, but it was alive and it was very safe.
Sadly some of the sights and outfits have become toned down, the gold is lacking and the genuine culture has been replaced with dealers, traders and lots of rules. These pictures were taken a couple years ago and hopefully capture some of the mood of the day.

The romantic side is always how I have seen the Gypsy and this is what I wanted the dress reflect, the Gypsy and Frida Kahlo combined for one beautifully independent and fiery woman.

The dress has a square neckline that frames the collarbone and is trimmed in a fine black floral tapestry ribbon. Fitted at the waist with a scarlet red velvet ribbon and bow at the back, picking up the red of the hand printed floral silk. And the skirt, very full, rustling in silk taffeta and ruffled at the hem making this quite the dramatic dress for dancing in.
I initially thought this dress should just be worn with a killer pair of heels and lots of details in your hair but this would also work dressed down with brogues, a silk hair scarf and a heritage tweed coat for Winter. I do love rustling taffeta.

Available in the online boutique from today. Click here for more info.

Sketch of the Ruffled Gypsy Dress

Here is the sketch of our gyspy luxe ruffled silk dress made for a styled shoot in Devon at Muddifords. I have just seen a sneak peek of the images by My Fabulous Life and they are stunning!

Moodboard - Frida

This weeks mood board is for a dress we have been working on for a shoot this week in Devon. The inspirations - Frida Kahlo and Gypsy Luxe.
Frida is one of my favourite films and she is one of my favourite artists and women all round. I love the colours, the ruffles, the flowers and the gorgeous sex appeal of everything surrounding Frida Kahlo. Pretty and feminine but tough as nails and beautifully intelligent.
I have also looked at the romantic gypsy, mainly Spanish influences and Flamenco in the fifties. Oh The ruffles!

I recommend watching Frida the film with Salma Hayek and reading books on her as an artist. This taschen book is a great starting point. Her influence is never ending. 

Dress of the Week - The Sweetheart Dress Reveal

And here it is .................. Our Gorgeously Bright and colourful sweetheart printed cotton sun dress.

The dress has cutaway shoulders and cross over button straps at the back, kinda 'sporty' like. We broke up the print with green piping at the waist and hand pleated the skirt so is was super full but smooth at the hips. The fabric feels amazing on and has a great ciched feeling at the waist.

Now available made to order in the shop, please allow up to two weeks for your dress to be made to for you at the studio just like this one!

Hope you like it and much as we do. It's now a question of styling, our pink vintage straw boater is looking good but what would you wear the dress with? x

Making the Sweetheart Dress

Cutting and making the Sweetheart Dress, it may seem like these odd shaped squares couldn't possible turn into a whole dress but get them in the right order and we have one super cute sun dress.  It's being revealed this afternoon!

Sweetheart Dress Sketches

Sketches by Alexandra King

Sketches by Alexandra King

Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman printed cotton, available at Millie Moon

The sketches and the fabulous bright 'Olympic' like sweetheart printed fabric for this weeks dress. The fabric is an Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman print from Millie Moon. We serioulsy find it hard to buy prints from anywhere other than Millie Moon, they make it so exciting and easy to shop with!

The dress will have a full pleated skirt and sports cut bodice with cross over straps at the back and cut away shoulders. I think a little piping may be in order too.

Readers: What would you do with this fabric? Any Ideas?

Moodboard - Sweetheart Summer Sports Dress

This weeks dress theme has a sports, sweetheart sundress feel to it which involves a candy popping sweetheart print from our favourite fabric shop Millie Moon. 

I love the 1950s Jantzen swimwear ads and the ways that fashion has interpreted the Olympics and sportswear. The early 1980s and late 1950s have a similar healthy Californian feel to them with tans and uber chic, body con styling. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman wearing her transformed 'races' dress sums up the tone of the dress this week, that and a heavy sprinkling of candy hearts. 

Sports, summer and bright prints will be a running theme over the next few weeks, as with last week. Some will be a little tongue and cheek fun and some will be wonderfully elegant, we'll just see how we feel each Monday!