2016 Bridal Collection - 1920s Dress Inspirations

1920s champagne tulle Pannier Dress 

1920s applique lame gown by Boue Soeurs

Louise Brooks in 1920s Ziegfeld Follies costume

Boue Soeurs lace floral 1928 gown

Black Chantilly lace 1920s gown

1920s fashion illustration

Chartreuse Green 1920 Lanvin silk gown

A sketch of the second piece from our new 2016 Bridal Collection. 1920.

Inspired by the vivacious 1920s era of sparkle and champagne.  The 1920 dress will be made in champagne iridescent sequins layered over a tulle tiered slip creating a draped pannier shape. 

I love the 1920s pannier designs from the Ziegfeld Follies and flappers. Looks that produce a modern version of the 18th century court gowns of Versaille.

Inspiration Images taken from pinterest.

Inspirations - Beaded Lace Collar

Sharing my pieces from my vintage archive ....

For a long time I've been meaning share some of my vintage clothing collection that has given me so much inspiration over the years. It's significantly smaller than it was and mainly dates from the 1950s and before.

Last weekend I spend Easter Sunday wandering the hundreds of stalls at the Bath and West Flea Market. Anna and I met up and bought a very large quantity of ribbons, I found an perfect Morris chair for our house which matches my Grandad's and at the end of the day I found this collar.

I have to share it because it's one of the most beautiful and intricate pieces of seed beading I have ever seen. In keeping with our Broderie Anglaise collection, this looks like it was based on very fine embroidered cotton lawn with oval eyelets. Then each oval has been embellished with fine opaque white rows of seed beads.

I'm not 100% sure of the age, the collar and cuffs are cut pilgrim style and I would guess early 1920s. There's something Edwardian about the set but the button and cuff buttons are yellowed Bakelite with a slight art deco shape to them. So maybe late 1920s or the buttons could be an added detail at a later date?

The set has a gorgeous heavy drapey weight to them, look perfect with a little black sweater too. These will be carefully wrapped up and stored flat until I discover them in a few years and get the wow of seeing them again!

I wonder how wore them and how they styled them when they were new, and I wonder what skilled person sewed such unbelievable beadwork? Hope they can give some inspiration to you too. x