Alexandra King - Independent Bridal and Womenswear Designer

Peeky peek

2012-03-04T09:48:00.001Z

Last week I just about finished the new bridal collection for 2012 and on Tuesday we took a whole fabulously, long day out with photographer Laura Michelle Power to shoot the lookbook. This was one of my photos of Kimmy Lou in our pale blue silk (there's little white in this collection) and tulle dress with a super gorgeous ' what Katy did next ' oversized bow.

I can't wait to see the official photos, there will be lots more to share on the run up to the launch over the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled xxx

Friday Friends - Mundy's Florists

2012-03-02T13:30:00.000Z

We recently finished this fabulous floral print dress (fabrics as nearly always from Millie Moon) and it has gone to the window display of Mundy's in Street all thanks to Anna. It looks amazing in the window surrounded by all the beautiful flowers and they are long time acquaintance's of Anna so over to her to tell you all about them .......

Last week I was excited to be able to lend one of our new dresses to Mundy's of Street Floral Designers to be part of their Mother's Day window display.

I suppose you could say Mundy's is where it all started for me - I proudly got my first Saturday job there in 1997, aged 14, and stayed working for them through school, college and university until eventually moving on to my 'proper' graduate job in 2005. I don't suppose many people can say they spent 8 years in their first part time job - I must have enjoyed it!

Mundy's Floral Design is a family run business that has been established over 120 years. The quality of their flowers, plants and floral accessories is second to none, not to mention Julie has 20 years experience in creating bridal flowers for over 2500 brides (me included.)

I honestly believe that in the time I spent working for Mundy's I gained the interest in colour/texture and developed the creativity that got me to doing what I do today. I'd also like to think I picked up a few things about retail and customer service and, as middle aged as it sounds, I've become a keen gardener. So thanks for everything guys.

Don't forget Mother's Day is March 18th - 'Say it with flowers....'

Customer Pics

2012-02-29T18:53:00.002Z

Another fabulous customer photo, this time from the beautiful Yvette all the way in Singapore and looking completely stunning in her little, black lace illusion dress. I love the ultra chic finger waves, oversized black rose and my favourite splash of red lipstick. Perfect!

DIY - Sew Your Own Skirt

2012-02-19T10:12:00.000Z

Today we had a great time making skirts at the Millie Moon shop in Wells. Here is the DIY tutorial of how to make the skirt, we did it a little differently with pleats instead of gathers and in fabulous cherry and elephant prints!

This is a patternless skirt tutorial with a fitted waistband and a full skirt with pockets and a zip to the centre back.

Equipment needed: sewing machine, zipper foot, tape measure, needle and thread, scissors and chalk.

Materials: 2 metres of 112cm wide fabric (Millie moons fabrics are perfect for this) 2 metres of bias binding, a concealed zip, thread.

Step 1: lay out your folded fabric on the table, with the fold (selvedge to selvedge) running along the edge of the table.

Step 2: Measure your waist in inches and add one inch to this number. For example a 30 inch waist will need a 31 inch waistband.

Step 3: draw out the long rectangle on the fabric. 5 inches by half your waistband measurement. For example a 31inch waistband will be 15.5 inches long on the folded fabric. Then cut this out.

Step 4: cutting the skirt. Still with the fold of the fabric on the edge of the table, place your hand on the fabric edge and draw around this with the chalk for your pockets. The curve of the pocket will start 2 inches down from the fold and will look like a 'p' shape. Then cut along the whole fold length of the fabric that is on the edge of the table.

Step 5: fold the fabric in half and cut out the second pocket. Also cut the centre back opening by cutting along the halfway fold THROUGH ONE LAYER ONLY!

Step 6: Sew your pockets and side seams together.

Step 7: with the bias binding sew around the pocket seams that have just sewn so they look neat and tidy. Alternatively this can be overlocked.

Step 8: if you are gathering your skirt, sew a runnng stitch along the top waistband edge to gather the skirt. Pin this to the waistband.

If you are pleating (like we did today) you need to pin your waistband to either end of the skirt and evenly pin pleats to the waistband ready to sew.

Step 9: sew your waistband to your skirt. Leave a smooth inch either end so the zip doesn't have too much bulk around it.

Then fold the waistband over and pin to cover the waist seam. Hand stitch this in place.

This is how your skirt will look so far.

Step 10: time to sew your zip. A concealed zip is best to use with this skirt and you start off by sewing the zip to the left hand edge. Then fasten the zip and mark the waist seam so you can line up waistband. Sew the other side, then the back seam together. (we will cover zips in detail at a later date). To finish fold over the tops of the zips behind the seams.

You can hem the skirt by turning under or binding to finish. And there you have your skirt! I would love to see photos of your skirts on, hear your feedback and would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Zips can be purchased through Jaycotts

Bias binding from wild roses

And fabulous printed fabrics that are the perfect width from Millie Moon.

Friday Friends - Sarah Godsill

2012-02-17T01:30:00.000Z

Anna and me at the tweet up!

The Little Red Cafe, Catharines Hill, Frome when Sarah is based.

Wedding preparations from Sarah's portfolio

Last week at the Marry Me in Somerset Tweet up we met this super talented lady Sarah Godsill.
Sarah was incredibly modest about her work, quietly sketching away in the corner until I decided to talk at her about illustration and how wonderful it must be to be able to draw so well! (My poor victims that get caught up in my ramblings on rare outings from the studio.)

The next day this amazing illustration of Anna and me arrived in my in-box and I was totally blown away. The sketches of all the people at the tweet up were instantly recognisable even though I had only met most of these people once.

Her work has this great Quentin Blake feel to it and looking at the further illustrations of the events and weddings she had drawn, I just keep thinking 'Four Weddings' (one of my favourite British films, all eccentric and dappy instead of miserable and grey!). Its beautifully English Summertime feel really makes the drawings and people come alive on the page with her vibrant use of colour and ability to capture personalities. I can just imagine how amazing it must be to receive a portfolio of the sketches after your wedding or event.
It's an illustrated story book of your day and one of the most gorgeous ideas and talents I have seen in a while. Not to mention she's a really lovely lady too who you would really want at your day.

Scrap the silly chair covers, favours, tea cups and even pudding, this is way more of a lasting treat. For more information on Sarah Godsill and to view her work click here!

What Katy Did Next

2012-02-15T13:30:00.000Z

The 'Olive' steam punk hair piece.

Our tweed dress with the 'Queenie' large fascinator hat

Our Harris Tweed princess coat.

Our black lace cocktail dress worn with black lace bunny ears and the 'Lena' petite hairpiece

Our mint silk taffeta cocktail dress available made to order.

Our Floral bodice with the gorgeous grey underskirt from Doris Designs and the pink shoe clips!

Our Mint Silk taffeta cocktail dress worn with the Julia hair piece

'Alice' wearing our blue velvet princess coat and tweed dress with the Amelia beaded head band.

We recently lent out our dresses to the wonderful and super talented Katy from What Katy Did Next for a shoot all the way up North. Once I had viewed Katy's work I was more than excited to have my dresses shot with her beautiful accessories and completely trusted that what she was going to do, would be fabulous. The shoot revolved around the theme of Alice in Wonderland, with the two stunning models playing the parts of Alice and the White Rabbit.
Sally Thurrell photographed Katy's 2012 collection which is made up of the prettiest accessories that you could wear to any occasion as well as for a wedding. My favourite has to be the Florence below, I love the pale blue, feathers, lace and the fact that it is a giant super gorgeous bow!

The Florence hair bow

HUGE THANK YOU'S TO KATY FOR ORGANISING THIS FANTASTIC SHOOT!

Accessories: What Katy Did Next
Bunny Ears: Talulah Blue (we love these so much!)
Underskirts: Doris Designs
Photographer: Sally Thurrell
Styled by: Katy Howieson and The Whistling Bunting Travelling Tea Party
Hair and Make Up: Beautiful bride makeovers
Models: Katy Marie Clarke and Nathalie Johnston aka Lily La Rousse

Business Note ....

We have quite a few requests for dresses to be borrowed for photo shoots and as all you indie designers know, it can be a little bit of a hit or miss thing to do. Firstly you have to pack up all your garments and have them couriered to the shoot, trust that the stylists know what they are doing and in some cases after all the expense and risk of sending out your samples they don't even get used!
A few things I have learnt so far about lending out samples is ......

-check out the people organising the shoot thoroughly along with the other designers involved. If you don't like what they do just say no.

-Insist that they send you at least a few shots of your garments being used even if they don't make the final cut as this will pay for your efforts of sending your garments to them for free. If they don't use them they need to pay you.

-get insurance, if all your samples go missing or come back in a mess you would be devastated

-use wardrobe boxes, it's so much easier.

- give clear instructions of how you would like your garments to be shot and what can and can't be done with your garments. If necessary send clips and pins as there is nothing worse than getting photos back to see your designs not fitting right.

- organise the courier to return your garments yourself so they are not hanging around too long.

- be grateful that you have been asked, when it works well all the people involved get something great including you, so most of the time it is definitely worth all the effort. Especially when you get great shots of your work like the ones above. Remember the people orgaizing ther shoot are doing most of the work xxx

Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-14T10:26:00.000Z

Happy Valentines Day lovelies! We're doing it (poochy) style today in our fabulous new red dog print dress. Another amazing find from Millie Moons incredible fabric selection and this heart stopping bright red. This is a Michael Miller Tribute to Tammis Keefe print, she was (in my opinion) one of the best graphic print designers of the mid century creating iconic American, kitsch textile prints in the 40's and 50's. Read More here.

The dress will be available in the shop soon with the long awaited return of the pink elephant dress!Also available at the Millie Moon shop ion Frome, Somerset.

Photo Booth Photos

2012-02-13T11:07:00.000Z

Last Wednesday we were invited to a 1st Birthday party tweet up at The Manor in Wellington. It was to celebrate Marry Me Somerset's 1st Birthday (Happy Birthday Ladies!!!) and it was a lovely evening of cakes, bubbly an incredible illustrator (who we will tell you all about on Friday) and this fabulous photobooth.
The party photobooth is amazing and has very good lighting and picture quality, we're even thinking how we can do a whole photo shoot in this one. Ran by the lovely Mike and Sue based in Bournemouth and they travel all the way up to Bristol and Oxford. Really wherever you would like. It's also a great way to get photos of all the guests at your party.
I think the bubbles had gone straight to my head but I do love a sailor hat!

Friday Friends - What Katy Did Next

2012-02-10T18:07:00.000Z

Our Friday friend today is What Katy Did Next , a gorgeous accessories label by UK designer Katy Howieson. A relatively recent graduate of textile and surface design, Katy has already proven her professional skill out in the fashion and bridal market with three stunning collections. We were very honoured that Katy asked to use our dresses for the styling shoots of her latest collection, Alice in Wunderland.

The Heart Shoe Clips were a thank you from Katy and I am truly in love with these. The best surprise hidden in my box of dresses, sparkling, pink and heart shaped. These will be a regular occurrence on the blog!

The wonderland lookbook shoot, (above image of the Julia hair piece) photographed by Sally Thurrell will be coming up soon, in the meantime you can read all about it on Katy's blog.

To find out more and to see the gorgeous accessories made by What Katy Did Next Click Here. Xxx

Super Cute Kids Petticoats

2012-02-07T16:30:00.000Z

Now childrens wear is usually Anna's department (as I only seam to like designing dresses that I would wear myself!) but these were made for my cousins and goddaughter as Christmas presents so I'm allowed this one.
The skirts were designed to wear with leggings or under party dresses, for running, dancing jumping about and dressing up and being silly in. Kind of what my adult dresses are for. I remember my Mum dressing me up as a child, I had this incredible bright yellow, fuchsia pink and turquoise blue polka dot, tiered ruffly party dress one year which was amazing.
I used to hate anything with a high neck and anything brown. I threw my first fashion strop at the age of three when someone tried to put me in a brown dress at a fashion show, apparently it was quite a scene. I also used to wear my pink ballet dress to lunch at Grandmas and squeezed myself into a Victorian Christening gown because it was pretty. It ripped bad! My parents didn't stand a chance against my insistence of what I wore.
I used to love friends dressing up boxes, I had one friend who lived in an old chapel with graves in the garden and a cherry tree. Her dressing up box was brimming full or red tulle, golds and rustly taffeta's which I still love the sound of today. As a child it was definitely about all the senses, colour and texture and volume.

So back to the skirts, they are pretty, voluminous, comfy, nearly tutu like, have bows on and are bright. I think I would have liked these as a child to run around the garden in and that's what it's all about. Yes, I may have tried to squeeze into one of these too xxx

The little black dress .... Introducing the Sara.

2012-02-07T10:47:00.002Z

Introducing the Sara .......

This dress was made for my friend Sara's hen party, as I wasn't making her wedding dress I thought she should have a super smokin' cocktail dress to wear instead beforehand. This will also prevent any old fashioned wifelyness in the future, it certainly ain't no kitchen dress! :)

The dress had to be a secret and I knew in all the excitement of the party a photo shoot wasn't really going to happen. Luckily the day before our gorgeous model Kimmy Lou popped over and she did the honours whilst we finished the hem.
The dress will be coming up on the boutique in the next week or so available made to order in this gorgeous draped silk with a corseted bodice. It's a showstopper that works wonders on curves. Complete with pockets as always and you can have any underskirt colour you like, I love the metallic gold trim. xxx

Goodbye to Asos

2012-02-04T17:32:00.000Z

Amazing Marylin image found via we heart it here, please let me know where the original comes from if you know.

So I decided to close our Asos boutique the other day after a lot of deliberating. Sometimes you just gotta walk away when things aren't working.

I loved being there and being part of the ASOS marketplace which is exciting and cool and inspiring and full of amazing boutiques.

The downside was that my business is in making for individuals. It's personal and I love it that I get to talk to you and discuss everything about your dress along the way. I couldn't do this in the same way on Asos.
I couldn't grab customers like I do with my own online boutique or etsy and get you to check your measurements before I send the dress out and then tweak it so you get a perfect fit. My dresses are Fifties fitted with no stretch, so risking the 10 when you're a 12 really didn't work out in the same way as jersey dresses.

Even when I did manage to check, the customers were a little 'get it to me quick, don't worry about the measurements, I'm usually a 10' unlike Etsy where you guys all seem to know your measurements like the back of your hand. Standard sizing is a minefield, personally knowing my numbers are vital when I buy online.
We all expect different things from different shops, I expect something fast from Asos and I want it yesterday. With Etsy I can wait weeks patiently.

70% of the dresses were fine but I was super sore about those dresses that came back. I know in retail this is expected but it's like someone sending your kid back from school for me! And when you have to pay a big chunk of the tag price for it, it really hurts finacially too.

My lesson, really check out how an online retail sitiuation will work for your product however cool and perfect it looks. It's sensible suit versus wanting to be part of the cool crowd here. Ask yourself ......

How do the messaging systems work and can you commincate clearly with your customer how you want to?
Can you link to your website, social networks, blog etc to further promote your brand?
Can you present your product and information just as you need to?
Can you factor in commisons and keep all your price points the same on various sites and brick and mortar shops?
How will it work for you?

So goodbye, I still love you Asos. It's not you, it's me, we just didn't work out x

New Customer Photos, Cafe Lace

2012-02-01T18:39:00.001Z

Here are the pictures from dresses we made all the way back in June last year. The fabric was sourced on a mad hunt to Singapore's Arab Street (the single best fabric shopping road in the world) where we found this gorgeous cafe coloured tulle and a bronzed lace. I still wish I had bought ten more meters of this.

The dresses were designed for each bridesmaid and the flower girl dress is so adorable that Anna produced to match the other two.

This reminds me that I have the most incredible silk Saris bought on the same trip that I have yet to use, we may have an Indian Summer this year! x

Dresses on the Catwalk ....

2012-02-01T15:47:00.000Z

The gorgeous Kims look suitably fifties Miami with the cats eyes glasses.

We so want one of these lightbulb make up cases!

Anna was very busy last week representing us at a fashion show in Street. Unfortunately I couldn't be there as I was attending my best friend Sara's hen do, but here is Anna to tell you all about the wonderful night. I so wish I had been there, it looks like everyone had a fantastic time!

Huge Thank Yous to Anna, Kim, Kim and all the make-up artists, hairdressers and organisers! x

Over to Anna .........

Last Saturday night I took along some of our dresses to a fashion show in Street, my hometown, in aid of Breast Cancer Research.

At Alexandra King we are lucky to be able to make dresses for ladies worldwide through the wonders of the Internet, but it's also great to get involved with other local businesses and showcase what we do in Somerset.

The fashion show was organised by Oomph and Lift Lingerie, which is run by mother and daughter team Elaine and Natalie. Elaine and Natalie decided to open their shop last year after struggling to find correct fitting bras for themselves and spotting a gap in the market in this area. When creating our dresses we are very aware of the difference good underwear makes and often offer advice on this, so it's great to have them on our doorstep.

Jewellery to go with our dresses for the show was lent to us by Rachel from Ayerst and Graces. Ayerst and Graces is another local shop that stocks jewellery from designers and makers from around the UK. It's great to support stores that stock the work of British craftspeople, and of course this is the natural choice to go with our bespoke handmade dresses.

Kim Heal and Kim Hill modelled for us, we all had our hair and make-up done and a great night was had by all. There was a fabulous selection of underwear, swimwear, dresses, clothing, jewellery and nightwear on the catwalk and everyone enjoyed a few glasses of wine and yummy homemade cakes. Around 70 people attended and we made nearly £500 for Breast Cancer Research - not bad hey?

Thanks again to all involved xx.

Emerald Green Awards Dress

2012-02-01T07:45:00.001Z

Late last December the lovey Alice Rimes came to me with a request for a dress to wear to the Wedding Ideas awards in January.
Alice had something very specific in mind, a collared cocktail dress that would stand out against the wash of full length gowns and in the emerald green, would make an impact.
Well, it worked and I was so happy when the photos came through. We chose our favourite emerald green silk and trimmed the dress with a beaded pearl trim cut from a vintage scarf I had been hoarding away.
This was a fabulous start to the year and such a gorgeous dress with Alice looking show stopping in her bespoke number.

Photography by wild about weddings and supertography.

Alice is a writer for wedding ideas magazine and is far better a putting the whole experience into words, she's certainly not just a pretty face!

"Wedding Ideas’ Alice designed and bought her dream bespoke dress, and so can you…

Before I get started: Bespoke; the simple definition = custom made. (Don’t worry if you didn’t already know that – neither did I before I started working for Wedding Ideas!)

Every bride-to-be wants to look truly unique on her big day and sometimes this may mean wearing an alternative to a shop bought gown. Alexandra King is an independent label, run by the lady herself from her adorable studio in Somerset. Alexandra, along with her partner Anna Vickery, creates heavenly bespoke dresses, inspired by the vintage era and they specialise in bridal and womenswear.

I first contacted Alexandra because I wanted something really personal and individual to wear to our Wedding Ideas awards ceremony. With a few ideas in mind I emailed Alexandra explaining my taste and style, along with photos of dress ideas that I really liked. She quickly replied and said she would love to work with me on my designs (cue lots of excitable squeaking from me!). I then went to visit her in her studio to discuss my dress, take a look at her drawings and pick out the fabrics I wanted. (I went for an emerald green taffeta, with a vintage beaded lace for the cuffs and collar). Alexandra also measured me at our first meeting. Dress design agreed on and deposit paid, all I had to do was wait for my lovely little dress to be made. It really was as simple as that!

A few weeks later an email drops into my inbox – a photo of my gorgeous green dress, just as I imagined. In fact, even more beautiful than I imagined! Alexandra invited me back to her studio for a fitting and to make sure I was 100% happy with the look and feel.

Me and Alexandra at her studio I put the dress on, I danced, I twirled, I jumped about – and having pulled a few shapes in front of the mirror, we all decided perhaps the sleeves were a bit tight. It wasn’t a problem at all. Alexandra wants all her brides to be 110% happy with their big-day gowns, and is willing to make all the changes needed until they are fully satisfied. My new sleeves were added the very next day and just a day later the dress arrived by special delivery to my front door.

Having designed and bought my dream, bespoke gown, I can hand-on-heart say it was a wonderful and rewarding experience. It was a simple, fuss-free purchase that allowed me to have exactly what I wanted, and I would certainly recommend it. For brides to be struggling to find ‘the one’, buying bespoke may just be the answer. Alexandra has an extensive bridal wear collection that can be tailored to suit individual needs, all of which are made up to your personal measurements. She can also make delightful designs for your bridesmaids, too. Alexandra is an extremely talented dress maker, (and lovely, kind and funny to boot) and she may just be the answer to your wedding dress dreams. Also, I’d like to add – bespoke does not automatically mean more expensive, Alexandra’s prices are incredibly affordable for brides, go check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me!

Whether or not you decide to ‘go bespoke’ – I would like to wish you the best of luck for finding ‘the one’ and please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below, I love hearing from you.

Love Alice x"

Blue velvet in the making

2012-01-24T22:54:00.001Z

A little making of the blue velvet princess coat which we made earlier this month to go to Italy, Most of the lining is hand stitched in place and I love the way it sits over a full skirt. Perfect for the opera in this gorgeous jewely dark blue.

January has well and truly come and nearly gone already in all it's manic, whirlwind of wedding splendour. It was like everyone set their alarm clocks to start plans this month and I have had to force myself to sit down and do a post. The scary thing is the longer I leave it, the more I am struggling to find something interesting to post. I need to start rambling more again.
I also can't share anything like sketches or dresses until the weddings have been so I have lots of secrets sitting in my studio at the moment!
Time for new collections too ......................................................

Working the prom dress

2012-01-15T17:25:00.001Z

The last prom dress for now, in it's final stages of being made. This dress was one of my first designs when I was still on a path to study fine art and sculpture. This photo reminded me of the white dress I originally sculpted over chicken wire with pva glue and nylon tissue, on my foundation course. It was in the first week of my degree that I realised I wanted to make the dresses to wear.

I then bought a lot of three 1950's dresses from America, one of my first eBay purchases back then and arrived, stuffed in a cardboard box was this stunning white tulle and lace debutant dress which still hangs on my wall today. It isn't really anything like this prom dress looking at it now, the American dress has rather a flat skirt compared to this, but it was certainly a big inspiration.

The design has taken five years to develop to what it is now, I remember the first dresses were a really stiff tulle all over and with nowhere near enough layers. They were built onto bought bodices to begin with but now we make the entire under dress and corset as the base in silk and then the layers of tulle and skirts are hand draped and stitched in place, carefully shaping the waist and hips.

It will always be one of my favourites, I just wonder how it will develop further into new designs over the next ten years, maybe it's just right how it is now?

Customer pics and wonky blog

2012-01-15T11:01:00.001Z

Here are the customer pictures again. The basic issue at the moment is that I thought it would be a great idea to get an iPad so that I could post more regularly, get away from the clutches of the computer and focus more on designing everyday.

My first post sent the whole blog wonky so this is the second try today.
The beautiful Mel in Australia first of all in her pink silk cocktail dress for a trip to New York and secondly our organic cotton asymmetric summer dress in sea foam green chosen by Mel. She looks super gorgeous, just how we like our dresses to look!

Next up is Ditte in her silk tartan cocktail skirt. We adapted the silk tartan princess dress down to a skirt with a fitted high waist and full nets underneath in black. I love Ditte's cropped black sweater with this and sometimes a dress in two parts can be better than one, you get to wear each part more!
Hopefully this post won't set everything skewif again.

A Very Late New Year

2012-01-12T13:13:00.000Z

Giffords circus 2011

Wow I really am behind already this year, blogging wise that is! We started 2012 with three deadlines in the first week and a crazy amount of emails. To top this my Christmas week off left me feeling so relaxed that getting motivated again was pretty hard. I became too accustomed to eating hourly and watching Mad Men!

So talking of 2012 what do we have planned? January and February is solidly booked with meeting you lovely people for appointments about wedding dresses and bridesmaids attire. I love bridesmaids, each wedding is a new capsule collection.
An old friend is getting wed in feb too for which I am bridesmaid (i may learn some bridesmaiding skills!) and I've been given free reign on the dresses too! My friend has very thoughtfully chosen black which is always a winner with a bridesmaid!

We have our first workshops at Millie Moon in Wells on the 22nd January and the 19th February click here to book you place. By the end of your workshop you will have a rock roll underskirt to make fabulous all of your full skirts and by the end of the second workshop you'll have a gorgeous full summer skirt in your choice of Millie Moon prints!

I'm taking two hours a week to learn the elegant art of burlesque with Pink Kitten. Providing I don't keep wobbling when I should be doing my sultry walks, (or giggling) this will be a long term weekly treat. It's a great excuse to make dresses for myself and wear them too.

A new bridal collection for 2012 is on it's way and we will be at two 'vintage' wedding fairs (this word is becoming more and more dead as i say it) in Bristol on the 26th Feb and the 11th March. It will be great if you can come along and say hello, there should be some gorgeous vintage (used as the genuine term) dresses about to drool over along with our dresses, twinkling accessories and you can book your hair styled by the amazing Fiona from beehive brides, none of which you need to be a bride for!
These will probably be the only wedding fairs we do this year as however much we love meeting all the lovely ladies and businesses we have way too much work to be getting on with here at the studio.

Spring is fast approaching with another collect ready to wear womenswear collection in the sketchbook. Gypsies, circus folk and pop princesses are a little hint of what's to come.

So for now are order books are quickly filling up for the year and we have one very exciting year ahead filled with dresses galore quite literally!

Off to finish a wedding dress now! Don't think I should have time off again, not that I will until November anyhow xxx

Looking back at 2011 ...

2011-12-31T15:07:00.001Z

I said to myself at the beginning of 2011: if I don't make a go of this by Christmas, I will go out and get a 'proper' job and give up this idea of being a designer running my own label. Things were getting tough and I hadn't really worked out what I was doing clearly, along with taking some business advice that meant changing the plan a quite dramatically.

This last year has been the one to define what we do (there's still quite a bit to go).

I'm just like most of my lovely customers when choosing a dress, I wanted to do everything, and design every dress imaginable, but after this year I am beginning to get a sense of myself and my brand to start working on fully next year. It's very exciting!

It's definitely been a roller coaster (I'm going to try and not be one of those people who talk in metaphors when it comes to business!) emotionally and accounts wise. There were scarily quiet times and then crazy busy times which I suppose are all part of running your own business. The skill is going to be in planning for this and making sure everything runs smoothly throughout each of these times.

There were a few tears, and many many smiles, my obsession with seams and old techniques really did pay off along with wanting to make each dress individually and with the best hand crafted techniques possible.

Katie's dress has to be my dress of the year, it is the defining dress of my career so far and the dress that will always mark a point where I decided that using the best techniques will always be what my dresses are about, no cutting corners to cut prices. I was the dress that made me really beleive in what I was doing.

Anna encouraged me to take part in our first wedding fair which I had been strictly against, but I was proved wrong and it was a wonderful success and so much fun. We me so many lovely people.

I launched my first bridal collection, was on the radio and opened a boutique on Asos. We made some fabulous prom dresses for gorgeous girls and made two ready to wear collections that I will find hard to say goodbye too. I even braved the camera and in doing so learnt much more about how I want the dresses to feel and fit.

The Astor Dress from 2011 Bridal.

We have had the most wonderful brides and customers this year, each has worked with me to produce individual dresses that I have been so happy with!

We worked on dresses for women all around the world and here at home, for their weddings and events. We met the wonderful Millie Moon and made the pink elephant dress and even made a dress for the fabulous RocknRoll Bride.

The prom dress became perfected, we made some amazing on off dresses and I even taught you how to make your own underskirts on RocknRoll bride.

It's been a really wonderful year and I can't wait to start back on Monday working on the new bridal collection, on Valentines brides dresses and meeting lots of lovely ladies January. Plus I have my first workshop at Millie Moon on the 22nd January in Wells.

HUGE thank you's to Anna for putting up with me crazy ramblings and making th dresses so perfect, Mum for all of the support and super hand sewing skills, Dad for drilling holes in my studio and for all the wise calming words and of course to Wing for helping me with the blog design, being so, so patient, for making me always try and look harder and for being the best husband ever, ever, ever!

AND of course to all you incredible customers with wonderful visions and all the lovely people we have met this year including the beautiful models, bloggers, photographers and amazing people out there who do amazing, excellent quality work! THANK YOU AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Providing I don't get hit by a bus, it's going to be a fantastic and very exciting new year ahead in 2012!

P.S. I have too many dresses to work on next year now so I can't go out and get a proper job, looks like designing and running my own label will have to be my job :) xxx

Sylvia in Green

2011-12-28T13:30:00.000Z

Underneath the hand draped neckline is a corseted bodice for support and a little hugging

trimmed with a removable scarlett red velvet bow

the back has a draped sash from the shoulders embellished with vintage brooches

all ready and waiting in it's box to be worn

Our 'Sylvia was Swept Away' in our favourite emerald green silk. It looks like quite a showstopper and is guaranteed to compliment your curves perfectly with it's integrated, boned bodice and cinched waist. We love it and the red red velvet bow we made to trim it with, just like a present!
To order your dress in this colour or any colour, just add a note when ordering x

Holiday Treat!

2011-12-27T16:23:00.000Z

We don't have sales on our dresses but we do have this special code that will give you 20% off our ready to wear collection on Etsy until the 2nd January, here we go! ..... HOLIDAY20 (simply type this in at the check out.)
Happy holidays, grab yourself something fabulous for the New Year xxx

Happy Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-25T00:30:00.000Z

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you all have a fabulous day whatever you are doing and whatever you are wearing! Love from Alexandra and Anna xxx

Friday Friends - Pink Kitten Burlesque

2011-12-23T00:31:00.000Z

Poppy Von Tarte performing the fan dance

Two weeks ago I plucked up the courage to go to my first burlesque 'Christmas Seduction' lesson with the pink kitten dance school. It sounds far more personal than it was and I had the best day ever!

It all started with a visit to the completely amazing Proud Cabaret Decades show in London on a trip to visit a good friend. It was the classic red smokey basement bar with beautiful ladies and gents dancing, singing and removing fabulous outfits from the 20s up to the 80s.
It was everything I love, the sequins, theatrics, music and costumes with a that fun pin-up sexiness. In the morning I decided I needed some ME time in the form of burlesque lessons. I could up my wifely skills, (I still associate the word 'wife' with kitchen sinks and needing a mistress, sorry I know I shouldn't) get to have more fabulous outfits and maybe even have some fun exercise.

Busby Berkeley chorus girls

Posting pictures on this blog doesn't mean I have any confidence, I mainly live in my little world in my studio, making dresses and occasionally dressing up in them. I'm usually too scared to even talk to the checkout lady in the supermarket let alone dance sexily around a room with other people.

I signed up with Pink Kitten dance school and after meeting Michaela (aka Poppy Von Tarte) and another girl like me at the empty venue bar in Bristol, we started the first lesson.
Poppy put us at ease straight way, we talked about why we were there and started with some warm ups. Back to ballet with toe pointing and fabulous cat stretching!
I of course got so excited about what I was wearing, turned up in stockings and button through dress ready to strip! Leggings and a skinny tee would have done the job, but killer heels are a must!

Penelope Cruz in Nine

I've always loved old musicals, ballet, Cabaret, Nine, Gypsy Rose Lee and the like, so immediately I was in the perfect place with the Moulin Rouge soundtrack playing. We learnt the red carpet showgirl stance (I will be making everyone stand like this in the future as you straight away transform into a starlet) complete with feather boa and long gloves for remvoving with your teeth.

Later arrived to more lovely students of Pink Kitten, everyone was so, so nice, not scary in any way just very welcoming and encouraging with lots of giggles and posing.

The classic Gil Elvgren Pin Up

Next came Prince (another favourite, I was in my 80's element!) and a lap dance which Poppy talked us through the history off beforehand and our views. The whole day was very positively feminist with certainly no promoting of the seedier side of striping which is aimed mainly at certain types of men. Itwas an real education on theatre, old choreography and even a little acting too!
The lap dance was a brilliant routine, teasing a stool to Prince's Kiss, totally camp and fabulous with power strutting.
The whole day I kept imagining all the various outfits. The rhinestone covered burlesque corsets and giant fans, an 80's tropical pink, high leg bikini with big volumised perm and the cutest Santa dress in red velvet with a fur trim and hooded cape.

Santa Baby Routine

And finally we learnt an Ertha Kitt, Santa Baby routine which I still keep practising as it was incredible pin-up style fun. These ladies are so welcoming that I was even invited to join in the with Christmas cabaret. I wanted to do this so much, but dress orders had to come first and as you can tell from my ramblings I could get very swept away with this!

I really do have to recommend this to everyone, Pink Kitten do boylesque too!
Especially if you need a little confidence boost (which I did) and it doesn't matter your age, your size, whether you are single or attached. I left feeling like a million dollars on cloud nine and it was just for me and about how I feel about myself. I know some people said how brave I was to do it, I reckon Zumba or the gym is way scarier.
A pink kitten lesson is more like going to a place where you dance to super fantastic girly music, end up loving your body (especially it's flaws), feel super sexy and meet lovely people who like the same things as you. And you get a good work out, AND you get amazing outfits instead of nasty sportswear, Poppy taught us in a polka dot, fifties rocknroll dress. Not many fitness classes will do this.

The fabulous Gypsy Rose Lee,

So I have found an excercise that I love, it's everything I love in fact all in one gorgeous burlesque class with Pink Kitten.
If you haven't treated yourself this Christmas you can do so with a Pink Kitten class if you're in the Southwest or any other burlesque class in your area. Go make yourself feel like a film star, you'll never feel frumpy ever again! xxx

Dressember Wedding Dresses

2011-12-21T23:22:00.000Z

This picture was just after the ceremony, I couldn't wait to get this dress off however beautiful as I hate having trappings around my legs. The main reason I make such a fuss with brides being able to walk and dance in their trains!

Our first dance, Wing did amazingly well to brave this in front of people. The band 'Shoot the Moon' played such a gorgeous song for us. Completely unplanned.

Wings poster that we used as the invite for our wedding.

The dress now, the champagne tulle, and crazy amounts of pearl sequins and feathers. Everything I loved in one dress!

My hat was an 80's Kangol/ 40's style beret hat that I beaded the weeks up to the wedding.

My cocktail dress for the evening, candy stripes and ribbons, the very first version of our prom dress which is now perfected. This was quite a rough sample, too many drinks spills and tears in this to show it fully, we all camped in the field the night of the wedding and I slept in my dress !

This was the dress I wore to the registry office the day before, complete with leopard print heels and a black pill box hat. I still love the shape and the drapes have added tulle for structuring. Made from a beautiful Sari sent over from our family friends in Singapore.

We were married on the 7th and 8th September 2007. It's amazing what can happen in four years and how much we can learn. The seams inside these dresses would have never passed the test of our dresses now but it's really wonderful to see how in this short space of time my designs and our spec has developed. I remember being in a crazy rush making these as I wanted to make not one but three dresses for my wedding, whilst working full time! There are pictures of me and my friend Morgan sewing the dresses, along with the bridesmaids dresses I chose to make too, the morning of the wedding!

Wing (my husband) illustrated the invitation poster and we found bands on myspace (again amazing how things change in four years!) to play in the field that the day was held in.
Everything was quite low key on one hand, nothing too formal and it was really designed to be a fun day for friends and family. No stresses, on the day all the little mishaps went straight over my head, we had a very simple hog roast, guests bought puddings and we filled a bathtub with drinks for everyone to help themselves. If I could do it again I would, as it was an awesome day but I think I would save Wing all the worries and make it a party with a very private ceremony just for us. My dresses would be vastly improved too!

Dresses: Alexandra King
Shoes: Topshop
Venue: A Marquee at Badgworth Farm, Somerset
Flowers: sweet peas grown by my Mum
Music: Shoot the Moon, The Skabucks (a very young band), A Jazz Band in the Afternoon
Catering: Pasture to Plate
Photography: Charlie Deane

yes we had plastic garden chairs and we had a really amazing day and the last thing I noticed or cared about was the chairs!

My wonderful brides people! Morgan wore his own collection knitwear, Vivienne Westwood boots and lots of old foxes, Sara's dress was embellished by me with lots of sequins and Sooz's dress was adapted from an original 1950s cocktail dress. The all looked amazing ! (sorry about the tight corseting Sara, I owe you in February!)

Dressember Wedding Dress Wednesday

2011-12-21T22:25:00.001Z

It's been a long time coming but at last as a Christmas treat we are revealing our own wedding snaps and dresses!

Anna was wed first on the 10th September after we graduated at the beautiful Shapwick House six years ago. I remember the search for the dress, finding it and then pinning it down, the planning, ideas and all of the stunning flowers Anna picked as she was also working part time as a florist whilst we were studying.

Gerbera's trimmed the cake and Anna used orchids and bright pink Gerbera's in the bouquet. Her dress was a gorgeous find in Monsoon and was completely perfect, tea length in silk chiffon with a clean lined shoulder length veil that matched Anna's hair length. This is a great way to wear a veil working with the right proportions when you have long hair and me thinks it is already making a come back.
The shoes were pearlised pink leather from Hobbs and attached to the bouquet was the classic lucky horseshoe in silver.
Anna and me discuss bridesmaids very often and I always refer back to Anna's decision to give her bridesmaids the choice of thier own dresses which in our opinion is always best. The colour pink was set along with the length and the rest was up to them. They looked stunning and happy all day long!

I love how even though this was only six years ago the images have a grain to them that remind me of a (recent) time that already feels so lovely, timeless and nostalgic, everyone looks so young and happy!

Dress: Monsoon
Shoes: Hobbs
Flowers: Mundy's Street
Venue: Shapwick House Hotel

Dressember spots and stripes

2011-12-20T17:02:00.001Z

Dressember Spots and Stripes in our organza striped party dress, polka dot tulle caplet and my favourite leopard spot heels from Topshop. (They're pony skin with suede heels!) and my new tortoiseshell spot glasses from Dead Men's Spex.

I've also half put my Christmas tree up in my studio, it's ten years old and has been replaced by a chubby fat real tree in the house :( feeling quite festive but very, very busy at the moment.
Only three and half days until holiday time and I want to make sure all your dresses due in January are ready for the new year ..........

We're in the Times!

2011-12-19T19:27:00.000Z

Well, our tie dye dress is in a photograph in the Times Newspaper worn by our beautiful bride to be Caroline West and photographed by the amazingly talented Sassy from Assassynation. It's in the Marriages and Engagements section, how brilliantly 'society'!

Gold Sequins and Waving

2011-12-14T20:25:00.000Z

OK, I'm really sorry for the lack of posts, this week has been a little mad on the dress front, Christmas time requires cocktail dresses. This is supposed to be our quiet time too!
Saturday was sparkly dress day for Dressember and I draped this completely fabulous gold sequined fabric, I can't wait to make it up properly! I also did something very, very exciting for some me time this week too, will tell all on Friday.....

Blue silk tartan cocktail dress.

Today I worked on another wedding dress for next year, it's looking quite stunning and hopefully I will get a chance to to work on the next bridal collection very soon too. It was wave in a dress day today so I popped on our blue silk tartan dress and waved!
The belt was a brilliant find in H&M yesterday whilst manically trying to find Christmas presents for children in my family. I realised I am quite mean when it comes to children's gifts and just kept thinking, "I could give them NOTHING and have lovely shoes for me instead". How cruel.
Off the write Christmas cards now, I have bought some gorgeous rocking horse ones from knots and kisses here.

Friday Friends and News

2011-12-09T17:44:00.001Z

Firstly a huge massive Friday group of friends all wearing dresses every day for Dressember and action for children.
One of the lovely ladies, Lisa turned my drawings from last year into these badges that are for sale on her website with £1 from every pack going to Action for Children. Or you can donate at the Dressembers just giving page. It's not too late to start wearing dresses either!

We said goodbye to one of our wonderfully festive Mackintosh red tartan silk cocktail dresses this week, of course going all the way up to Scotland for a Hogmanay New Years Eve. It's certainly going to be the most fabulous dress of the night!

You can wear with a the skirt big .....

...Or a little smaller x

Here is my dressember dress of the day, the classic little black organic cotton dress complete with all 6 badges. I am really loving these at the moment and have decided they are the best most versatile dress in my wardrobe. Sparkles are coming tomorrow too!!!!

And finally we are very pleased to announce that we will be at the Bristol vintage wedding fair at the Zoo in February. It will be the day before Anna's birthday so come and say 'Happy Birthday' we will be in an especially joyful mood to show and tell our dresses, even if you're not getting married!
Hope we don't bother the lions and hippos too much with our fun ans frolics at the fair?!

Have a great Friday night all xxx

New Customer Photo!

2011-12-07T19:02:00.001Z

I love, love, love receiving customer photos in the post and seeing how gorgeous they look in our dresses!
This is the stunning Toni in her little black silk cocktail dress, the original Betty.
Obviously the bride looks wonderful but I am blown away by how chic and elegant Toni looks in the dress I made. The cut away shoulders look great, the nipped in waist and the casual (yes I'm cool and pretty) pockets balance it perfectly. Love this so much I need to make one for myself! Sorry, I'm quite excited as this is just how I like my dresses to look!
Huge thank you to Toni xxx

Dressember Day 7

2011-12-07T16:08:00.001Z

Dressember day 7 : The task: To Twirl in a Dress.
So I span about this morning, pretending to do ballet pirouettes until I got very dizzy and felt very very sick. The good thing to know was that my full circles skirts do a great twirl and teamed with the underskirts, look amazing!
Today's dress was our pink and lace lace tie dyed party dress. xxx

A Dress for RocknRoll Bride

2011-12-06T15:25:00.001Z

Today the dress I made for Kat at RocknRoll Bride arrived and I discovered something amazing that was right in front of me!

Betty's Good Tee Dress in Orgain Fair Trade Cotton

Being mainly an online business I find many ways to promote my work via twitter, facebook and my blog. I have found some really cool people out there with similar businesses, ideas and styles that are great to talk to and network work with. I am also really lucky to have a few local people (which is rare out in the countryside) that I can chat with about my work and their work.
What I didn't think of was how twitter could let me give really great interactive customer service.
I do a huge amount of communicating via email but just imagine being there when you open the box and try your dress on!

So when your order something and post on twitter, not only do you tell everyone else but the business who you purchased from can also be involved with your reactions and response to the product.

OK I know what you're thinking, WOAH THERE MR SUIT this is a blog about Alexandra King's pretty dresses not how to exploit customers!
For teeny tiny businesses like mine, how a customer feels about a dress I have sewn by hand is really important to me, I want then to love it as much as I do and understand that what they are buying is really special.

Today for the first time I could follow my customer (Kat) as her dress arrived and she tried it on.
This is great for me because
a) it's as close as I can get to a fitting from a distance, I can guide the customer how to put on the dress and hear how it fits etc.
and
b) it's like someone standing in the door of a shop and shouting to everyone on the street how they feel about my dress.
This could obviously go the wrong way too, if the customer isn't happy and not everyone wants to share everything on twitter, but it sure ups the customer service. It's silly that I hadn't thought of this before!

So ladies, if you order a dress and you are on twitter I would love for you to tweet or message me when your dress arrives and when you have tried it on. It means I can be there to answer any questions straight away. Or give me an old fashioned phone call! Follow me on twitter @makemeadress.

Today I learnt just how amazing hearing from customers in real time can be. (And I eventually photographed the ivory underskirt, so pretty!)

Dressember Day 5

2011-12-06T09:52:00.001Z

Here is my Dressember dress day 5 leopard print dress. I tried one of my corsets on underneath this and I was quite pleased with the results, after all the lacing and pulling I had a flat looking tummy area and rather a perky bust. I will definitely be wearing one more often and they feel really comfortable in the lovely silk.

I am also very very excited to announce that I have found more of the amazing leopard spot so it can now be made to order too! Yippee!

Anna came up trumps on day 4 and made a fabulous rock n roll dress for one of her private customers, wonderfully festive too in red music note print with it's cute sweetheart!

Dressember Day 4

2011-12-05T15:28:00.001Z

Dressember day four, a pink organic cotton dress and one of Anna's adorable pinafore toddler dresses in blue florals. Two dresses in one day!

Dressember Day 3

2011-12-04T11:20:00.001Z

So yesterday we both went out and about to take pictures of our dressember dresses. I went for my favourite black organic cotton dress on a trip to Bridport (they have amazing backgrounds and vintage shops in this town!)
And Anna took Scrumps up to Glastonbury Tor in her dress which has made a fabulous shot!
"Here's day 3 too, we walked up Glastonbury Tor this morning, a rather windy pic wearing a green jumper dress - too cold to take off coat completely, the scarf was from Egypt"
Happy Dressember day three x

Dressember Day 2 with Anna

2011-12-04T11:07:00.001Z

Here is Anna's Dressember day 2 shot, The amazing canvas in the background is hand woven silk Anna bought back from Sri Lanka.

It is completely my fault that I am posting this late being away from the studio left my slightly disorganised!

"Dressember day 2 - Cheers (well it was Friday night) Another black dress, this time in jersey with sheer silk top, a Monsoon bargain.... The sash comes from the dress I made for Em's wedding and the watch on silver chain was my Nan's.
Going to try some action shots this weekend xx" Cheers right back to you!x

Dressember Day 2

2011-12-02T17:22:00.001Z

Today's dress was a dress I have been dying to try on for ages, I love this colour so much! Silk taffeta with a perfect Christmas present like charm, full skirts and steel grey bow.
I did actually wear a black knitted dress today also, I didn't think the optician would appreciate this pink dress quite enough :)

Silk taffeta cocktail party dress.

Things have been very busy in the studio this week so I haven't managed to find a Friday friend :( I am looking for more though so if you have any recommendations for lovely people doing exciting creative things just let me know. I have a few people in the pipeline ready to shout about soon too.

Annas Dressember Dress!

2011-12-01T18:58:00.001Z

After a few technical difficulties Anna's first dressember dress has arrived, styled with a gorgeous silk scarf which looks great aginst the black. This is what Anna said ........
"Here's my first dressember pic - this is my 'old faithful' work dress, I love the shape of it, i'm thinking I would like to make a dress like this in blue silk"

Check out Annas lovely new Osprey handbag too, I'm very jealous!

Dressember!!!

2011-12-01T11:20:00.001Z

We took part in Dressember last year but being a little shy I drew pictures of a dress each day instead of wearing one in the photos.
Now we're far braver and very happy to show off our dresses, in fact we are so excited about Dressember we are will be filling the month with extra special dress features, our favourites from the year and you may even get a peek at our wedding dresses too!

Here are all the drawings together from last year in a Dressember advent calender.

The whole point is just to wear a dress every day, boost your femininity and raise a little cash for charity. This years Charity is Action for Children and you can view the just giving page HERE

Take part and join the facebook page and follow on twitter with #dressember
Blythe Hill has a roster of all the blogs taking part too so you can have a further look at what everyone is doing. It's no restricted to ladies either, anyone can wear a dress!

Oh and ...... you can buy badges with my scribblings on from another lady taking part in Dressember HERE

Our toile de jour cotton dress

Here is me (alexandra) in a dress today! I will do my work dress and a party dress each day me thinks, the party dresses are more fun to dress up in!
Anna's dress is coming up later on so keep a look out xxx

Mini Dresses

2011-11-30T13:14:00.001Z

Blue paisley pinafore with polakdot trimming from Millie Moon.

Anna has been working away on these completely adorable and super super cute little girls pinafore dresses.
We often get asked to make mini versions of the bridesmaids dress for flower girls and they always look so wonderful in the photos. Anna has two styles, the traditional full skirt with ruffle sleeves and the pinafore dresses which a great for little ones to run around it and look brilliant with t shirts underneath and cardigans.
All are fully washable and generously sized which we hear is a good thing for tiny growing ladies.

We would love to hear you thoughts, requests and concerns you have when looking for childrenswear as we don't have our own to make for yet. I just like to see them in bright colours!

Denim Pinafore with floral patch pockets

Coral Satin and Peal Pinafore

Blue 1960s Floral Print Pinafore

Silk satin and chiffon flower girl dress.

Debutant Debby on Horseback

2011-11-28T19:06:00.001Z

This incredible photograph arrived in my inbox today and all I can say is WOW!!!! My tulle prom dress looks rather splendid up there modelled by the beautiful Bella and this has to be my favourite image of one of my dresses so far.
I really wish all of the dresses could be worn on horseback or in adventurous places, they are to be enjoyed and played in, not to be too precious about :) Go have fun in your gowns, please!

Friday Friend - The North Pom

2011-11-25T14:31:00.001Z

The Beautiful North Pom

'THE' corded lace dress

The Sylvia black lace wiggle dress with poms

Now, I haven't actually met this lady in person but not only do her poms come recommended by me but other people too so I thinks that's confirmation enough.
We are both working on a wedding later next year which is how I have been introduced to this wondrous lady of the North making her beautiful poms.

Her service is excellent, beautifully wrapped packages in brown paper arrive in the post and then after half an hour of construction (this part is very much fun and you feel like you have achieved something spectacular in that half hour) you have the fantastic paper poms to hang. They look awesome in the studio against our purple wall, look great with the dress and the pom like hair too!
We love The North Pom, go and check out her wares here.

River Cottage Tweet Up

2011-11-24T15:00:00.001Z

Anna and me in the actual River cottage kitchen!!!!

Last night we were treated to a fabulous tweet up at The River Cottage near Axminster hosted by the wonderful Marry Me Somerset ladies.

When you work on your own these networking events can be a bit scary, luckily I had Anna with me to stop me talking too much nonsense and my ever wonderful Mum (it's only fair that she gets to come along after so much backing).
Everyone was so lovely, and this way of networking (meeting people face to face) is really important. It's great to know who else is about, what they do and then you can recommend people genuinely. People in the same industry are a wealth of tips and ideas and no one is ever mean, not to your face anyway. I always think people will say they hate me and my dresses or something awful or point and laugh in a nightmarish way, they really didn't though, honestly! Everyone just wants to share what they do.

The River Cottage dining table!

We had a tractor ride down to the farm which is stunning and the most gorgeous elderflower fizz on arrival.
There were so many interesting people there, a reformed pap using his skills to take stunning photographs, the sweetest florist who you would definitely love working with, Elenor Yeo and the amazing candle maker (we will all want one of these) from Cobweb Designs .

It was great to eventually meet the lovely blooming Boho Bride in person and the delightful Lucy Shergold (this lady really knows how to photograph a dress!)
I even bumped into a close friends wedding stylist which was quite a shock and a giggle! The little wedding helper.

The real highlight of the evening was talking to Sassi Holford, I actually said the words 'sorry I'm just a little star struck right now' to her. What an idiot I am! Sassi was so lovely, gave us some amazing advice and is truly a massive inspiration. One Day .........

The evening ended with a lovely chat with Sabine from G Lily floral design. This is why networking is so good sometimes, you get to meet people in person that motivate you and inspire you to move forward which is worth a million tweets, adverts and facebook posts!

a blurry tractor ride back, sorry my camera really didn't like the ambient lighting :(

One more for the tractor ride home, a wonderful lady selling great cider in her portable Cider Shed.
I think that's enough name dropping for one day or year! x

New party dresses!

2011-11-22T19:42:00.001Z

We had a day of shooting the new party dresses in leopard, lace and afabulous vintage red print yesterday. The super gorgeous Kimberly Louise Hillmodelled for us and looked fabulous in each of our dresses, she alsobought along an awesome shoe selection.

I love the length of our longest lace cocktail dress, it reminds me of early Twenties full skirted evening dresses with the full bell skirt to the calf and the scalloped lace hem.
This is the new corded lace which is beautiful and a great weight similar to the old corded lace. Laid over the charcoal grey it looks stunning in the off, faded black tone. This will be in the boutique soon available made to order to your size.

Lovely fabulous leopard print. This is one of my little obsessions, along with crepe and lace that I keep searching for. The perfect leopard print, I found it in this bengaline fabric but now can't source any more which is always the case when I hoard fabrics for years.
This little leopard lady is a one off. The shoes were my wedding shoes in pony skin leopard!

Kim wore a vintage style Osprey silk cravat in her hair which gave someadded colour pop to the little red border dress, she looks like a J HLynch painting here, gorgeously kitsch and you can imagine her dancingin a jazz club in Harlem or in West Side Story. This fabric was anAmerican Etsy find with a bold red and navy screen printed hem. Wish Ihad some more!

This one will be available made to order, a soft heavy lace draped over a ballet pink taffeta. The bodice as a 'sqeeze me tight fit' and sits just on the tips of the shoulder. Perfect with a sweep in red lipstick and killer Mary Janes.

'THE' black lace I have be coveting and the one I have been inundated with emails about. I had just enough of this lace to make two dresses and this is one of them which is a one of a kind and has a sheer lace Edwardian influenced panel in the centre.

These dresses will be coming up very soon to the boutique and a couple will also be available made to order. As always the vintage prints are one of a kind so keep your eyes peeled!

Model: Kimberley Lousie Hill
Hair and Make Up: Kimberley Louise Hill
Photography : Alexandra King and Anna Vickery

Shoes: Topshop and Models Own
Dresses: Alexandra King

Friday Friends at the Vintage Wedding Fair

2011-11-17T19:37:00.001Z

Our Friday Friends that we met at the vintage wedding fair this year in Bath. It's great when you get to meet people in real life and I can highly recommend these lovely people with amazing skills .......

Image and design by Nanny K

Nanny K Millinery - makes fabulous hats and hair accessories. Outside the venue a box of these lovelies was accidentally dropped and out fell these beautiful silk flowers and crystal hairbands, all beautifully hand made and stunning. He website is awesome too, choose from being a vintage belle or a Cheery Clad Chick. I think I would like to be both!

Image by Debs Ivelja

Debs Ivelja Photography -

this is the kind of photography that makes you weep a little, the images are so beautiful capturing all the emotion and style into a stunning story of your day. Regularly featured on the best wedding blogs and such a lovely lady that you would be happy to spend the whole day with. Anna and I were quite speechless when looking through Deb's portfolio books at the fair.

Vintage Wedding Fair and Discover Vintage -

Keely the lady behind the vintage fairs and the Vintage Emporium in York, is an incredible knowledge and a go to woman for advice on early 20th century fashion, bridal and design history. The pieces she bought to the fair were magnificently curated from the finest textiles and clothing. She really knows what she is talking about when it comes to historical fashion and has recently written a wonderful article in the Vintage Explorer on wedding dresses.

Photography by Chrome Occasions. Cadillac 1959

Chrome Occasions -

The Cadillac people with the most fantastic 1959 white model to hire for transport. To my surprise this Cadillac and its two gorgeous owners are just five minutes away from me. They are a fantastic couple, really cool looking and WOWSERS on their car. Shipped from the US it is 'so cool' in pure True Romance style.

My silhouette by the Roving Artist

The Roving Artist -

this man is amazing. simple as that. his stand was simple, I though too simple but when I saw what he could do words cannot express my amazement. This is the most talented man with super hero like silhouette cutting skills. I love my silhouette, pride of place in the lounge and Wing is still trying to figure out how it can be possible.

Hair and make-up by Beehive Brides photography by Matthew Wiseman

Beehive brides -

I met Fiona firstly at Katie's wedding, you know the one I go on about so much! She's worked on films and from being at Kattie's wedding I can vouch 100% that her incredible hair and make-up stays suitably film star like all day long, even with wibbley bridesmaids and swing dancing. Again she's a lovely lady you can put all your trust in. Katie would recommend too.

Hair and make-up by Beehive Brides, photography by Matthew Wiseman

There were more wonderful people at the fair but I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone, it's always so lovely to meet other people interested in the same things. It's also very important to go out and talk to others as running your own business can sometime get quite insular especially if like me you run mainly online.
I'm hoping to offer a little more advice as time goes on about working from home, running an online business, designing etc and I will also be getting out more so I can meet people and then tell you about how wonderful they are. That's only if they are wonderful though!

Do you know of any wonderous, independent creative people I should know about right now?

The end of vintage, really?

2011-11-16T17:08:00.001Z

So I read the post on the vintage wedding style being over and the overdone vintage styling on the Huffington Post yesterday. You can read it here.

I partially agreed about the vintage thing and partially thought it was a big old load of nonsense mainly about the return to formal wedding with rules. I then really needed to ramble so bare with me here.

Thankfully with wedding bloggers like Rock n Roll bride the rules are breaking, you can get married for as little as £200 at the registry office and have a picnic after with two friends (you really can!) or you can go all out. There are no rules!

Here's my two cents worth on 'vintage' style and weddings pressures...............

So what does 'vintage' actually mean?

in terms of clothing it covers anything over 20 years old. The dictionary defines it as 'representing the high quality of a past time' and I think it's time to be more specific and concentrate on this term quality.

To me vintage has become an empty word that kind of means nothing and 'vintage style' is just anything that looks old ish but is new. So yes Harmony is very right it has been over-used and some people who jumped on the vintage bandwagon despise the idea of anything old!

But, this love of historical fashions and things will never end, it's like saying antique collecting will end, museums will end, history lessons will end. We like to look back to the past, with clothing as in all design there are techniques that have changed with industry and it is important to learn from this.

Then you have the personal level, a 1930s wedding dress has a story, a romance and some of us actually get excited by that musty smell! This silk satin dress hanging on my wall is an original 1940s evening gown, I found it in a skip. That doesn't bother me, it's beautiful.

the stunning Forties dress I found in the skip

On the opposite level there is some absolute rubbish masquerading as 'vintage' or vintage style. So yes it may be time to step away from that word, let the genuine dealers become more respected for their knowledge and carefully curated collections and let all the 'nonsense' disappear over time.

What do I know about vintage clothing?

I know quite a lot really (not to blow my own trumpet here) . I'm very passionate about Vintage (representing the high quality of the past) clothing.

I have a BA Hons degree in fashion and textile design, a 2.1 and the majority of this was spend studying 'old' clothing.

It funded my way through Uni selling this 'old clothing' and I then ran my own vintage clothing business online.

I worked for the rag man in Bristol sourcing vintage clothing from a whole factory full of discarded textiles the charity shops couldn't sell. I got to the point when I could tell the age just by finger tip rummaging through bins of clothing.

I then worked in a consultancy role for one of the major Bristol Charities, advising for their online shop and on how to make the most from their 'old stuff'.

I did talks on Vintage clothing and eventually I saw it slowly run out. It was all hopefully in the right place, boutiques, peoples homes, being appreciated more.

I still collect and have study sessions at the fashion museum updating my knowledge and understanding.

Isn't what I do 'vintage style'?

Well yes and I this article made me think a lot about what I do. I need to be more specific. My designs are inspired by dresses of the late 1940s to the early 1960s. It's the techniques and quality that mainly inspires me, the fact that during this era dresses were made with craftsmanship, couture wasn't loosing brands money and having a dressmaker was quite normal. Factory made clothing wasn't here yet so finishing was more hand made. I love this quality and want to bring this to my dresses. I'm not just designing and making with the style because it's fashionable, it's what I love.

I'm guessing that these 'vintage' photographers, don't learn to use an Rolleiflex properly just because it's on trend, nor do they shoot beautiful, personal images, it happens to be their style.

the details and fabrics that are so important

How important is trend to a wedding?

It's not or at least it shouldn't be to the bride and groom, it needs to personal to their style whatever it may be.

This sounds really, really silly but Sex and the City the movie did actually have quite an intelligent message when it came to weddings. It's easy for it to be all about the bride and the wedding styling instead of the couple. Big didn't turn up when it got out of control and the city hall wedding at the end was so romantic and most importantly meaningful to the couple. Still in a gorgeous dress too!

My friend just said to me 'do us modern girls really need weddings?' I'll leave this one to you.

Pretty Birdie Dress

2011-11-15T12:00:00.000Z

Horrockses inspirations

Birdie Print fifties inspired party dress with the super cute multi-coloured birds popping out of the grey background.

I'm working on a few novelty print dresses at the moment with fabrics from my favourite and best local fabric supplier Millie Moon. Every time I visit the shop I fall in love with yet another print! Have a look at our pink elephant print here, i just love this design.

The novelty print dress was a staple of the summer wardrobe and hostess warddrobe from the late forties through to the early sixties with the ready to wear label Horrockses at the forefront of these fashions. you can just imagine all those 1950s wives in the prints all together discussing suburban life Mad Men style!
I have my original 1950s Horrockses dress hung on my studio wall, it's made in a gorgeous cotton with green and pink roses in stripes and a fabulous full skirt. Horrockses employed artists Graham Sutherland, Eduardo Paolozzi and Pat Albeck to design their striking patterns which ranged from lobsters, florals, fruit and veg anything that could be turned into a pattern that would turn heads.
There is a brilliant book all about Horrockses fashions published by the V&A for further reading on the brand.

It's Horrockses that has inspired my novelty print dresses, my fabrics picked from rummaging in vintage shops, charity shop curtains and the wonderful Michael Miller prints, the soft cotton makes them very easy to wear and feel amazing with the full swishing skirts around you.
I'm now searching for lobster print cotton to make a lobster dress paying homage to the great Schaiparelli and Horrockses.

I'd love to hear about your Horrockses or any vintage novelty print dresses. What's your favourite print and have you found anything really unusual?

tie dye

2011-11-14T16:56:00.001Z

So the tie dress is back and whatdaya know, tie dying is quite difficult! I seriously thought it was just hippies in the Seventies splashing about in a trippy, creative way which created these messy old patterns that looked especially cool under lace. I didn't think it would be too great an idea to try dying under the influence ........

Insensibly we (myself and my Mum) didn't wear gloves as the first intention was to tie the cotton and splash over the dye, but then you just can't help getting your hands into the dye whilst turning the fabric. The first attempt turned out good, after we dyed it, washed it, lost the pattern, bleached it, washed it again, dyed it again, and on and on until eventually we had something cool.

The organic fair trade cotton we use is a really great weight and the pink under the lace looks gorgeous for parties complete with the full twirling skirt. Style it how you like with chunky knits or nets.

To conclude, It's hard work tie dyeing, real hippies weren't lazy they were under appreciated skills men. Any tips on producing amazing tie dye?

Corsets are here, ready to hug those waists!

2011-11-11T17:41:00.001Z

As I've said before I was really lucky to be trained in corset making whilst at Uni and this is the first time in a while I have made them, but after Katie's wedding it has really inspired me to work on more.

They feel amazing to wear and as corset wearers will tell you, after you have trained your waist you will never go back, they feel so lady like! I wanted to do something different from the classic black corset and make these extra pretty with Liberty prints to start with. So I delved into my best fabric stash and pulled out my coveted Hera peacock print which has been saved from the last batch at Liberty's a few years ago. It works pretty well with the pink lining and was worth it!

The ditsy floral Tana lawn is adorable with its gorgeous Cadbury purple lining and the last one is a rich gold with festive scarlet red hand embroidery, traditional to Victorian era corsets. I added some sweethearts to the side panels for a little more spark.

I'm going to treat myself to one and try and train my waist trim, who's for joining me?
The corsets are available made to order and ready to wear, for more information visit the boutique.

Pink Elephant Dress at Millie Moon

2011-11-10T18:54:00.001Z

Millie Moon is this amazing fabric shop run by Rachel and Becki which has just opened in Wells. This is their second shop, the flagship is in Frome where they also have a sewing school and a massive following. This may seem like a major suck up to this shop, but for me when something it really good I like to shout about it and it really is genuinely brilliant.

Each time I have visited the shop, not only does my mind turn to mush over all the gorgeous fabrics, trimmings, sewing treats galore but I'm always so happy to see it packed full of people wanting to sew. I'm always at the back of a big queue which in this case is wonderful.
They stock very carefully selected and beautifully presented fabrics by Amy Butler, Liberty, Michael Miller (my favourite at the moment) and many more along with quilting supplies, gifts for sewing enthusiasts, great quality trimmings and little exciting sewing bit and bobs. And it's all wonderful quality.
Here is their website so you can buy online and feed your addiction!

This dress is one of the first dresses I have made from their fabric and it is a dream to sew, it has a slight stretch which is great when it comes to fit and a lovely medium weight which has just the right balance between drape and structure.
We chose a Pink Drunken Elephant print for the shop dress by Michael Miller, It reminds me a little of Dumbo and how can you resist pink elephants on the dark charcoal grey?

This design is another fifties inspired silhouette with a slight off the shoulder neckline, boned bodice and a fine pleated, very full skirt. Trimmed with satin piping and trim at the waist in olive green to match the juggling bottles.
This fabric has been very popular so we may be able to make just one more of this dress if anyone would like to order, it makes a fabulous party dress!

Even just looking on the website, I just can't help myself!!! They have a blog too here with lost of sewing inspirations and ideas. A huge thank you to Millie Moon just for being here in Somerset and inspiring designs. x

Vinnie's Fifties Sari Wedding Dress

2011-11-09T17:37:00.000Z

This is exactly what I like to see when receiving images from my brides! Twirling and smiling, just perfect!

Vinnie came to me earlier this year for her wedding gown and bought with her the most gorgeous wedding saris to have her dress made in. I had just got back from a trip to Singapore where I indulged in many stunning silk saris with the intention to make dresses from (they are still hoarded in my 'best' cupboard and will be coming out very soon!) and this was like a dream request come true.

Vinnie had a traditional Hindu wedding for the first part of her day in a bridal sari and then slipped on her version of our Christy dress for a gorgeous Mad Men Fifties style in the evening. Complete with antique gold Jimmy Choo's!

She looks so stunning, Congratulations to Vinnie!

Photos by Nic Serpell-Rand at free range weddings.

Tulle Capes

2011-11-08T21:35:00.001Z

We have some gorgeous capes back in stock, our cafe capes sold out very quickly and now we have these lovelies in soft ivory and an amazing polka dot lavender trimmed in velvet ribbons. They make a great cover up for brides and for cocktail dresses and look pretty cool with a vest and jeans too.
Peruse at your leisure in the shop x
I'm still loving our candy purple back ground!

New Dresses!

2011-11-07T14:18:00.000Z

I'm still super super excited about the Rock n Roll bride tutorial from Saturday and thank you to everyone for their lovely comments and tweets! I love hearing feedback from people!

Here we have two new dresses and a very misty morning which looks gorgeous and Wintery.

I love love love the print on the toile de jour dress which reclaimed from a vintage pair of curtains and we made the skirt super full and twirly which works perfectly with the cinched black silk waistband.
The second dress is a super chic fifties hourglass dress, it's going to work real good on curves and the black lace and green silk look amazing together. The silk draped belt is detachable to wear with or without the added drama.
Both available ready to wear and made to order in the shop! x

Rainbow Underskirt on RocknRoll Bride!

2011-11-05T09:54:00.000Z

I've shared a tutorial on how to make your own rocknroll rainbow underskirt on RocknRoll Bride today. Go check it out and learn some skills!
You may want a subtle one layer ruffle or you may go mad and have all six layers of colours/? If you have any questions please ask away, I always love to hear from you x

P.S if you really can't sew you can also buy them in the shop too :)

Em's Wedding Photos

2011-11-04T14:03:00.001Z

Emma has very kindly shared her photos with me of her wedding in August for which we made her tea length gown.. The wedding was held at Huntstile Organic Farm complete with chickens and goats and makes a gorgeous location.
The bouquet looks beautiful and bright against the ivory and the huge bow Emma requested looks fabulous in the photos. I just adore Emma's MASSIVE smile, it's the best advert I could imagine!
Here is the post about her dress with more images.

Photography by Graham Morgan
Location at Huntstile Organic Farm

Colour Popping Violet

2011-11-03T19:52:00.004Z

A sneak (but quite clear) peek at a new dress and the brand new background colour. The dove grey, however subtle and beautiful just felt a little dull and serious for me, it's a colour best suited to dresses.
This parma violet certainly brightens up the studio, it looks a little shocking next to wedding dresses, but hey ho. It makes the dress pop which is fantastic!
When I picked the colour I thought about it with leopard print a bit kitsch, late Fifties, rockabillyesque channeling the great Betsey Johnson. Hope you like our new look!?

Forties Pin Up Bridesmaids

2011-11-02T15:07:00.001Z

For the Thirties/Forties wedding we made matching crepe dresses in a wartime 'pin up' style. The bridesmaids looked fabulous complete with victory rolls and red killer heels!

The dress was cut on the bias in many panels over the bodice that were then piped with Liberty's pepper print in red, white and blue. The Thirties is all about the bias cut and fabulous panelling. The challenge was after creating this great pattern with the panels, how to finish the inside without adding a load of bulk? It was very fiddly but in the end the seams were bound with the seam allowance from the piping. It was quite incredible, wish I took a picture!
The neckline had more gathered pepper print and the dress was trimmed with matching covered buttons running down the back.
Bridesmaids dresses are always really great to work on as this is where the colour of the wedding can be used and they can be used to set the style of the day.

Green, organic and fair trade

2011-11-01T21:14:00.000Z

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.

Katie and Her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 4 The Wedding

2011-10-25T21:50:00.000+01:00

The beautiful Coombe Lodge, Blagdon.

Katie set the scene with family photos from the Forties, ration books and collected clocks.

The fabulous vintage bus to transport the guests

Stepping out of the car, film star style.

The Forties bridesmaids. We made the dresses in crepe and piped the panel cut bodice with Liberty print cotton.

look at the amazing Forties styled guests in the background!

This is my favourite picture, she looks like a film star from the silver screen!

We made the fabulous mother of the bride a dress too, she looked incredible and so elegant.

Katie and me in my hat by Janine Basil and leopard shawl forties style.

Katie's name settings. Each table was named after a WW11 plane too.

The beautiful flowers by Eden florists in Winscombe, Somerset. Katie's wedding favours were champagne glasses you kept after toasting the couple.

Katie had a wrist loop added to the train which kept the dress elegant whilst dancing. I hate it when dresses are hitched at the back. No need for it!

Tea was served in vintage tea cups!

The swing dance teachers entertaining all the guests with a demonstration before we aere all taught to swing dance!

Congratulations to Katie and Luke!

Here are the official photos from Katie's 1940's, wartime theme wedding which was full of Hollywood elegance. Katie worked really hard organizing everything for the day making sure it was just perfect. And Wow it really was perfect!

The day started with the fabulous old double-decker bus collecting the guests (all dressed in 1940s attire!) from the local hotel and transporting them to the beautiful Coombe Lodge in Blagdon which overlooks the lakes. This location was simply stunning.

Meanwhile I dressed Katie, and quickly got in the car to be ready for the ceremony which was held outside in the garden, it was such a beautiful day in late September.
Katie arrived in a wonderful vintage car in perfect silver screen style and after an anticipating pause, she walked around the corner towards her guests and the equally .
She took my breath away at this moment and I have never had to fight back the tears like it did just then, and I wasn't the only one. When you have put everything into a dress or a piece of work it becomes an emotional attachment and this really was quite overwhelming to see her look so beautiful in my dress.

After the gorgeous ceremony, the day proceeded with drinks, relaxing in the grounds of the house and then a wonderful dinner with toasts and thank yous. I even had a mention and a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Boy did I blush! The tables were decorated with tall vases of roses and pearls, the place names stamped with the crown that became the logo of Katie and Luke's wedding stationary. The wedding favours were champagne glasses that each guest kept after the toasting the couple. This was a great touch and the best wedding favours I have seen.
They also had postcards of thier own 1940s film poster printed for all the guests to write a message to the bride and groom.

The evenings entertainment was fantastic in the form of swing dance lessons and a swing band with a beautiful lead singer.

It really was a wonderful day and upon viewing Katie twirl around the room with the dance teacher I knew my work had been done.
I know this is a very mushy post but that's kind of how I feel about this dress, and the bridesmaids and the most fabulous mother of the bride you could dream of working with.

Dress, Bridesmaids and Mother of the Bride: Alexandra King (you know where I am)
Hair and make up : the amazing Beehive Brides, they do vintage hair and make up
Photography: Matthew Wiseman he did a wonderful job and he didn't get in the way one bit!
Flowers: Eden Florists, Winscombe, Somerset
Venue: Coombe Lodge, Blagdon

Katie and her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 3 The Dress

2011-10-24T20:14:00.000+01:00

The dress awaiting its debut.

The back trimmed with a concealed zip and 36 matching covered buttons.

The bodice, the neckline is cut around the lace pattern and to make sure the bodice was symmetrical, one shoulder has an appliqued motif cut so that it matches. The lace at the waist and hips has also been cut and hand appliqued in place. The puff shoulders are structured with tulle ruffles inside.

The back of the skirt. The top layer was to sit separately from the under dress so that it moved freely, little tacks kept it from going adrift.

The lace applique over the back of the skirt to make the pattern.

A close up of the lace applique. Each motif had to be carefully hand cut from the border of the lace and hand stitched into the pattern.

Using the lace we made a cord and then looped this into the button loops to fasten the back.

The sleeves, French seamed and trimmed with matching covered buttons. Edged in lace appliqued to the cuff.

The soft tulle underskirts edged in satin

The final dress, the mannequin and my photo taking skills really don't really do it justice.

I know you may be thinking the bodice is a little reminiscent of another bridal gown this year? There was quite a bit of debate about this neckline, I was dreading it and my initial thoughts were NO NO NO, NOOOOOOO! As you can see the initial design had a high neckline, no V but we hadn't set anything in stone and we wanted to see how the dress developed.
I really didn't want to do anything that even vaguely looked like the KM dress. Not that I don't like it, it's the most stunning example of couture and craftsmanship that anyone will see but knowing this, my feelings were that anything that looks like it will be a cheap copy. Plus it's someone else's dress!

So, could I really say to Katie 'no you can't have your wedding dress how you want it' and cause stress over the shape of a V? Well no, the Royal family can't have the monopoly on V necklines. Katie's was inspired by the 1940s which the whole wedding revolved around, a wonderful Wartime theme and whatdaya know, they had V necklines in the 1940s too!

The cut of the dress with the hourglass fit, soft tea colour and Katie's incredible look with Forties red hair and lipstick, there was no way this was going to look anything cheap or copy like. Sometimes you have to trust a bride too, they are ones who are going to make the dress come to life. And she looked stunning, and by far the best Katie to me!

Here it comes to life, more photos from the incredible wedding tomorrow ........................................

A sneek peek at Katie in her dress - photograph by Matthew Wiseman

A little note on wedding dress buying ......

For me, it's a really great way of working when you have lots of interaction from a bride, I know some people may think it's annoying but really it's like you have an extra helping hand, and being involved in the design of your dress makes sure you get it how YOU want it. I generally will only say no to something if I think it will look bad or won't work, or obviously if it's copying. Having a good relationship with the person supplying your dress is quite important and you can trust them to be honest with you too.

So when getting a dress made or even buying a dress from a boutique it's important that you think about it, ask millions of questions if you really need to and speak out if you are not completely happy about something. If you are getting overwhelmed (I sure did) just walk away and take a break from wedding dresses until you clear your head a little. I know some of us know exactly what we want and others haven't the foggiest, and that's ok.
A good supplier or designer will be wanting you to be reassured, for you to trust them and for you have the most amazing day in your perfect dress. Don't ever feel like you're being a pain. ( please don't ever be rude though, you may have your dress sliced in half! :) )

Bows, Bows, Bows

2011-10-23T10:30:00.000+01:00

As you might be able to tell I love LOVE bows. It's our logo, It's tattooed to my arm (I may have to get the actual logo tattooed somewhere if I'm feeling brave again), nearly every dress is tied with a bow and my favourite words in Mad Men were said by the gorgeous Roger to the even more Gorgeous Joan ' I love that dress with the bow on it, it makes you look like a Christmas present'.
I know some people may think this a little anti-feminist or derogatory making women look like presents be consumed, but I think it's pretty adorable. Why not look like a exciting present, and if you want to be unwrapped, then you can!

We made these super festive, Victorian, vintage fifties style bows with long tails. I know there are lots of pinched/pleat bows out there like our logo so keeping the forked tails made these a little more present like.
I then studded them with our wonderful metal rhinestone clasps and spangly crystals in different colours. I also managed to find these amazing glass cabochon's from a vintage bead seller on Etsy which have golden Queenies in the middle! I only had six of these and I must keep one.

I like to wear mine on the back of my chignon or bun (I love my bun ring that makes it super big too) but as it has a barrette clip on the back you can fasten it to the shoulder of your dress, a bracelet on your wrist or to a belt. I think it's quite a versatile little accessory really and we all need bows in our life don't we? Even clipped on to old pair of torn Levi's looks pretty cool.

Horst's stunning picture of Gabrielle Chanel with bows in her hair.

I also made some Alice bands that reminded me of Coco Chanel's hair bows she wore amongst her curls. Now that's how you style a bow and it's not even that girly! This is what I'm off to do right now ....... bye

Tartans

2011-10-22T14:58:00.000+01:00

After visiting the costume museum and viewing Princess Alexandra's Victorian era tartan party dress, using plaids for the Winter collection was a must.
The silks are so highly saturated in colour and gorgeously festive rustling as you walk. It's Victorian, Royal and traditional on one hand but tartan also is about rebellion, punk and identity too. It's certainly not just reserved for Princesses.
I wanted to use a real Scottish wool tartan for the skirt, the weight is wonderful and heavy like a kilt in the form of a Fifties swing skirt. The added blush nets underneath for structure give a really cool colour contrast which makes the red pop even more.
I imagine this skirt with a white sweetheart bodice too which would make awesome festive party attire!

Our homage to Norman Rockwell which inspired this skirt too.

So here's our tartan offerings for the Winter. Warming, nostalgic and fabulously Victorian. There are so many versions and ways to wear this pattern, I wish we had our own in my family. How amazing would that be to make a collection from? Who else has their own tartan and how do you style yours?

A Little Bit of Luck

2011-10-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

Anna has been working away on these absolutely gorgeous lucky horse shoes. They are made from real original horse shoes in steel, that were given to us by the lovely farrier across the road and decorated with beautiful vintage trimmings and bows.

They are traditionally designed to have with you on your wedding day and then when you get home the custom is to nail it above your door for good luck in your home.
I had no idea about the old folklore on these things, you have to make sure it's always facing up as otherwise the luck falls out! But, other people and countries say it must hang down so the luck pours over you?
I would suggest they look best facing up and then on your anniversary you can tip it upside down to grab all that luck!

Anyway they look pretty cool in your house and they are lacquered in silver, gold and black so they will stay looking polished all the time.

Katie and her forties Hollywood Dress - Part 2 - The corset

2011-10-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

my numbered pattern so I don't forget the order of the pieces, they all look very similar

the base of the corset

the fine chanels need to be cut on the bias in strips

the all important strengthening stitches

the spiral steel boning

the pressed bia channels ready to be sewn to the corset base

the corset before the hem is sniped shorter so that Katie could sit down easily

the corset placed over the toile of the bodice to check the neckline positioning

the final corset with it's tweaks

the lower cut back, always fasten a corset in the centre

Katie really wanted some added 'hug' to her dress and to enhance that Hollywood hourglass silhouette we decided that instead of a strapless bra or basque we would make a corset. The curve in the back of the dress and the strapless design along with needing some secure support meant a custom corset was going to be the best option.
I was really lucky to be taught corsetry at University by an excellent pattern cutting lecturer Lee Hollahan who worked on Kate Winslet's 'Titantic' corset and the corsets for Back to the Future Part 3 to name but a few. Sorry this is a little name dropping and tenuous linking to my corset here!

This gave me some great foundation skills to make the all important bridal corset. This one went through quite a few changes being nipped and tucked as inevitably our model changed shape on the run up to the wedding. As this was to be worn all day it needed to be comfortable and most importantly light even with the steel boning.
I used a single layer of silk taffeta which is beautifully light and strong. Sometimes corsets are made with two to three layers for strength but I really didn't want to add any bulk or for it to be seen underneath the dress, so the decorative stitching you see isn't just fancy its adding re-enforcements.
The low back (corsets usually have quite high backs to give all round uplift) and maintaining support at the front was something that kept me up at night trying to figure out but we got there in the end and I love the fifties shape it has. Bra designers are really the best engineers in the world to keeping us perky and bare backed, they are quite amazing!

The corset had extra narrow fine boning with is spirals so that it curves with your body and was then trimmed in lace at the hem and top to give a very soft edge that wouldn't show through the dress.
I really need a corset dummy as these standard ones can't have their waists cinched with their super tough tummies!

Brides and Debs

2011-10-18T22:09:00.000+01:00

The new bridal / debutant prom dresses and the updated, refined Debutant Debby dress.

The prom dress is now built onto a silk corseted bodice instead of the bought in bodices I used before, This keeps it looking beautiful inside and also gives a lovely smooth back with no stretch. There is still the option for cups too if you like.

The new Ivory Betty and Betty's Big day asymmetric dresses in the lightest silk dupion which gives the full skirts a gorgeous ballet like float. Great to add detailing too in the form of veils, gloves, etc Audrey style.

And the new silk organza 'Candy' dress taken from our candy stripe floral collection with the colours de-saturated and a fuller pleated skirt added to take this design to a slightly more special level. I love the poppy late fifties feel of this dress with the strong outlines in the satin. I used to get told off for outlining everything in art class but outlines are good and I like to add definition.

The ever popular short wedding dress is a way of adding a second dress if you are having a big, big wedding or just feel the need for a costume change works especially well if you have chosen to have a dramatic full length gown with train for the main ceremony.
They also make a super chic option as your main dress and get amazingly pretty pictures too. You get to stay comfortable all day, can dance as madly as you like and depending on what you are looking for, they can be fantastic when you are on a modest budget. And there are so many things you can do to make yours unique.
A simple dress like our Betty dress can be trimmed to the max with ribbons, vintage brooches and corsages, it's a great blank canvas. The simplicity and great cut also allows you to play around with veil options and go all out on the shoes. Then after the wedding you can take out your nets, add a leather belt and don some ballet pumps and off you go. I know there is a certain treasured feeling you get about your dress after the day but wouldn't it be awesome to just go out and wear these dresses whenever we liked?

For my own wedding I had a full length tulle number which looked fabulous in the photos but me not being used to wearing full length gowns and being a little scared of being a 'bride' on the day, I changed to a candy stripe tulle prom dress for the evening and danced away into the night very happily not feeling in slightest but wifely.
Being able to make the dresses myself did give me quite an advantage though like a kid in a candy store!

Katie and Her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 1

2011-10-17T21:43:00.002+01:00

This year is nowhere near over nor is my career (hopefully) but this dress is my dress of the year and the dress I am really most proud of. I love all my other dresses too but after nearly a year with this one it became very important to me.

I first had a call from Katie in September 2010 (OK, I just checked my emails it was actually June 2010, Sorry Katie! No wonder I am so clingy to this dress!) as she was looking for a Forties inspired wartime bridal gown to be made. I instantly jumped at this, anything with a vintage reference and theme makes me very inspired and Katie sounded like she had lots of wonderful ideas. We eventually met in September 2010 (this is right) and we had a chat about designs, Katie was excellent and had lots of inspiration pictures, and I sketched up a few rough ideas to start with.

Over the following months we decided on fabrics, Katie hunted down the perfect lace from the Cloth House , we tested toiles, and the dress along with the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride dresses developed. Katie came to visit her dress quite often and a real attachment grew on my part with this dress over the year. It really was becoming something very special. When it came to September the 30th 2011, watching my dress worn by Katie so beautifully walk down the aisle, It was like watching my child get married, I was so proud of this dress. I was completely blown away and I still well up just thinking about it!

I spent every day with it in my studio over the last year and at times had to lock it away, It would make me cry, it hurt me but most of the time it made me so happy I would have to give it clap! Is it possible to have a relationship with a garment you make?

Anyway, enough with the emotions, here are are first stages of making the dress .....

The initial sketches and designs

Taking apart the toile, making the pattern and cutting the base fabric

The first bodice

Draping the lace skirt

Sewing the finest seams in the lace for the godets in the skirt

Stitching the seams of the lace

Placing the added lace motifs on the hem of the skirt

A little lace seam

stitching the lining of the bodice and ribbon waist stay in place

I have a wonderful photo of my face whilst sewing the lining of the dress, it's not a pretty picture. These were some of the many stages that the dress went through as it became the final wedding gown. The best parts are the seams in the lace which were carefully hand stitched around each motif to give a seamless pattern to the hem. It's the little things like this that strangely make me very pleased.

Next to show you will be the corset which went under the dress in a matching cream silk .........