Omg this blog isn’t dead! No, it was just hibernating in the frigid cold and wretched rain.
But on to the content! I’m finally done with 2 out of 3 dresses!
The blue dress is finally out and I’m madly in love! It can be seen on Page 30 of St Louis Magazine or the article here. I then got to collaborate with Lindsey Hinderer of Lindsey Hinderer Photography, and Savannah from Summer Savannah Makeup for a decadent photoshoot! Here are the two main images of the blue dress from that photoshoot.
The idea was to capture an 18th century portrait (all Lindsey’s idea! The joy of working with a brilliant photographer), and she even found the perfect backdrop to give it the naturalistic air of a Gainsborough painting.
She even took some wonderfully decadent close ups!
Chatelaine and necklace by Queen and Cavendish
Hat by me
Earrings by Dames a la Mode
It’s been wonderful to finally see my blue dress complete! About 150 hours of embroidery time went into the jacket; it really wasn’t supposed to take that long but the pattern I designed did not embroider all that well and took quite a few tries.
The skirt was a “rush job” – only about 80 hours of embroidery frantically done in a week to get it done by the St Louis Magazine photoshoot. But overall, I’m happy with how it came out.
Next, Lindsey all took some gorgeous photos of me wearing the yellow dress.
And some detail shots:
I can’t tell you how long I spent pinking that fabric with a magazine on outdated issues of the Journal of Anesthesiology but man… it was worth it!
At this point, we decided to have some fun. We put some white 18th century accurate make up on by lbcc, and even put on some dresses that weren’t even done and went at it.
It’s amazing how much more HA you can get with a little bit of hair and face powder! I LOVE how these came out and I think my next shoot with Lindsey will be entirely with this make up!
And I came to realize that my red dress is my favorite after all – finished or not! And it certainly is most unfinished in this picture. I’ve been working on it nonstop since this photo-shoot and it’s still shockingly not done.
Which is crazy because I haven’t NOT worked on this gown at least four hours a week since November. The problem is the trim. Each meter takes 8 hours of solid work, between knotting, cutting, using a toothbrush to fluff each trim piece, then weaving it on a loom. It used to take me 12 so 8 is much more doable now. But fly trim is beautiful, but insanely time consuming. Since this picture, I’ve finished the stomacher and added a third sleeve ruffle (and pleating to the top of the sleeve!), but still… so much to do!
With all luck, I’ll have it finished by the Versailles ball!
And for funsies, we did a photoshoot in my undies as well. How scandalous!
Corset by Redthreaded.
All I can say after this is that EVERY thing I make has to be professionally photographed now. I love working with different artists and it’s incredible how much insight you get into even things you make yourself when you work with people with vision. Every photographer tells a different story, and I love the different types of stories they each tell.
sewstine.com 