Ready to Rock

I can't wait to see the frocks!!!

Katy Perry, managed 12 costume changes at the 2008 show. What can we expect this year?

The boys have arrived, LMFAO have just arrived. They say they are Irish!!

What will Katy wear tonight?

Jessie J wear fantastic creations too.

Then there is Lady Gaga, she will be out to impress. She leads the nominees with nominations in six categories.
 Surely we will get at least six changes of costume.



While Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown Findlay) turns heads in her trousers in Downton
Abbey.
Update from the Oddessy a photo of the shoes ready back stage



Selena Gomez who is hosting the MTV EMA's

Brides Beware!!

As we start to get into the season where all the Hotels and Halls hold their "Wedding Fayre's"Brides beware. There are a few things to remember. This is an exciting time and you want your wedding to be brilliant but you mustn't get carried away. Firstly decide on your budget and keep it in mind all the time.

The first thing you will probably choose is your venue and as you go round the Wedding Fayre's you will meet many exhibitors trying to tempt you with their ideas.




Remember these few points to keep you right. Think where are they based and what do I know about them. Do they have an address and a land line telephone number? Who have they worked for, were they happy with their work? And how long have they been in business? If they are looking a deposit please stop and think!!! Once you hand over that deposit what have you signed up for and what would happen if they disappeared and let you down.

Too often the happy engaged couple are so carried away with the day of their dreams that you forget to think of the basic things. Sometime the little things are so important. The best advice I can give you is never part with your money until you are sure.

Exhibitors can go to these shows and put on a professional image for those few hours and you can be fooled into thinking they are the experts. When probably the people who are the experts in that field don't even need to go to these shows as they already have business premises and the client's coming to their doorstep.

So folks be careful with all the decisions you make before you put that ring on the finger. This is a very special occasion and you want to get it right and normally you only get one chance to do this.
Be safe, take care, best wishes and Good Luck.

The latest fashion

The spotlight turned to British fashion on Friday as London Fashion Week opened its doors a day after the curtain came down on the catwalks of New York.

In a year when British designers have taken centre stage with the weddings of Kate Middleton and Kate Moss, London is determined to capitalise on the mood and prove it can compete on a global platform.

Opening the event in central London, London Mayor Boris Johnson highlighted the accolade recently bestowed on the city by a leading US consultancy as "the fashion capital of the world".

"That verdict is great news for our city and for our economy," he said, adding that the industry contributes 80,000 jobs to London and £21 billion ($33 billion, 24 billion euros) to the British economy.

"If London's fashion business is helping young Londoners in this difficult time by taking them on... then together we can not only reduce youth unemployment... we can also be untapping untold riches of talent, and we would be lengthening London's lead as the fashion capital of the world."

Am I ready for a move to London? I love it's energy and it's vib for my work but I don't think I would be into the social scene and being in with the in crowd.

The latest London Fashion Week, which includes 100 catwalk shows and 200 exhibitions, showcases women's and menswear collections for Spring-Summer 2012, when London will be in the throes of hosting the Olympic Games.

"As the whole country gears up for the Olympic year, the British Fashion Council has some very exciting plans," Tillman said, unveiling the Fashion 2012 project aimed at showcasing Britain's "creative excellence" and encouraging a new generation of fashionistas.

Joining him was a host of British Olympic athletes kitted out by home-grown designers.

As the catwalk shows got under way, however, emerging trends appeared to be giving a nod more to the past than the future, with retro influences prevailing.

London-based Irishman Paul Costelloe kicked off the schedule with his voluminous, babydoll dresses and cropped jackets in A-line sillhouettes, which he says are inspired by the 1962 film "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane".

The collection is dominated by neutral colours set off by brighter coral and lime green shades in luxurious, textured fabrics, as Parisian vintage chic is given a playful twist.

Caroline Charles' collection for the season glances back further still, to the 1930s and the French Rivieria, with wide-legged trouser suits teamed with boater hats alongside elegant, chiffon dresses in classic navy with dropped waistline.

Her black and white eveningwear, meanwhile, sparkles with jewels and sequins for pure glamour.

Charles, who trained with fashion legend Mary Quant, will be one of many British designers looking to entice international buyers in a gloomy economic climate. She describes the next move for her brand as "eastern approaches".

As always at the biannual event, celebrity appearances caused as much of a stir as the clothes themselves, with the sighting of royal Autumn Phillips and shoe designer Jimmy Choo on the front row of Costelloe's show sparking a frenzy of camera flashes.

Other well-known names in the line-up include Dame Vivienne Westwood, Julien Macdonald and Issa, one of the Duchess of Cambridge's favoured designers. Other shows by Mulberry, Nicole Farhi and Matthew Williamson will also catch my attention. For years you had to be in London to see what was happening, now we can follow it all on the internet, brilliant.

Something different

Something different, why not choose something unique that you will really enjoy. It could be your venue and your  whole notion of your wedding. 

Your dress doesn't have to be white or ivory, it can be whatever you want. If you go to the museum you will see that years ago women wore coloured dresses to get married in and then they wore them again and again.

Recently I was talking to an "old bride" that is what I end up calling once you have had your wedding!, sorry have to get a better term. Well this bride left the shores of Northern Ireland and choose the sun and setting of the island of Mallorca. It is a magical hideaway, an ideal place for a unique wedding or a honeymoon.

The hotel we would both recommend is The Villa Italia, perched on a cliff top overlooking the port of Andratx and it's marina. You could create a truly memorable wedding reception in this wonderfully romantic place with incomparable views and the staff are very welcoming.

The hotel can look after your every need - from flowers to room dressing, and the venue is licensed to host  a marriage ceremony.

A special range of wedding packages are available. A number of guests can be accommodated at the hotel or the port offers a selection of alternative accommodation.

Paradise, you can swim in the sea just 30 meters through the hotel's scented gardens is a small rocky cove to cool off from the sun's rays, what more could you ask for. Good food!

Great care has been taken over the decoration of the hotel,down to every last detail. Where better to celebrate your new married life together in this exclusive setting,where your every need it catered for.

Come sunset the hotel takes on a serene and seductive mood with low lighting and flickering candles and the restaurant comes into its own.

Something different!! truly special. Now for a dress suggestion to go with it.

Go for it something different what could be more magical

Some many ideas, it is your choice, enjoy it.

Something old,something new, something borrowed something blue.

Something Old but very in fashion at present is lace.

Lace on dresses and on veils and as 3 dimensional adorment or emblishment. I love taking lace to a new level and giving it an up to date even new look to give it life and added interest. It is associated with flowers and femineity but it can be modern and different too. Lace can be any colour, as well as light and delicate which gives it romance and elegance.

This is a photo of a veil I worked with a deep scalloped lace edge.
The headdress was made of french corded lace worked to look like flowers in a garland for one of my brides.


Also the 1940's and 1950's seem to be having an influence on our fashion trends at the moment.

Something new, a dress for one of my brides this summer.

Something borrowed, the petticoat to make the bottom of the dress sit out more.

And something Blue!

To make sure all my brides have something blue I add a blue bow to my label.

Designing with detail

For me it is all about the detail. The detail of cut  how  you make the dress flatter the client and the detail on the dress , knowing what  detail to  use and where to put it to make the client look and feel good. Smaller detail for a tiny  bride and larger detail if the bride is able to carry it. The detail of the embroidery is for me what gives a dress personality and makes the dress especially personal to the bride. It can be traditional and classic or modern and wacky.

The detail of the design is that it flatters the wearer. The neckline is so important as it is in 99% of the brides photos. Alot of brides are opting for sleeves, there is an unlady like bit where are arms join our body and it is nice to hide it with a sleeve.

Lace has stayed a really strong feature of alot of outfits this season and will probably for another season. I make my own lace when it is needed which means I am not bond by what is on offer from the tradional lace suppliers. I can make my lace any width or shape and also modern and orginal so that it is not nesseccarily a repeat pattern. My lace is embroidery and embroidery is anything that you can do with a neddle and thread, should it be that you sew two biscuits together.

This is the detail of one of my dresses that went out this year.

Buttons are part of the detail. I love to embroidery buttons or in this case they are made from tiny pearls. Alot of clients love buttons and can't have too many. It is funny but the smaller the detail the more people seem to remember it. If there is something to draw the eye in and then they are amased and really appreciate all the work. I love that when someone comes up to a bride and they say they like her dress that she can then talk about it as she knows every detail and makes sure they don't miss what she wants them to see.

Design your own detail and have it embroidered on your dress.

This again is a photo  of one of my dresses that went out in the summer. This is a close up of the neckline to show you some of my embroidery. You probably see it as lace, but lace that you would buy to trim a dress has a repeat pattern and can't always shape round what you want it too. Here I have cut out areas to make it more varied,  quirky and unconventional.

Back view of the same dress showing the embroidery getting wider as it comes round spilling oveer the edges.

Update on the latest

I have been busy with summer weddings and brides calling for next year, time just seems to fly.
We have had a fabulous year for celebrity weddings  which has inspired brides to be and created a buzz with weddings. Glady brides are thinking of something different coming to me for something special. Clients seem to be really enjoying working together to get that personal touch.

 One of my favourite weddings this year was Monaco Royal wedding.
The detail was spectacular, the embroidery and the cut of the Armani dress just were brilliant. If you love weddings, wedding flowers, wedding cakes and everything about them then this is one worth looking at.
For me it is all about the detail. The embroidery and beadwork in this dress are incredable. Everything about the dress impressed me. The flowing line, in off-white silk duchesse, with the long train. The crossover detail on the front and back forming a second "à l'andrienne" train. Ramage embroidery depicting flowers, crafted with stones in gold shades, and Swarovski crystals and mother of pearl teardrops in white and gold hues, the embellish the front of the dress, the trim and the central main section of the train, I just loved it all.
  Long veil made from off-white silk tulle, with front tier and subtle embroidery.
UNIQUE FEATURES about the dress:
 it took  2,500 hours of work
  had 40,000 Swarovski crystals and 20,000 mother of pearl teardrops
and 30,000 stones in gold shades. Charlene travelled 3,000 kilometres for fittings in Montecarlo!
The embroidery work on the dress took 700 hours. The embroidery thread was coated in platinum. The dress used 50 meters of silk duchesse satin and 80 meters of silk organza. The veil used  
20 meters of silk tulle, and had 100 hours of work for the embroidery on it.

Fabulous, just what I would love to do.