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.

Zara's Royal Wedding dress

She is the royal known for her unconventional dress sense, with leopard print hats, a pierced tongue and plenty of cleavage her trademark.

Today though, the Queen's granddaughter put aside her more outlandish image and transformed into a quintessential English bride.

A bouffant fine tulle veil, a full-skirted gown in silk faille and duchess satin, with a chevron pleated corseted bodice, as modest and appropriate as you would expect from such a safe pair of hands as the royal couturier Stewart Parvin.

Her dress, by the Queen's own couturier Stewart Parvin, was a picture of elegant sophistication.

The designer, who christens his dresses with such romantic names as Easy To Love and I've Got a Crush On You, seemed to have hit the mark today, as Zara appeared relaxed and happy - surely the goal of any bride on her big day.

The Queen also in Stewart Parvin

The three young bridesmaids wore ivory and the full-skirted, box pleated dresses cinched with pale china blue ribbon featured columns of covered buttons running down the back, reminiscent of the detailing on the back of Pippa Middleton's now iconic bridesmaid dress.

And the bidesmaid looked good too: Maid of Honour Dolly Maude looked pristine with her elegant up-do and neat dress.

Mother-of-the-bride Princess Anne performed impeccably from a style point of view, wearing a swishy coral pleated skirt with a vintage-inspired cropped jacket (knowing thrifty Anne, it could well really be vintage), its floral print adding the right amount of levity to the neat tailoring.

The happy couple.

The excitement before a wedding

Every bride has people asking how nervious, excited,and organised they are. The day before a wedding  hopefully you have nearly everything done and are starting to  give yourself some me time. Time to pamper yourself with some beauty treatments.

It has been 30 years today since Charles and Dianna's wedding!! I heard David Emmanual reliving every second of it in a TV interview. You will carry the memory of your wedding day for ever.
How must Zara Phillips be feeling today the day before her wedding. They are having a pre wedding do tonight, I hope they all have clear heads for the morning. She must be pleased to think that she has been able to do the wedding her way. I like to think all brides can achieve this.
A bride of mine got married at Gretna Green this week and Zara Phillips has also picked Scotland to take her vows. It is thought that Zara has picked Stuart Parvin to design  her wedding dress. This is the queens couturier, which is surprising as he tends to do very classic, tradition dresses. Zara's personality is so strong  and she is full of fun, I had expected her to go more for someone like Sarah Burton as she designs more edgey different ensembles.
Celebraty weddings this year such as Lily Allen and Kate Moss have very much had a lace theme. Veils have had a big come back. Femine and romantic seem to be the mood.
I look forward to getting a glasp of Zara's wedding dress tomorrow, may the sun shine and the day be perfect.

This weeks update

I seemed to lose a week. I was going to do a blog on Rose week but it has been and gone.

Photo of Rose embroidery on one of my wedding dressses

This week we were told about the exhibition of The Duchess of Cambridge’s Wedding Dress which was designed by Sarah Burton, Creative Director at Alexander McQueen. My husband  says I will have to go and see it close up as he knows that it would mean alot to me to see it. The design shows the influence of Victorian dress in details such as the cinched in waist, the padded hips and the bustle at the top of the train. They say Kate had a big input into the design of her dress. I really want to see the detail but I am not sure how close you would be allowed.

The display is part of the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace which includes the nineteen magnificent State Rooms (with complimentary audio tour), the special exhibition Royal Fabergé, and ends with a walk along the south side of the Palace garden. From £17.50 - £31 to £65 per person for a personal guide, I hope it would be worth the effort. It might be the gardens that will impress me the most, I don't know what I expect. I wish that the Queens wedding dress and a few other dressses, such as Princess Anne's wedding dress, were in the exhibition too.

Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Phillips and England rugby star Mike Tindall marry this week.
The couple will exchange their vows in an Edinburgh church surrounded by their families and friends.
But their nuptials are being billed as a low-key affair - in stark contrast to the recent wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The doors of the Scottish capital's Canongate Kirk, where Tindall will first catch sight of his bride in her wedding gown, are to be closed to the press and public next Saturday afternoon.
However, large crowds are still expected in Edinburgh's Old Town to watch the arrival of the Royal Family who are all expected to attend. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will join Zara's parents the Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips at the Kirk.
Also believed to be attending are the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, William and Kate, Prince Harry, the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Tindall is likely to have invited some of England's best-known rugby players who are colleagues and friends. Will he wear a kilt?
Zara says "My wedding preparations are going really well. It's actually quite scary, but I'm enjoying it. I'm looking forward to becoming Mrs Tindall."
I am looking forward to seeing her dress and everybody else's. More news on the Royal Wedding next week.

ABC

A was for Ali

B is for Bag, this is a photo of a bag and Midi and beaded dress that I was working on recently.

C is for Champagne. Yes we all celebrated with champagne at the final fitting of one on my brides.
What a way to celebrate, many more days of happiness.