A Year of Pretty - February 27, 2014

These dresses.....like soft chiffon ice cream.
I want to live in these dresses.
These dresses......to run along the shore with toes in the sand.
The dreams that will come true in these dresses.

A year of Pretty - January 31, 2104

Well here we are, end of January. One month into the year.

Today's Pretty Post is of this collection of GORGEOUS dresses. No credit was given on the photo, but I believe the collection is by Anna Campbell.

Not Anna Campbell the historical romance novelist. And not Anna Campbell the actress, but Anna Campbell the Australian designer of vintage-inspired evening gowns and bridal dresses.

I'm still working on my Great Gatsby Inspired collection, and the date has been set for the fashion show reveal. Actually, there will be two dates; and both are coming up pretty quick. The first is on February 22nd at Venue in Vancouver. The second will be on February 27th at Performance Works in Vancouver on Granville Island. Both events will be on the smaller side, but both will be a good way to start when it comes to presenting a collection. I'll be able to work out some of the snafus before moving on to a bigger audience.

Luckily, both events have the same theme, so I am able to show the same set of garments. The first show I have chosen my own model. The second show I will have to use the models the even host has chosen. This will be a bit more difficult, as the garments will have already been fitted to the one model in the first show.

In any event (see what I did there?), it should be fun and a great learning experience.

In the meantime, my fabrics and trims are selected, my sketches are near completed (will probably post a couple of these within the next few days), and the technical design wheels are moving around in my head. Building the patterns will begin next week. Super excited to see how it all turns out.

A Year of Pretty - January 22, 2014

Another great colour collection inspiration.

A Year of Pretty - January 21, 2014

Okay, so yesterday I posted about a chair with castor wheels on its front legs and a couple cushions and some flowing fabric that may have been too light to be a throw to keep warm. So I daydreamed that it was a gauzy, dreamy evening gown tossed on the chair after a night of dinner, dancing and champagne.

Today's Pretty Post is said dreamy dress. Well, not really actually. But we can pretend. Or at least I can.

The original post is from Pinterest and the link leads to everlytrue on tumblr. But there it stops.

So I'll have to make some educated surmises about this dress. The fabric appears to be a silk charmeuse with pleated chiffon in different lengths underneath the shirt, and ruffled chiffon over the bust and forming the sleeves. No glitter but lots of understated glam.

I try to combine different textures when I am designing, and this style of elegance is what I'm trying to achieve in the Great Gatsby Design Challenge I'm currently working on. I know the roaring 1920's were about beads and sparkle and fringe and feathers. But team this up with a couple long strands of pearls and you're the belle of the ball.