Hallo everyone!
I'm really delighted to bring you the second part in my short series of blog posts about the recent House For An Art Lover shoot that I designed the jewellery and accessories for. We were very excited that the shoot was recently featured on Annabel's fabulous blog, Love My Dress.
Whilst the first post I wrote concentrated on the designs for the 1930s style dresses that Wendy (from Flossy and Dossy) had made for the shoot, this second post focuses on the 1950s style dresses that she made, and how I designed the jewellery and accessories for those.
I knew from talking to Wendy a good couple of months before the shoot, that she was planning to use some amazing fabrics in some stunning colours, and that the shapes for the dresses were going to be simple, strong and very essential.
I started researching original images from the era in order to get an idea of the types of jewellery and accessories that fashion designers made and also how stylists put them all together. I looked at original bridal magazines, images from photo shoots, and contemporary photographs of clothing, jewellery and accessories from the era. I was interested in shapes, proportions and details.
My next question was how to create a series of pieces that were all different from each other, but that all belonged together. And also, very importantly, how to make something modern and up to date, but which was also very reminiscent of the era.
Wendy's beautiful red dress needed something that was eye catching and dramatic, so I decided to make all the jewellery and accessories black. I felt that whatever I made also needed to be light and playful. So I used metres and metres of black merry widow netting. I used the stiffness of the material to create a large, circular spray to echo the shape of the skirt and the neckline.
Original jewellery from the era seemed too heavy and ornate for what I had in mind, so I made a very understated necklace and earring set from large black Swarovski crystals and sterling silver.
For the wedding dress that Wendy designed, I wanted to make something very delicate and feminine. I also wanted to make something that complemented the shape of the neckline of the dress and that of the flower detail at the bust.
So I made a tiara comb with a gently curving arch and filled it in with Swarovski crystals and pearls in a gradation of different sizes and shapes.
With the detailing on the bust of Wendy's dress, I decided to keep the jewellery very simple: sterling silver and a Swarovski crystal and pearl for both the necklace and earrings (the same as I had used in the tiara comb).
For the final dress that Wendy made for the shoot, I picked a classic 1950s shape for the headpiece - the pillbox. Inspired by the spotted tulle that Wendy had decided to use on the bodice of the dress, I added a generous sprinkling of Swarovski crystals in shades of teal, emerald, olive and pale blue...a very modern combination of colours.
I made some very small Swarovski crystal and sterling silver studs, picking out one of the main colours that I had used in the headpiece.
You're most welcome to pop by and try these pieces on, or come and have a chat about your own ideas...just drop me a line!
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See More From The Shoot
Shoot Contributors
Photography
Make-up Artist
Hair Stylist
Dress Designer-Maker
Jewellery and Accessories
Menswear
Flowers
Stationery
Car
Gramophone
Venue
Models
Emily Morton
Caeley Elcock
Jamie Hillen
Omar Zingaro Bhatia
