New Direction: Vintage Couture Gowns

When I first started out after my course at the Melbourne School of Fashion, I made quite a lot of wedding dresses for private clients.

It was such a huge learning curve.  Every client & dress was different. 

From a Frost Green Medieval Velvet gown to Gothic Revival to great big beaded meringues & restyling Mum's 1960's dress.


With each new gown I learned so much about pattern making, fabric suitability, fixed quotes & hand embellishing.
From there I went to work at Adele Chapeaux in Toorak for a couple of years, before heading back to uni to study costume design.

Along the way I have continued to make a select number of wedding & evening gowns, via word of mouth, but it seems like time to start creating couture gowns in earnest again.

In 16 years of costume making I have amassed a vast collection of vintage patterns dating back to the 1920's through to the 1960's &  since the Vintage clothing revival does not look as if it is slowing down I have decided to start recreating some of those gorgeous designs for modern fashionistas who long for a taste of yesteryear.






So without further ado, Empireroom Vintage Couture is open for business.
Make an appointment for a design consultation today & let us create the Vintage gown of your dreams.

Come & visit me at Empire Room

Fonts & fascinators & 7 fabric dresses

Where did this last week go?

I have so many things I want to get on to, but there are never enough hours.

I've been on a 'make Empireroom look professional' jag recently.
I have these gorgeous head pieces & now everything else needs to look just as gorgeous, to get them out there & selling.
There's so much involved.
A new font & logo, better pictures, a new website with online shop, more samples for the range, sourcing materials. and then there is the business side of things.

I've been doing Marie Forleo's B-School which has opened up so many resources & information I feel a little like a duck. Serenely gliding over the water, with my little legs going like the blazes under the surface. There is a lot to digest in only 8 weeks, but i have learned so much about how to run an online business.

On the creative side, this has been happening.
Some more silk flowers with left over wedding petals.

A new blusher veil, in several different fabrics, this is crystal tulle.

Miz Mimi sporting last week's silk flower blusher.

A box of gorgeous crystal samples & some lace that I've been thinking of including in some 1920's bandaeaus

More petals & layered vintage motifs. I got these motifs in a huge garbage bag of dirty vintage lace from Job Warehouse years ago. They've been in the trims box at school since making lots of 1930's lingerie for 42nd Street in 2006. 

After all this time they suddenly spoke to me & said they were destined for bridal head pieces. And I think I agree with their destiny. I have stiffened them & layered  three on top of each other, all individually trimmed & with some beaded & gold thread they will look amazing

I also pick up this adorable Regency pattern & want to try the frilled wrap in silk & lace.

Of course the obsession with Wizard of Oz continues.

Glinda  & the Wicked Witch of the West  have hit the forefront & I'm so excited for their costumes now. 

Glinda was so hard because there are such strong images of her costume already out there. 

The MGM fairy floss pink  1930's fairy princess, the Meringue wedding dress of Wicked & the recent Great & Powerful Oz Glinda in slinky medieval inspired dresses.

I wanted my Glinda to be different & when the suggested wedding dress from Les Mis did not fit our actress, I was so happy to return to the drawing board.

Our Glinda will be wearing a dress of blue & gold brocade with 6 layers  of Organza, blue brocade, Glitter organza, blue tulle, gold spider web fabric in her skirt & silk shot chiffon sleeve drapes.

This was the inspiration.

 Our Wicked Witch also need to be equally spectacular. 

No ugly dowdy version. I loved that Wicked made her beautiful, paving the way to move beyond warts & pointed noses.

When I saw this 1890's dress on Pinterest I knew this was the foundation of the design. Majestic, elegant & powerful.

 Coupled with this pattern in my collection, I delved into the fabric store room & grabbed every textured scrap of fabric I could find. Lots of the pieces are from Chicago 2 years ago. I also like the feather trimming in the recent Oz incarnation & luckily I still had some Babette trim from Beauty & the Beast. Every single pattern piece is a different fabric, from sheer lace under sleeve, 3D flower fabric over sleeves, red & black lace overlay front panel, stretch cotton brocade bodice, lurex thread sleeve caps, crushed taffeta over skirt, red glitter tulle front under skirt & a removable black & red feather stand up collar.

Here is a little mock up with the scraps after cutting. 

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Wizard of Oz takes over my life

I love it when I get so excited about a project I just can't stop working on it.
The Wizard of Oz has become just that. I have had so many Ah-Ha moments in the last week.

Today I'm supposed to be working on Empireroom Designs, but I just can't stop researching Wizard. One idea just flows onto the next & I find myself back at the computer Googling & eBaying like my life depended on it.

I have really been struggling with the concept for the Cowardly Lion.
Tinman & Scarecrow got sorted last week after I came across come YouTube videos for the London Production. Be blown away by Dorothy's miraculous dress change at 1.39.

After watching some of their 135 videos, it all just fell into place & with some tweaking & trial paint effects there were the designs. See last weeks blog.

But the Lion hasn't been sitting easy with me. It's the whole idea that even though he's Cowardly, he is still a Lion & no-one has a problem with that. I felt the need to make him a little more person-ish, a bit more accessible, harking back to Wicked story lines,  but I didn't want him to be lame.
So here's my inspiration over many weeks & months

I really liked this Lion mane, but I didn't want our Lion to be in a full fur suit.

I also loved the Lion from the TinMan mini series, but it still wasn't quite right.

Then I found this gorgeous fraidy cat from the Carousel Theatre For Young People. I really connect with his human-ness, but it wasn't my vision.

Then when I was supposed to be packing up to leave school at 4pm yesterday, it came to me.

Perhaps not a blinding flash, but certainly ideas started tumbling. I raced up to the storeroom to seek out the leather surcoat that Merlin wore in Pendragon. A lovely burnished brown leather, aged behind the back of a 4WD.

Then I thought about jodphur pants that would give the effect of the Lions muscular legs without being a fur suit & ridiculously hot. 

I 

 Once I got home, I took of my rain sodden leather shoes in favor of my good ole Teddy bear slippers. And then I remembered seeing some monsters slippers online.

Add some fur trim fingerless gloves, a stringy mane from my first picture & hey presto, I had a Lion design I was pretty happy with.

Then I tried looking at crows again. Nothing in any productions really inspired me, but when I saw this adorable mini raven costume I was done.

Our three crows will wear a black hoodie with attached peaked beak, felt winglets & feathers,  black baggy rough edged shorts, long orange & black stripe socks, & oversized  bird feet slipppers.

They will be so comfy! 

Next time I'll share my amazing transforming Poppies into Snowflakes & the delectable Jitterbugs.

Stay tuned for more Empireroom bridal millinery. Silk bows are on the horizon.

Oh yeah…. Jennifer Hawkins wore one of my Teardrop veils for her Hen's night last weekend. 

2013: The Year of Big Changes

How did it suddenly get to be a quarter of the way through 2013?
I mean, it was sudden, wasn't it?
It just snuck up on me.

There was a cruisey January where I caught up on all my sewing & started on the Historical Fortnight Sewing Challenge.
Then school started.


Then there was Kyria's gorgeous black & white wedding dress.


And then fashion season was upon us.











I originally thought I was just crewing High School Musical starting March 9, so I booked myself silly working for the Myer Autumn/Winter 2013 launch,

the Victorian  Racing Carnival Autumn parade

& L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2013.

Next thing I know the hire agreement for HSM has disintegrated & suddenly I was required to source some costumes. Before I knew it, 12 outfits for Sharpay & Ryan, blew out to about 40 costumes, & I found myself working almost everyday from February 22 through to March 26.

What a ride! Come Easter I was beyond exhausted & my husband had almost forgotten who I was, but I was clear about where I was heading in the next part of the year & into 2014.

After a lot of soul searching I decided it was time to move on from the Carey Musical Theatre Association after 15 years of costuming their annual musical. It's something that probably should have happened 2 years ago, but you know how it is with habit.
I love the work, I love the kids & I love the volunteers I work with, but the organisation has changed over the last few years & I was finding it hard to cope with the new methods of operation.
The thing is when you finally take the plunge & make the right decision everything else just seems to fall into place.
And that's what has happened with me.

The stylists I worked with this season asked me to create some millinery pieces for their parades while doing alterations. A few veils, several fascinators. 

The first two were easy projects & started me thinking that this was what I could really do. 

I enjoyed it, it was relatively easy & it didn't stress me out of my brain like wedding dresses tend to. This led to an in with the millinery buyer at Myer.

Then I worked with Karla Clarke at Harpers Bazaar on the L'Oreal Red Carpet Runway Bridal extravaganza. We came to a bit of a brick wall with the millinery that had been supplied for the parade & I suggested I could put a few pieces together. A few pieces turned in to 31 with a 72hour turn around. 

The pressure was immense, but I enlisted the help of my friend Maddie & we managed to make beautiful pieces that complemented the wedding dresses by Akira Isogawa, Collette Dinnigan, Rachel Gilbert, Aurelio Costarella & Toni Maticevski.

And so begins the next phase of Empireroom.
Stay tuned.

Some selfish Vintage sewing for me.

After what seems an eternity of shows, jobs & sewing for everyone else, I decided it was time to have a day to sew for me.

Not for Beauty & the Beast: my latest show. Not for Alex Perry; dress design legend. Not for the kids ballet & band uniforms. Not for any styling jobs. It was time to use some stash fabric & break out some vintage patterns, just for me.

So yesterday, after an early trip to get fabric for Bride & Prejudice, my August production, I came home & made a blouse & pair of high waisted jeans.

I had already trialled the jeans pattern with some linen some time ago & found I needed to lower the waist about 4cm, lose the cuff & make the darts a bit bigger, as I am quite petite.

I used denim with a slight stretch that I was given about 10 years ago by the Tsubi guys(now Ksubi).
I also moved the zip opening from the front to the side seam. I didn't feel like fussing with a fly front in stretch fabric & I much prefer a side zip in high waist pants.

They are so comfortable. 

The blouse was made with some beautiful self printed voile I picked up in Paris last year. 

3m for 10euro. Bargain! 

So soft & sheer, an appropriate undergarment is a must.

I made View 1, but again, due to my petite size the 3/4 sleeve is neither wrist or 3/4 length so I rolled them for the picture. I might add a cuff to make them long or just tack in the roll, as I think it looks quite neat. Very Lauren Bacall.
I'm also thinking of extending the darts up to the bust point for a more fitted look.

I think the blouse will work better with a skirt, but they look ok together for this picture.

Sometimes public transport can be scary

Today I caught the train to work. There is nothing unusual about that.
I was on an express train to Richmond so i jumped off at Box Hill to wait for one that would stop at either Camberwell or better yet, Auburn.As I & 3 others entered we noticed someone had left a shopping bag under a seat near the door. A guy who exited chased after the only other person who alighted, with the bag.
Just as the doors were closing he came back saying "it's not mine' and threw it through the closing doors & it slid towards my seat, where it had been left.
'How odd?' I thought & proceeded to have a look in case there was evidence of it's owner.
Just a shoe box, that was heavy & taped up.
By now my Spidey senses were tingling, actually alarm bells were sounding, really loudly.
The guy in the next seat asked what it was.
So there was a bit of discussion, some further investigation, one guy actually shook it, which was a bit unnerving, but it had been thrown into the train without mishap.
We sort of skirted aound the obvious, without actually voicing that we all wondered if it was an explosive device.
At that point I suggested pushing the red button. No one was to excitied about that prospect, but I also didn't want to be blown to pieces. So i pushed the red button & spoke to the voice & we were told to take it off at Camberwell & it would be investigated there.
One of 'us' we alighting there, so he volunteered to take it.

My heart was racing & I was so relieved when it was gone & prayed that it was some innocent mistake. A parcel some one was planning to post, an assignment for school or uni.

So now I'm at school & calmly sewing costumes.
An embroidered skirt for Lady WIndemere's Fan & then Belle's ballgown.

The next big thing

Wow, it's almost the end of April.
I knew I'd been busy since school started but I had no idea I hadn't posted in all that time.
This is how the last 3 months panned out.

42nd Street

Myer Autumn Winter Launch

Mt Franklin Ad campaign

L'oreal Fashion Festival

Logies

Hayley Lewis in Alex Perry, altered by yours truly

and now I'm designing Beauty & the Beast & just about to get into discussions about collaborating on a new musical. It doesn't rain but it pours. Which is great.

Since the wedding I have also been able to put enough money away to start designing our new kitchen.  It will only be a flatpack, but who cares. A new kitchen! That has me excited in the home front.
Which leads nicely into my next project which also very exciting & full of kitchen ware, Beauty & the Beast (B&B)

I worked on the Professional production of Beauty in Sydney in 1996-97.
It was one of my all time favourite jobs & my first official paid for costume work. - I don't think $75 a week at Billanook really counted. I don't think there could have been a better place to learn all about costume as there were so many facets to Beauty. Objects, Beasts, Humans, pyrotechnics, cast change overs, shoes, jewellery, a couple of hundred costumes, dancers, singers, oesteopaths, prosthetics & beading galore. I was in heaven for the 11 months I work backstage.

Sharon, Markham, Chelsea, Katrina & Carolyn Sydney 1996

Silly Girls Disney production 1996

We're going for something a little darker than your usual sugar coated, brightly coloured, very Disney show. It's not a light & bright tale, so I'm edging towards Steampunk Tim Burton-esque, red, black, gunmetal, gold & cream. I've bought rolls of gold fabric for the Castle Objetcs & trying to design them to be as fantastic as possible, but also easy for teh parents to manage in 9 weeks.
Here's a couple of patterns that we're using.

Madame D'arque

Babatte's hat

Let the magic begin…..

Less than a month

So Servant of Two Masters finished on Monday night. By all accounts it was a resounding success, which I didn't actually get to see because Emily's dance concert was on too.
With that out of the way all there is to focus on now is Christmas & the Big Day.

I am starting to stress a bit with the wedding being so close. The days get less & there is still so much to achieve.
Shirts are done, boys pants are done except for fastenings.
Ties are cut, vests are cut.
Emily's dress is started.
After a mild nervous breakdown when I tried on my own dress last week & discovered I no longer have the boobs to fill it. (No idea where they went as I haven't lost weight, just toned up)
I couldn't face it until yesterday, so armed with the tv series Kingdom Hospital I sat myself down to rectify the problem.
I unpicked the lace overlay from bodice, unpicked the top seam & removed a couple of centimetres from the bust, but then the sweetheart shape wasn't siting right so I cut that down, but it still wasn't right, so I trimmed some more, added bust cups, eliminating the bra issues & stitched it back up. After some tears, tantrums & almost dislocating a shoulder trying to hook the back up it finally fits again & sits, almost, perfectly. Now I just have to reattach the lace overlay, finish the beading, attach the skirt, sew on the vintage glass buttons & voila!
I cannot change shape again in the next 23 days or I'm likely to throw the dress out the window & wear a sack.

I am actually enjoying the amount of exercise I'm getting & it's helped so much with my back pain. Given the amount of sewing I'm doing, I'm fairing pretty well.
I think with the discipline of working each day on sewing tasks I can see myself being able to stick to the program next year & really get my Etsy store happening.
Each week I've been getting a sale for my vintage lace or patterns & as I'm picking up a huge stash from a retired dressmaker this Sunday I should have lots more to list.
But it's really getting on to making things & having the confidence to list them in the new year that I'm struggling with. It's ridiculous when I can get a call to dash into Crown Towers to alter a designer beaded dress for an evening event & get the job done in 3 hours. I know I can do it, I just need to find the confidence to put myself out there. New Years resolution? Maybe.


So I'd better stop procrastinating & get back to it, I hear Kingdom Hospital calling.

Almost on stage.

S2M is almost done.
 First Dress rehearsal is tomorrow & I'm pretty sure everyone has a costume. I was in a bit of a panic at the beginning of the week when I discovered the majority of the boys costume were still untouched. Hems were pinned, pictures attached with fabric scraps & trims chosen, but nothing was finished.
With only a few hours of my contract left, I cleaned up the work space & got to decorating the boys outfits. And here I thought I was just the designer.....

Today I'm finishing a really cute jabot for Beatrice who spends most of the play masquerading as her brother. We've gone with a traditional 16th century costume with a modern day Gothic twist to fit with the overall costume concept. It's made up of 3 length of vintage lace with a heart motif to represent the love she has lost. It's so sweet.
Other things on the horizon are

• working up a design concept for the first production for 2012, 42nd Street 
• making an Alice costume for a friends 30th. 

On the other front I have a massive to do list all set out for every day til the wedding.
How did I get myself into such a big DIY wedding?
This is when you need adult attendants & a family who can actually assist you with all this, but it's just little ole' me. It will look fab though.
After much searching & several stalled attempts, I finally found some local drink dispensers for the lemonade from eBay.
It's really encouraging to be getting all the RSVP's, some are coming from interstate & the UK.
Well better to get back to it.

My stiff back decided to turn chronic overnight, stupid back pain. And I have to go back to school tomorrow.
Instead of being able to take advantage of my beautifully tidy sewing room, I've been creeping round the house trying to avoid doing anything to send my lower back into spasm.
So the dreaded sort of tax receipts, invoices, payments & overseas trip has ensued. You don't have to move much to sort papers & enter them on a spreadsheet. Bring on the tax return…..
Now I'm going to look as S2M designs. Maybe a little sketching will be relaxing.

Clean up Day

After yesterday's effort of trying to stiffen all the silk petals for my wedding fascinator on my work room floor & being left with a stiffened back, I am resolved to completely clear my storage, um I mean work table, so I can actually work on it. I'm sure I'll find lots of goodies I have forgotten I have. So that's the plan for today. Also got a call from a friend at church to help alter her daughters costumes for their upcoming production of Oliver. That should be easy, their school borrowed them from my 2010 production.

S2M

I just got back from a week in Mildura as costume maker, cook, ticket seller & general rouse about for Aspect Motion Dance Company's first tour collective. It was exhausting, but amazing.

Now I've got my next two projects to focus on.

The Servant of Two Masters, hereafter known as 'S2M', & my wedding, hereafter known as 'the biggish day'. Both due in December, I need to get my skates on & get designing, collating, & creating.

S2M costumes are a merge of Hi 5, Harajuku & Steampunk. I'm really hoping to try & upcycle as much as possible & make this show look really creative.

At the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space & Design I was super inspired by Reet Aus, eesti-naiste-laulud,

an Estonian designer who creates new costumes out of discarded clothes & textiles. Then today when checking out some back issues of Belle Amoire I came across another group of designers, Gibbous Fashions,

who work with the same methods. I am so in love with their designs & will be scouring Savers for Vests, jackets, coats & pants to create our own upcycled outfits for the cast. I was already excited about this production, by now am more inspired than ever, especially knowing I have so few hours to work on it.

Surely the parents & students can manage this sort of crazy costume construction where there are no rules & no need to be highly skilled in sewing, patternmaking & construction methods.

I'm really excited & can't wait to get shopping.

My aim is to come under budget & still look spectacular.

The other project has only 88 days to completion. Argh!

The biggish day is going to be very DIY, but still our budget seems wildly extravagant. Some lace, some fabric, a lot of fabric, some mdf cutouts, stickers, straws, more fabric, ribbon, paper, heart shape paper clips. So many little things add up. And then the big things like the venue & catering….