Friday Eye Candy: Mary Katrantzou Autumn/Winter 2010

I love looking at high end fashion, it's a source of inspiration but it's very rare for me to see something that I would ever consider purchasing.  Like the majority of people I'm happy carving out my personal style from whatever takes my fancy on the high street.  These dresses by Mary Katrantzou are the exception, I adore them, they tick every box.  Bold and refreshing, feminine and demure and above all deliciously quirky.

 A piece inspired by the 'Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour' 1759 by Francois Boucher





















Even more amazingly she has found ways of transfering these rich works of art onto knit fabrics, enabling her to be even more versatile with her collections.

Yep, I'm in love....

Finished Project: Elven Priestess Costume

This was something I made a little while ago.  It started off as just an idea for a gauzy textured, embellished hood which as I developed became a concept for a whole costume.

The further I got with sewing the hood the more it felt like something was missing so I made a matching robe to go with it.  The whole thing is made from pale blue voile, the hood has been embellished with small amounts of other fabrics in shades of blue for example organza, manipulated into floral forms.

Close-up of the hood.

I used triple-flex plastic boning to give it it's shape.  It's perfect for projects like this because it's incredibly lightweight but will still give fantastic support.