A floral melodrama (with drapery)

I've been in London for the past few days, enjoying the general ambience and visiting favourite haunts. One advantage of coming to London is staying near a small park which is very useful for photography purposes!

This is a dress I customised during my first week of 'work experience' (mini internship) - I was allowed free reign with the sewing machine on the last day! I'd bought this mid calf length vintage monsoon piece in a charity shop a few months previously, and subsequently left it languishing in my 'alterations box.' So this was a perfect excuse to do something with it!

I started by taking in the dress, as it was slightly too large and then took up the hem to just below knee length, before proceeding to work on the drapery (I pinned up four sections of the hem to fall in folds). It took me about an hour to perfect it before I was happy with the symmetry. I particularly enjoyed the experience of working on a dressmaker's dummy, as it gave a more realistic portrayal of how the fabric would hang. (I now really want my own dressmakers mannequin to work with, so I've started saving!) Finally, after sewing the drapes in place, I secured some vintage buttons on top to hide the stitching!

Here I layered it over a little Next fine-knit top and added that old favourite belt of my grandma's (from when she was in 'girl guides'). The grey lace up boots are much-loved, much-featured, from Topshop, while the socks peeping out of the top are vintage. The shawl in some of the shots was given to me by my grandma - I seem to be wearing it all the time at the moment! It's a very useful item to throw on over other things.

The hat is vintage child's Laura Ashley, from a charity shop, with a cream vintage scarf tied around the brim. I also pinned a cameo onto the scarf, which I bought at a bric-a-brac stall. Ever since seeing a collection of Cameos at the British Museum I've begun to start coveting and collecting them! The bag is my paternal grandma's (on loan) which she used in the seventies. Like the buckle bag featured a few posts ago, it is the most wonderful vintage brown leather!

When putting this outfit together, I was slightly inspired by a Burberry style aesthetic and palette. Elements of classic British-ness (floral print, ankle socks, hat etc) with edgier elements, such as the boots. I have to say, if I had the money, Burberry would be one brand I might just splash out on! I especially loved Christopher Bailey's collection for which he cited a group of Bloomsbury intellectuals as inspiration!

This time Mum took the photos, and once again I had to play the game of try-to-pose-without-letting-your-heels-sink-into-the-ground. However, I've had quite a bit of practise so I'm getting quite good at it now!

A floral melodrama (with drapery) 2010-07-29T13:22:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown