Anticipation

This summer I've been fortunate enough to receive invitations to two weddings and an awesome sounding birthday masquerade ball, and I couldn't be more excited! The past couple of weeks have been filled with anxious plans on how to make awe inspiring costumes for myself and for my prince for the birthday celebration that's coming up in just under three weeks. So far I've nearly finished a vest for him and a tulle skirt for myself to support a skirt that I already have. It's what I wore to the closest thing to prom that we had when I was still in high school: vanhojentanssit, where in the February of the second year the soon-to-be-seniors have a ball where they dance the old ball room dances to celebrate becoming the eldest students at the school. The tradition used to be more about historical costumes and having a "princess day" when I had mine 8 years ago, but nowadays the fashions have changed and people tend to dress more modern. But at least it's still a formal event and a reason to really dolly up!

Here's how I looked back then:

I made the dress with some help from my mom. The pattern had been drafted after a dress that Sissi, the empress of Austria and Hungary once wore in the 19th century. It's a shame the top no longer fits me, but it's a blessing in disguise: I get to make a new one!

Rock 'n' Roses

Okay, time to break the silence again! Here are some pictures from Rock 'n' Roses, the fashion show I was proud to be part of a couple weeks back, and the main reason for the communication breakdown. It was my first proper fashion show ever and although not perfect, it was really quite a nice experience and taught me heaps. But boy, was it a lot of work! And still I wish I'd dedicated more time to it. Live and learn, I guess. At the very least, learn :). For if one doesn't, what use is any of it?

Without further ado, the pictures:

Lovely Susanna took the stage first with a combination of a dress and a corset. The corset was made as part of our combined math and fashion history course at school. I wanted to have a go at fan lacing and using swing hooks instead of a regular busk: not as complicated as I'd anticipated, it turns out. The dress was made with a pattern I'd used previously to make myself a velvet dress which turned out to be the comfiest garment ever(!), and for this collection I wanted to make one that wouldn't be quite as overdressed for everyday wear.

My second outfit was donned by the gorgeous Katarina.

Mary had a little lamb. HAD. Like, 10 of them, as that's how many it took to make this piece, 60-70 square feet or so. The leather coat was also made for a school course, an optional leatherworking course. I wanted something fabulously over the board, and got it. The cutwork on the collar alone took 7 hours to complete. Not bad for a first item made of leather, although there are, of course, things I could improve on in the future.

My third attire as presented by the elegant Tiina, and the last piece that was part of mandatory school work: the pants. I found a gorgeous linen blend that draped like a dream to make these palazzo pants. Alas, they don't fit her quite as well as they fit me, but that's one of the things to take to heart from this show: don't use pieces made for anyone else but the models. The jacket was made of crimson bridal satin and trimmed with decorative stitching and a collar and pocket flaps made of silk chiffon and leather. The headdress was made by Maarit Nieminen, one of the other designers at the show, and left on due to time restraints and because it fit the outfit quite nicely :).

The fourth outfit as presented by the wonderful Sara: a chain-trimmed dress and a ribbon corset. The dress is of the same fabric as the pants were and trimmed with a heavy weight chain that was hand-stiched on the hem, neckline and sleeves. Chanel customarily uses chain to weigh down the hems of their trademark jackets and skirts, but I thought the detail was too pretty to be hidden on the inside of the garment.
The corset took inspiration from the slightly less heavy weight corsets that were worn as night attire in the victorian era. I wanted to bring some edge to the collection and used a rougher material than the satin ribbon that would have been the norm.

The eerily beautiful Hannamari in my tricot top, belt and skirt. The top reflects the cut of  the previous dresses in a delicate stretch lace and an interlock knit. The belt showcases some of this gorgeous coque tail feather trim I managed to source at the recent craft expo and the skirt is trimmed with the same guipure lace as the first corset was. It's not obvious from the pictures, but the skirt has quite a bit of volume gathered in the back - also inspired by the victorian era- using hand-sewn cartridge pleating, a technique from the renaissance.

Mesmerizing Krista donned my penultimate dress, accentuated with a wearable shibari tie. The dress itself had clean lines, a mermaid silhouette and a small train. I wish I'd had a little more time to get the tie to fit her perfectly, but one has to make it work within the allotted time... This was one of my own favourites out of the collection but unfortunately it came a bit short in the show. Hopefully I'll have some better pictures to show of it soon, with enough time to dress it properly on the model.

I got the honour of presenting the final dress of the show and here it is: the Stormborn dress on the star of the show, Ida-Emilia. The cotton satin dress was hand dyed by yours truly to achieve the tie-dye effect at the hem. The bodice and the waist are over-laid with chiffon and the top is finished with asymmetric satin ribbon straps. Regretfully, I didn't have the time to instruct the lighting guy to dim the lights on this part, so one of the details on this one doesn't translate well into pictures: under the chiffon there are white LEDs the twinkle like stars in the night sky. I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew with those, but hey, better late than never. We got the lights working only 30 minutes to go before the show...

All photos are courtesy of Tiina Salminen/Photogothic, who gracieously  managed to fit our show between shooting the gigs of some of the greatest bands in the world and the prettiest faces in Finland. Be sure to check her site!

Thanks for reading!