Time for another adventure in solitary photography! As you may have noticed, the model in my most of my dress photos bears a striking resemblance to...ahem...a certain independent designer/seamstress/craft dork/mom/lapsed grad student...namely me. :-) There are a couple of reasons for this: first of all, I am conveniently available and low-cost, and second of all, because when I'm making dress samples it's easiest to make them to fit me. (No one else is around to poke with pins at two in the morning. Except the Husbeast and Annabel, and I shudder to think of the consequences there...)My ivory cotton sateen deep-v neck bridal gown (the J. Crew Genevieve reproduction) has been one of my most popular dresses, and I'm often contacted with requests to see the dress "on a real person." I've only made the bridal version for other people, and I've never been lucky enough to make one that was anywhere close to my size so that I could try it on and snap some photos. (Plus, I would feel guilty trying on one of my dear clients' dresses--that seems wrong somehow.) I am hoping for pics from the brides who have this dress so that I can post them on the blog, but until they arrive, I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands!
I was working on a tea-length version of the dress for a super-sweet bride named Lauren, and since it's always easier to make two of the same dress at once, I just went ahead and whipped up a knee-length version for myself. It fits like a dream, makes my waist look tiny, has the sweet fabric-covered buttons up the back and the gorgeous ivory cotton sateen fabric that I love so much...plus a bit of organza interlining in the skirt, and built-in cups in the bust so that I don't have to wear a bra. Could there be a more perfect dress for a beach wedding, or any casual outdoor event for that matter?
Husbeast is my sometime-photographer--he doesn't have any skills or anything, and mostly he spends the whole time pretending to be Austin Powers in the photo shoot sequences in the original movie ("Yeah baby, yeah! You're a tiger! You're a squirrel! You're an angry squirrel! And, I'm spent.") Which does at least result in some good smiles on my part, though not the most artistic fashion photography. However, Husbeast is pretty busy with school these days, so I was on my own with this shoot.
I don't have a tripod, or a fancy camera, or any space in my workshop/apartment for artistic staging (man, I can't wait to have my own work space!); however, I do have an ironing board, a stack of books, and a digital camera with a timer. I can improvise. I waited for a sunny day, did the best I could with my hair and makeup, put on the dress and started to vogue. (Okay, just kidding about that last part.) The pretty pink flowers belong to Annabel--she was the flower girl in a wedding last summer, and she caught the toss bouquet. :-)
I've decided that instead of continuing to refer to this gown as the "ivory cotton sateen deep-v bridal gown"--which began its life as the J. Crew Genevieve reproduction, but is now, I think, my own take on that original beautiful design--I re-christened the short version "Ella." It just seemed right--simple, romantic, modern and classic all at the same time. I love how the light plays on the texture of the cotton sateen in these pictures--it reminds me of how pearls look in the light. So gorgeous. Stay tuned for more photo shoot pics...the bridal Emmeline is next up!
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