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High Glam in Turquoise and Fuschia

Satin, lace, velvet, Swarovskis, and 150 yards of tulle!
The lower skirts -- one of Swarovski dotted lace, one turquoise satin, and two separate underskirts of gathered tulle and net.  The lace hem was finished with the lace border applied to the circular skirt.  The final ribbon of pink velvet is yet to be sewn in place.
The bows were candy pink silk velvet, this one interfaced with haircloth to hold its perky shape.  The huge bow on the lower skirt is interlined with muslin, for a softer look. In this photo you can see the also pattern of the  blue zircon and rose pink Swarovski crystals that covered the lace. The side seam has not yet been finished in this photo.  It was later pressed flat, and the seamm allowances catch-stitched to the interlining.
The beginnings of the tulle cape.  Secret weapon?  A ruffling attachment.
A little hat to match, sheer gloves, and Madame was magnificent.
Satin, lace, velvet, Swarovskis, and 150 yards of tulle!

Satin, lace, velvet, Swarovskis, and 150 yards of tulle!

Photo: Clayton Joyner

This is a one of a kind custom gown and cape that I created for The Swedish Housewife, a performer and producer of magnificent stage shows.  We have worked on quite a few costumes together, and it's always a joyful process of extravagance and technical challenges.  I use a combination of draping and flat pattern drafting to acheive my design goals, and am always trying new techniques.  In this case, the tulle cape was an experiment that I wasn't sure would fly.  Instead, it turned out to be more dramatic than we had hoped.


Pattern or design used: My own design - It's Mark Mitchell
itsmarkmitchell itsmarkmitchell, member
Posted on Dec 1st, 2009 in design, garment construction, fabric, embellishments, reader's closet, , hand stitching, hand drafted patterns, trimming, underlining, draped patterns, custom

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Comments (8)

jessipage jessipage writes: ok i want how to's for the tulle cape...lol the gown is awesome but im loving the cape lol
Posted: 2:33 pm on August 13th

Scheri Scheri writes: I hope you keep on posting. Fabulous!
Posted: 11:44 pm on January 4th

marysdolls marysdolls writes: Oh My! I LOVE IT! The design, the colors, the fabrics, the WORK! Truly F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!
Posted: 10:38 pm on January 11th

koo104 koo104 writes: We need a featured article about this genius and more of his work!!!!!
Posted: 3:14 pm on December 30th

KharminJ KharminJ writes: What a fantastic reminder that all those fabulous stage and screen costumes are designed and sewn(!) by people 'just like us'.
Thank you for sharing. I love the colors, and appreciate the encouragement to go outrageous!

Kharmin
Posted: 11:11 am on December 20th

jilldeville jilldeville writes: I hope you get to make many many more gowns to share with us. This is wonderful, how lucky she is to get to wear this!!!
Posted: 12:34 am on December 20th

Clarasita Clarasita writes: I had a very dear drag queen friend who would have absolutely adored this gown. And I say that will true respect and affection. Such costuming takes an exquisite eye to scale and drama in equal measures. And, by the way, most assumptions about drag queens are not reality based. My friend was a straight and very masculine man who loved women, fashion and drama. He would have been just as special a person had he been gay, but I wanted to bust the stereotype. He was a great entertainer and earned as much from his performance work as he did in his career as a health care professional. Sadly, he was lost in Katrina, and I'll have to say that life is much less colorful without him. Thanks for the happy memories of a life lived well and fully.
Posted: 12:54 am on December 17th

HandsThatCan HandsThatCan writes: Very Beautiful and eloquent
Posted: 2:58 pm on December 14th

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