If in doubt, make it bigger and add more sparkle

I am always thrilled to hear that the truly divine Jonathan Mayor wants to talk to me about a design, so was there like a shot when, back in June he sent me a message asking to chat about something "fabulously Roman-esque" for his part in the Manchester Pride Parade.

Original sketch

Jonathan wanted to incorporate some red sequinned fabric into his dress, and true to form, wanted an absolute show stopper. "Think big, and then think bigger." With a reference image of Celine Dion in a Stephane Rolland gown for sleeve inspiration we sat down together and drew up a design with a huge, full skirt and kimono drop sleeves with massive shoulders. During his on-stage performances, Jonathan is very expressive with his arms so there needed to be lots of room to move.

As the dress was destined to be big and heavy, Jonathan chose a breathable silk fabric for the bodice part, lined with cotton, with a faux silk habutai for the billowing inserts and faux silk dupion sleeves. 

Sewing with sequinned fabric is always somewhat of an experience, and creating the size and shape of the sleeves was quite a challenge involving a large amount of crinoline and coils of boning all hand-stitched in.

Sparkly heart-shaped buttons were added all the way down the front, and the chest area was left intentionally empty to accommodate Jonathan's wide variety of spectacular jewellery. He also wanted the sleeves to not come higher than shoulder height to avoid crowding his head/headpiece.

To create even more fullness to the skirt part of the dress, a ready-made hooped petticoat was bought online, which also helps to ensure it doesn't get wrapped in his legs when moving around.

Seeing Jonathan parading down Deansgate for Manchester's Pride Parade leading the rugby Spartans, I was incredibly proud too! I can't wait for Jonathan's next vision! 

Back detail

Featured in the Manchester Evening News 

 

Hustling the bustle

The Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre's Costume Hire Department recently commissioned me to create this Victorian style corseted bustle dress in green duchesse satin. It is based on a costume that had been on their rails for 17 years was a very popular plus-sized pattern.

The dustle and draped apron front of this dress take up a lot of fabric, and the Victorians really liked all their trimmings and decorative touches and this dress is full of them. There is a velvet trim bordered with fringe as well as ribbon, and several feature buttons. The corseted bodice has satin covered piping at the seams and edges, and the sleeves have lace inserts and more buttons.

The lace-up back to the bodice means that it can be worn by people of a wide variety of sizes, which is very useful for Costume Hire as you never know who you'll be dressing.

The Costume Hire Department were thrilled with this revamped version of a favourite and have put in an order for another one in purple already!

Never outdress the bride... but get close!

This is Sue, and she wanted a stunning dress for her best friend's wedding in Manchester. I have to say, getting a bespoke dress for these kind of events is THE best way to not only get a gorgeous dress that fits perfectly and is comfortable for a long day, but to also make sure you never have to deal with the often-dreaded scenario of someone else wearing the exact same thing!

Work in progress

We started by looking at vintage-style dress patterns. Sue (like many ladies) wanted sleeves and a tea-length hem. She chose a Vintage Vogue style with a faux wrap bodice which gives a gorgeous neckline, and short sleeves that I lengthened for her.

I created a mock-up of the bodice part of the dress so that I could make all the adjustments needed to ensure a perfect fit, and Sue choose this beautiful cotton fabric with printed gold highlights.

And doesn't she look divine? Swamped with compliments on the day, she now has a unique and personalised frock in her wardrobe on hand for any event.