Weekly update January 21

The dress above is a dress I made for a Japanese customer to wear to a wedding. The navy silk is really beautiful and I can't wait to see it on her! Apart from that, This week will mainly be a lot of work-in-progress photos... 

I got an idea last week for a cute sixties wedding dress using these pretty fabric flowers I got in Hong Kong. It's been really fun to work on! 

My other work this at the moment is all in the toile stage - where I make a sort of practice or prototype dress out of cheap fabric to check that the pattern works. Both of the dresses I'm toiling at the moment are big long gowns so I've been working with teeny tiny scale pattern pieces to work out the most economical way to cut these dresses out. 

I'm working on another sash sample, I like having hand sewing to do in front of the tv in the afternoon! This one is a retro flowery style. It's just what I'm liking at the moment!

I was proud to finish off my pub paintings this week so if you didn't see them, check them out.

Awards season has put me in the mood for evening dresses so I've been sketching ideas for more bridal samples to make for the Etsy store. 

I keep my painting stuff (and some fake flowers) in these Andy Warhol soup cans.

Stacey from Rollergirl posted this cute photo of her in her bell street waitress costume rolling at the soda factory last week. Doesn't she look great? They're having a summer of 69 themed roller disco soon, so if you're in Sydney, you should check that out!

In other news, we bought a sandwich toaster this week and my lunches have improved immensely.

Adventures in Watercolour, part 2

Part 1 here

Before my mum came to visit us, I let her know that I wanted to get better at watercolour and demanded some lessons from her (she's good at all that). While she was in Manila we had a few painting sessions and I've been making it a habit to paint regularly since. I've been painting lots of wedding dress ideas, and also did some watercolour illustrations for my Hong Kong post.

I still use fashion drawing templates, because trying to draw people properly takes all the fun out of it for me. I've also been adding ink outlines using various techniques - fine pen, thicker markers and bamboo pens. My favourite way of drawing with ink is to cut an old-fashioned quill from a feather (so hipster, I know...) but I didn't think to bring feathers with me when I moved to Manila and I have no idea where to buy them! In Australia I would just buy a novelty feather mask from the party section of the supermarket or a packet of coloured feathers from the craft shop but I haven't been able to find any in Manila. There are also no birds in the city apart from sparrows, so the chances of finding a feather lying around are slim. Luckily the town where my parents live is full of magpies, so I managed to collect a few feathers while I was there before Christmas.

Wedding inspiration: Ten 60s celebrity weddings

It's no secret that I love the sixties. I've blogged before about sixties style, hair, dancing, guys, boutiques, and even how to have a sixties Christmas.

Now, here's some awesome sixties wedding photos for you to enjoy and possibly take inspiration from.

Audrey Hepburn & Andrea Dotti, 1969

Cilla Black & Bobby Willis, 1969 (She wore the amazing feather trimmed dress to her church ceremony and a red velvet mini with white tights to the registry office).

Elvis & Priscilla Presley, 1967

Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash, 1968 (her dress was blue lace!)

 John Lennon & Yoko Ono, 1969

Lulu & Maurice Gibb, 1969

Mia Farrow & Frank Sinatra, 1966

Patti Boyd & George Harrison, 1966

Pete Townshend & Karen Astley, 1968

Raquel Welch & Patrick Curtis, 1967

(Not) guilty pleasure - royal splendour

I have so many 'guilty pleasures' that I don't feel guilty about them. Why should you be ashamed of the things you like? I could pretend that I watch hours of Say Yes to the Dress and Project Runway for 'research', but the truth is I just love those shows and I'm happy to admit it. So I figured I'd share some of these 'not guilty pleasures' on the blog from time to time to celebrate some of more random things I love.

The first not guilty pleasure I'll share is my love of all things royal. Tiaras, horses, insignia, diamonds, tiaras, corgis, traditions, tiaras, jewels, hats and... yeah, mainly the tiaras. This interest is completely indulged by an amazing blog, The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor, who features all of the above in abundance.



I'd say my #1 royal is of course Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She's got the best jewellery and she's so careful about choosing it - the brooch she wears almost always has a connection to the event she's attending. She wears bright colours so that people who have stood outside for hours to see her can actually see her, she's a dog person, and she's always got sensible shoes on. I love finding rare footage of her in a more casual setting - I think my favourite video is this one of her taking the grandchildren out with the horses at Balmoral. My only complaint against Granny Liz is that she has a huge collection of amazing tiaras and lots of female relatives to share them with, yet she hardly every holds any tiara events. What's the point of being royal if you don't get to wear a tiara to a glittering party every evening?

This brings me to another favourite, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. If you want tiaras, the Swedes have got plenty. Not only that, they actually wear them. That's Victoria in the photo above attending the Nobel Prize ceremony in a Napoleonic era tiara that her mum found in a cupboard (!) at the palace. That dress is also incredibly beautiful - this woman knows how to dress like a princess! Victoria also wins royal points for putting her adorable daughter, Princess Estelle, in a tiny baby-sized royal order at her christening.

Speaking of adorable babies and royal christenings, I can't write a post on royalty without mentioning the Cambridges, can I? Kate's dress at Prince George's christening was the best demonstration of mother-son outfit co-ordination I've ever seen. Unfortunately Kate doesn't seem to be much of a jewellery fan, but she does love a good winter coat so it's all ok.

I'll wrap up this rather random and rambling post with Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, originally Mary Donaldson from Tasmania. Her wedding dress will always be one of my favourite royal wedding dresses and she (or someone at the palace) has a special skill for always choosing exactly the right dress to show off her impressive jewels and orders.

I indulge my love of all things princess-like on my Pinterest board, 'Princess Things'. Starry Diadem is a great pinner to follow if you love tiaras and jewels!

Adventures in Watercolour

When I decided to turn Bell Street into a bridal business, I decided that I needed to get a lot better at fashion illustration. I can't churn out bridal samples quickly and cheaply, so I can't rely on samples and photography to communicate my design ideas. A beautiful fashion illustration goes a long way in getting customers excited about an idea, but I had one problem - my fashion illustrations have never been very beautiful. I had a great illustration teacher at uni and learned a lot from him, but I've found that if you don't use your illustration skills regularly, you lose them.

I've been a fan of Katie Rodger's work at Paper Fashion for a long time so I was excited when she offered an online course in watercolour techniques. The class taught how to mix colours and create a colour chart (above), and how to render different textures such as leather, suede, sequins and satin. This was perfect for me as I was quickly realising that when most of your designs are white or ivory, you need good skills in rendering fabrics and details!

I illustrated my favourite Golden Ponies shoes as an exercise.

I'm hoping to get a lot better with practice (I think I have improved since I first said that a year ago!), but I'm enjoying the experimentation for now.

Weekly update - polka dot dresses & pink flowers

That's right, you heard me - weekly update! Well, that's the plan anyway. Signing up for The Blogcademy has made me determined to put more work into this blog and turn it into something that people would actually want to read. I love reading other designer's blogs to get to know the person behind the label, see what inspires them and what they've been working on. With bridal it can be hard to share what I'm doing all the time because I feel like I should wait until after the wedding day to show any dress details, but I'm sure there are plenty of other things I can show you in the mean time.

This week I've been working on another bridal sample which I've named Daphne. It's made from a soft polka dot tulle (also called swiss dot or hail spot) similar to the fabric I used for my own wedding dress. It turned out so pretty and frothy I just had to try it on and have a bit of a dance around in it. Isn't that the point of owning a bridal business?

This dress works perfectly with a ribbon sash. I only had a dark green grosgrain ribbon and a purple velvet ribbon handy to try on with it, but they both give it a lovely vintage look. 

I feel like the phrase "I've been enjoying my garden a lot lately" makes me sound like a 75 year old, but... I really have been enjoying my garden a lot lately. It looks bright and pretty in the daytime, and at night we can hang out there and have a drink before dinner. I never know if pot plants on a balcony count as a 'garden', but it's all I've ever had (as an adult) and I don't see myself having a real garden with grass and trees and things anytime soon - thank goodness, we both get terrible hayfever so I don't know who would do the mowing.

The bougainvillea makes me especially happy, partly because it's bright pink and partly because my grandpa used to hate them to the point of obsession so thinking about his famous 'killer bougainvillea' rants always makes me laugh. In fairness to him, I did cut myself on one of the thorns when I was taking these photos so he may have had a point. 

James brought home these colourful flowers on Thursday. Pink, orange, yellow... perfect!

I always take photos of my mannequin to set up self-timer shots and test the settings, and I love the lighting in this photo. If I started work at 6.30am I could enjoy this light every day, but there is breakfast to be eaten and tea to be drunk and internet to be read. I normally just catch up on blogs and instagram in the mornings, but I recently found a site called Show + Tell which I'm really loving. It's run by Monty Dimond, and her 'On the Couch' interviews with influential Australian women are just perfect to watch with a cup of tea and vegemite toast.

Update - Samples & Cigarette Girls

It's been far too long since my last post so I wanted to check in and update you on what I've been up to since the awful day when I spilled water all over my laptop and killed the wi-fi (handy hint: don't do that).

In my last post I mentioned that I am taking Bell Street in a new direction, focusing on bridal and custom work rather than ready to wear collections. As a result most of my time lately has been spent on business planning, dreaming, designing and pattern making. I am currently working on some bridal samples and finished 'Maggie' (above) last week - she's very sweet.

As much as I want to focus on bridal, I also love doing costumes and will never say no to working with Rollergirl Promotions - those girls are too much fun! I made them these vintage style cigarette girl outfits for a corporate event and they looked amazing, as usual.

James and I recently went to Hong Kong for a quick break as it's less than two hours flight from Manila. We had a great time and loved the city, although we didn't get to see as much of it as we planned due to us both getting horrible sniffly colds. We didn't let it ruin our trip though, and hey - if you have to be sick in bed, better to be in a lovely hotel bed and have someone else clean your room each day!

I did manage to make it to Hong Kong's garment district, Sham Shui Po, and had a bit of a 'wahhh, why don't we live here?!' moment when I realised how easy it is to find and get everything you need. I got some beautiful ivory silk fabrics for bridal samples and stocked up on a whole lot of miscellaneous haberdashery (James' favourite word) that I haven't been able to find in Manila.

Manila is already in full Christmas mode, which I love! I'm in a very positive excited mood at the moment, because I have so many fun things to look forward to - and that's the key to happiness, according to my Mum (or a book that she read). In just over two weeks my awesome friend and bridesmaid extraordinaire, Jess, will be arriving in Manila with her sister and the three of us are going to an amazing beach resort called Secret Paradise. On the same day that they leave, my Mum and Dad are arriving! They're also keen to do some travel so we're heading back to Hong Kong (with a compulsory day at Disneyland) and then to Baguio which is a few hours north of Manila. It's safe to say I'm not going to get much work done in November. I'll be working furiously on a custom ball gown and more Rollergirl costumes in December, then it's back to Australia for Christmas and New Years - I can't wait!