Spring! March newsblog

Hi everyone,

Well it is officially the first day of spring today, and things are looking pretty good so far for Atelier wedding dresses, and the Atelier classes.

I have two commissions on at the moment, both very different, which is a fantastic position to be in, and one of these is a winter wedding, (December in Scotland!), which I have been yearning to do since I relaunched the business 18 months ago.
We are going for luxury woollen fabrics for this one, cashmere or wool venetian, and the dress, I'm very happy to say is incorporating some items and extracts from the woman's life in the design, that have significant personal meaning. So this fits into the 'Atelier Redolent' side of things. A historical, quite regal theme influences the design, so this will be really different, and very exciting for me to make.

My other commission is for a woman who's daughter is soon to be married. I hesitate to say 'Mother of the bride', as this has such bad connotations - somebody trussed up in shiny fabric, looking and feeling uncomfortable, and after the event, being glad that she will never have to wear that particular outfit again!
Well, this current commission will NOT be like that! Not wishing to give too much away, the fabrics are the softest British wool, soft and fluid silk tweed, combined with some fabric from the woman's own wedding dress.

Suffice to say that it's very busy at the moment (!), but I'm loving the challenges, working with the ladies concerned, and using such gorgeous fabrics.

Some quick updates:

• I was in last month's (February) 'Four Shires' magazine - local monthly glossy.
  
• Another 'daughter's wedding' outfit elicited this comment from the wearer: " I felt like a million dollars!"
• My artweeks exhibition for Atelier Redolent, more details to follow - happens in May (5th - 13th), and you are all invited to the private view, at the Dovecote Studio right next to the Atelier studio at OX17 1PF
• Preview of the above at the Jam Factory in Oxford city centre from the beginning of April, exact dates to follow
  
• My latest Atelier Redolent sample, a short black wedding dress , will be photographed soon, studio and location shots - so hugely looking forward to that.
• I am investing in a Fridja steamer! Sure they don't need me to advertise for them, but they look so cute, and I know will be extremely useful - hoping to avoid lugging a BIG wedding dress around the ironing board.
  
• Invitation/flyer for the Artweeks exhibition above.

Hi all, (well, I hope someone reads this-it may be only my 3 followers, so please be a follower if you happen across this blog!)

Just to let you know that I will be adding a links page to this site very soon, so that you can look at related websites - some specifically wedding orientated, some fashion/art, and some purely interesting from a clothing/cultural/trend point of view. Indeed as many as I can think of that may interest anyone thinking of getting married, (and all that entails, alternative or not!), or anyone interested in fashion and clothing in the broadest sense.
Any suggestions for specific ones?

Speak soon,

Bobbie

Hello!

A bit of a lull in the posting recently.... the excuse is summer, and trying to make the most of it, along with the various 'strands' which I try to weave around my existence.

Being the beginning of September, things are getting concentrated again in more ways than one - work, daylight hours, plans for the next 12 months. I find this a good time to plan, before the stultifying cold and darkness of winter arrives, and while I still have the optimism of summer in my blood.
Went to see the Maison Martin Margiela exhibition at the Somerset House galleries in London last week, just before it finished. An amazing Belgian fashion designer, it was he who started the 'unfinished' /raw edge/frayed seam/deconstructed look back in the 90's. A lot of the pieces were more like art objects and very conceptual. Martin Margiela's background as a stylist was evident, and a lot of the 'garments' were more expressions of an idea. I personally loved the way it was exhibited, varied and inventive, and my favourite piece was a roll of white cotton fabric , stood on it's end, which magically transmuted into a jacket!! I mean that the roll of fabric was displayed as partially unrolled, and then the details of the garment fashioned into the fabric gradually until a part of a 'real' garment (the jacket) was apparent on the far side of the dress stand. Hard to describe, but I'll try and upload an image..

The fabric-jacket is on the far left.

I'm proceeding more quickly now with my current commission, the 50's dress and jacket in silk taffeta. At the last fitting, it fitted like a glove! Pleased, and even the toile looks great...



Speak soon,

Bobbie