Beautiful beige January 27, 2009

It might be these bright winter days with no snow, but lots of light that are making beige and “neutral” colors seem so appealing.

Look at these amazing tulle ball gowns for lights that Seeking Everyday Beauty made:

Here’s a close up:

And guess what they’re made of?

Old sewing patterns.  Beautiful, worn, patterned pieces of tissue.  One of my classmates last year used sewing patterns in her artwork, and in her senior thesis installation, which was a series of mixed-media paintings and writings that focused, in part, on a woman’s sense of self.  Patterns for women’s clothing are such a great medium to use for that kind of exploration.  But I’m loving the beige, the soft fullness, and all the possibilities– I imagine wrapping gifts with the patterns, and using pale colored ribbon to finish them off.

 

A simple Esty search for “beige” reaped more beautiful things:

 

 

 

 

I’m tempted to keep deep lapis as the dress color for the lady bridespeople, and accessorize them in all shades of creamy pale.

 

Ritzybee had an entire inspiration board around beige:

I adore the giant fabric flower on the shoulder of that gown.  I also think, with my basic sewing skills, I could make flowers like that from cheap cast-offs of pale, creamy fabric from fabric stores.  If they don’t turn out well enough to use for the wedding, I could still decorate little blank books, drawer pulls, and gifts with them.

PS: My friend Shelly contributed her ever-wise and dashing two cents to the question of registry inserts–go back to that post to read her comment.  We should all be so lucky as I am, to have someone as no-nonsense as her around to prick the faux-bubbles of constricting etiquette.

What would Edith wear? January 15, 2009

I’m in the middle of a little dust-up on the Indiebride etiquette boards– I’ll share all tomorrow, and round up opinions on an apparently sticky subject.  But for tonight: one beautiful dress.

I really, really love how the fabric in the train is substantial, and I think the texture of the satin is gorgeous– really lush, and look at how the light creates shadows in the fabric folds.

 

From the back, we can see that the fabric that makes up the bustle appears to be rosy (“fawn-colored”), in contrast to the cream of the rest of the dress.

 

That is hand-done embroidery.  The dress was made in 1881.  Can you imagine?  It’s lasted so long.  I wonder if it longs for another woman to wear it again, to dance in it.  It’s for sale on Vintage Textile.  The woman who wore it originally was called Miss Custer.