Sunday, March 13, 2011

Retro Chic


English Rose skirt
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design
I am constantly inspired in unusual ways. For this particular project I was instantly inspired when the local fabric shop got in a shipment of this incredible ribbon rose-covered taffeta fabric. I was first taken with the red version, but figured I would go a more subdued and elegant route for this skirt right out of the gate.
This 3-D fabric posed special little problems while working with it (and that isn't mentioning all the little bits of black taffeta that are still scattered around my floor after three vacuumings!). The zipper had to be stitched in by hand, the waistband had to be made of a smooth fabric (no one wants three inches of ribbon roses around their waistline), and the hemlines of both the skirt and the lining had to be reinforced with what we call "horsehair" but is actually a type of braided nylon. All in all I am tickled with the way it turned out, and only wish I had a giant Queen Elizabeth hat and white peplum jacket to wear it with for the photos a la Dior's iconic New Look of the post-war 1940s and 50s.
As an aside, I would like to point out that in these pictures I am wearing the earrings my mother gave me as a wedding present, because she was getting on my case about never wearing them recently ;)