The Dreamstress

Latest Posts

Friday Rave: Things Unseen Jewellery

Mr Dreamy got me the best Valentines Day present ever this year. It is a custom floral necklace by my favourite jeweller, Nini of Things Unseen.

I love it! I love the box! I love the colours! I love everything!

Nini is based in Wellington, and her line sells in a couple of posh shops in town, such as Rex Royale, and on etsy, but if you want to be able to buy any of her really good stuff you have to get up very early: anytime she shows up at a jewellery or craft fair she sells out, and there is a little mini-riot in front of her stall as everyone tries to get their hands on a fabulous piece of jewellery.

Of course, you can circumvent all of that by contacting her in person and getting a custom piece, which is what Mr D did.

It's like wearing a garden around my neck

Lucky me!

Nini’s jewellery is steampunk, with an elegant, feminine, and very witty twist. She uses cogs and gears and bees and dragonflies and all sorts of other fabulous stuff.

Bees, fountain pen nibs, and watch cogs on a fabulous ring

A custom piece with jewelled dragonflies and meaningful trinket

Just gorgeous

She uses other motifs too. I particularly like her hare line. (hehe hare line)

It's a ring. I want a bunny ring to wear!

The floppy ear just melts my heart.

I also love what she does with butterflies. It reminds me of the butterfly imagery in Spindles End.

A clockwork butterfly

Wind it up and let it fly away

A butterfly hatpin brooch

Beyond butterflies and hares, the signature Things Unseen piece is the flower collar, like the one she made for my Valentines Day present. Mine is colourful, but usually she works in blacks and metallics.

I love them all. I joke with her that I should just pay her a certain amount a week and rent different necklace a week, because I want every one she makes.

A signature necklace and some fabulous hair

Nini is just as fabulous as her jewellery. She has the most awesome sense of style, and she is just sweet and wonderful in every possible way.

Nini shows off her style in one of my corsets and one of her necklaces.

Let’s go to Mexico

Published by The Dreamstress

Though it seems hard to comprehend as I sit barefoot in my garden and eat another slice of watermelon, I understand some of you are having some dreadful, cold, stormy weather.

To warm you up, for this Textiles on Thursday* let’s go to exotic locales south of the border and examine some vintage Mexican themed fashions and fabrics.

To start, I’ll throw you off this deep end with this jacket, which is pretty…umm…awesome.

A 1940s souvenir jacket

Just in case you couldn’t tell where it is from, her skirt says ‘Mexico’

For something a little more restrained, and more suitable for actually wearing in Mexico, what about these?

1940s Mexican novelty print beach pyjamas

Or you could go for something a little dressier:

1950s Mexican print sundress

And, of course, no survey of vintage Mexican themed garments would be complete without a scenic circle skirt. I love the teals and purples in this one.

1950s novelty print skirt

I have some charming unmade-up vintage Mexican themed fabrics in my stash, courtesy of my Grandmother, who lived in California.

I love the aqua and fuschia colors in this fabric. Very art-deco carry over:

1940s rayon novelty print

Let’s have a close up look at the horses and cacti:

I love the sense of movement

This 50s kitchen print on cotton has a much more stereotypically Mexican colour scheme.

Snoozing senores and saucy senoritas, along with squash, circles, and stars

I love how much imagery they achieved with very simple shapes and motifs.

Mushroom skirt!

Cool shirt

I’m not sure if my final fabric is supposed to be specifically Mexican, or just generally Latin American. The tamborines and drums feel a little Cuban or Argentinean. The gold colour is actually metallic gilding, very typical in the 50s and early 60s.

Tamborines and tiered skirts

Drummer boy

And to finish up, this one isn’t a textile, but how could I pass on showing it to you?

Du Barry 'The Beauty Preparations of the Success School' 1945

That’s right ladies. Sign up for your Du Barry beauty course this year to ensure a besotted swain and that all important honeymoon in Mexico, the pinnacle of life’s accomplishment.

* Notice how I am being a good little blogger and actually following a schedule.

The Corset Model Class of 2011

Published by The Dreamstress

I got photographs of all the models wearing their corsets on Saturday against a plain cement wall.

Every time I have looked at the photos since then, I have cracked up.

They remind me of the kind of pictures you take in Elementary School for a ‘me, myself, and I’ project.

You have the kid who can’t stop grinning, the kid who closes their eyes in every picture, the kid who won’t smile because they think they look better without one (that would have been me), the kid who won’t stand still for even a moment, and the kid who probably should have been a model.

We all look ridiculous, and absolutely gorgeous, all at the same time. It’s a total celebration of personality, and all the different facets of beauty that exist.

Without further ado, I present Ms Oakes’ Corset Model Class of 2011.