The Idea and Inspiration:
Shell and I collaborated to design her wedding dress, taking inspiration Shell’s love of Lord of the Rings and the wedding site (Kaitoke Regional Park, where Rivendell was filmed for LotR), some elements of modern wedding dresses that we liked, the NZ native birds theme of the wedding, and my background as a historical seamstress.
All of these came together in a 21st century wedding dress for an elf queen that might have been designed by early 20th-century designer Elizabeth Hawes, in subtle bird colours, all using historical construction methods.
Inspiration Gallery
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| Elizabeth Hawes Dress, 1937 | Kereru, the NZ Wood Pigeon | The design sketch |
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| Elie Saab dress, ca 2011 | Jim Hjelm dress, ca 2007 | Liancarlo dress, ca 2007 |
Fabric and Materials:
Dove-grey silk crepe chiffon trimmed with ice-blue silk taffeta. Skirt lined in palest grey dotted swiss of unknown synthetic fibre makeup. Bodice support of white linen with corded bust, boned with feather boning. Self-fabric buttons with hand embroidery over a hidden zip. Petticoat of sea-blue stretch cotton.
Dotted swiss, taffeta, crepe chiffon, stretch cotton
The Dress Diary:
Draping the bodice, designing the skirt
Tips & tricks for sewing with chiffon
Some very special finishing details
Photos on Sarah’s livejournal: By the Sea, Moore Wilsons, Cuba St Princess, Preparations, Ceremony, Happy Couple, Bridesmaids, Fairylights.
The finished dress: