It is a frantically busy time of year, with lots of exciting things happening. I have been working on lots of interesting creations, which I can’t wait to share with you! I am also in the middle of moving studio, to a more spacious and conveniently close to the city studio in Brighton (also right next to the beach!) So I must apologise for being lax with updates, but I will catch up and keep up as best I can!
We also managed to fit in a photo shoot on Saturday, with the incredible photographer and make up artist extraordinaire, Mad Dame. If you haven’t seen her work before, check her out. Her art is stunning and creative, and it is always a joy working with her: www.mad-dame.com, www.facebook.com/Mad-Dame
The gowns we wanted to shoot were both created for The Goblin Ball, held in Melbourne in June. One was the Poison Dragon, which you may have read about in my earlier post, ‘The Making of the Poison Dragon‘. The second gown was the Anaiwan Druid; a corset, skirt, coat and necklace set inspired by the Australian bush and Aboriginal elements. My lovely client Eden Archaic is in part a descendant of the Anaiwan Aborigines, and so much thought was put into the design of this gown. We chose fabric in the soft silver green of eucalyptus leaves, with lace of darker green, copper and brown to build a forest texture. The embellishment is done with strands of wooden and crystal beads, small charms, shells and bones, and a resin cast fruit bat skull is the center piece for the corset. The coat was hand painted with patterns inspired by Aboriginal paintings and symbols, and the Rainbow Serpent encircles the hood. Here is a close up on the fruit bat skull (whom I decided was named Fruit Tingle :P)
The location for the photo shoot was chosen to be the You Yangs, a set of granite peaks and tumbled boulders 45 minutes out from Melbourne. The raw and wild bush setting suited the gowns perfectly, and we got to enjoy a picnic and beautiful views!
Most of the make up was done in Mad Dame’s studio, at Wicked of Oz Studios. Her studio is such an inspirational place to be, filled with murals, glitter and props. Just the last make up touches were applied on location. Isn’t the make up fabulous? It truly makes Zoe and Eden look as if they have stepped straight out of mythology.
As all of my clothing is bespoke, custom designed and made for each client, each piece is almost always modeled by the actual client, rather than professional models. In my opinion, the clothing will always fit best and look best on the person it was created for, and we always have great fun on a photo shoot, with snacks, jokes and all sorts of shenanigans! This was Zoe’s first photo shoot, and she was pretty nervous before hand, but she loved every minute of it and ended up keeping her make up on afterwards and going out to dinner! Eden Archaic always makes a wonderful model; you would have seen her in the gown we created her last year, the Nicola corset gown.
Here are a few sneaky behind the scenes shots:
I can’t wait to share the final photos with you!
