Beautiful Bride

Five years ago I was a bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding.  I remember helping her into her dress and braiding everybody's hair when the stylist canceled at the last minute and only called about two hours before the ceremony was supposed to start.  It no longer fits, but the dress I wore is still in my closet and reminds me of that day.

After five years of marriage, my college roommate finally made the choice to do some lovely boudoir as a gift for her hubby.  Taking advantage of the fact that five years and two children later she still fits her gown, she brought it along and we told a wonderful story.

Thank you so much for being an amazing friend!

Bridal Boudoir 2013

I so enjoy my work.  I get to spend time with wonderful people, see the beauty in every one of them, and show them a little of that beauty as well.

I am in the process of making a new gallery display for the Akelis Studios website and today made a nice start for the boudoir collection.  This is a recolor of one of my favorites.  The look was so strong even with her eyes closed that I could hardly resist the chance to play with this shot.

Production Begins

Today is about the creative process of gowns.  This process all starts with an idea, usually one that pops into my head without warning just as I am trying to close my eyes for bed. Once they are in there I write them down and go back to it later for sketching.  I often peruse wedding gown catalogs and websites to make sure I am not copying something already on the market then go with modifications to really make it a custom design and be sure I am not copying a designer unfairly.

May favorite inspiration comes from classical art and walking around fabric mills when I get the chance.  Letting the lace or chiffon run through my hands allows me to think about how I want to sculpt with it.  

In general my work seems to have a tendency toward dropped waist and mermaid or trumpet gowns at the moment because that is the style I prefer for myself.  There is a theme of heavy lace detail and minimal beading but a little touch of feminine charm in each with a simple floral cap or lace edged veil and gloves.  

In the next few days I will make final choices on the fabrics to begin testing my concepts in the real world.  I have the ever wonderful Fox Affect working on a design for a headband.  She has an amazing eye for crystals and lace, far more skillful than I could ever hope to be with my clumsy photographer fingers. We have known each other since 2003 when we attended college together, and share a good deal of mutual weirdness.  This makes communication of otherwise very strange ideas about design much more simple.

I expect that production will start fairly soon on the first elements, and we can begin to the fruits of all this effort.  Until that point, I will share a few more rough sketches with my chicken scratch notes along the edges.