[I don't normally post about fashion stuff here but this definitely a special case.]

For Christmas, Michael gave me THE MOST AMAZING GOWN - an incredible hand-trimmed 1920's style "flapper" dress with tiny glass seedbeads and ostrich feather trim that Kambriel made earlier this year for (specially for?) Convergence 13 in Portland. It's not the original, which was intended to be one-of-a-kind I think, but was slightly too big through the bust for me so this one was custom made to fit. I got to wear it in a photo shoot when we were at C13 and totally fell in love with it. kambriel really didn't want to part with it (can't say I blame her!) and seemed verrrrry reluctant to make a copy, so believe me, this one was a very freaking INCREDIBLE surprise!


To match the gown, I knew I had to come up with something fabulous to wear with it. So, taking a cue from the shimmery jet AB seedbead trim (tiny black glass iridescent "aurora borealis" beads)I decided I'd use larger jet AB beads, plain jet beads, gunmetal beads, and gunmetal connectors. Since the top of the dress is not embellished, I knew it would be perfect for showing off an extremely long sparkly necklace. I was going to do just one strand at first, but it seemed far too boring once I started linking beads together. In the end it was 3 strands - a grand total of just over 250 beads, all indivually linked by looped wires. Yes, all of the wires were looped by hand. I have some nasty callouses on my right hand from working the pliers for what ended up being at least 4 hours total (unfortunately I forgot to time myself today so I'm guessing).

In the photo below, the bottom of the dress is folded up so you can't get the full effect of all the layers of trim (my mannequin is just a torso) - you'll have to wait for NYE before you see it on me in entirety. Regardless, you can still make out the hand-beading and the feather trim:

(photo has been lightened to show detail)


Here is a detail shot of the necklace, showing the side connector:

(And oops, I just noticed I need to swap a couple of beads to stagger the pattern a bit more. If you can tell which ones, you get 10 house points!)

Each strand has a slightly different pattern to it so that when worn, the jet AB beads (some are faceted, some aren't) and gunmetal beads make a sparkly "pattern" of their own against the black background of the dress. I made a pair of really long single-strand earrings to match, as well as a black sequined flapper headdress/hairband (similar to this) with a matching centre ornament and large black ostrich plume. I tell ya - in all this black, I'll be amazed if someone doesn't mistake me for a Gorey drawing. Hee!

Once New Year's is over Michael and I are going to do a theme photo shoot (I'd hoped we could do it this weekend but I didn't have the bloody necklace done yet), so I'll post those pics as soon as we can do it. I have a feeling Kambriel will be wanting copies. :)



Oh, and by the way... if you think I'm about to make another one of those necklaces anytime soon, ask the angry 3/4" long blister along my the underside of right ring finger. I think you know what's it's going to say.
:P