Cross My Heart Cuff (Work In Progress)

This is my newest cuff, it's still a work in progress but should be ready in 2-3 weeks. These beaded projects look simple enough but take many hours to complete. For example hand stitching the flowers took three hours alone. These little works are labors of love and are so stunning when completed I feel a great sense of achievement.

I began with a beautiful vintage Chinese embroidery of a bird resting on a bamboo shoot. Around the embroidery I have stitched silk flowers and a bow made of vintage ribbon. After this I added freshwater & Swarovski pearls and seed beads and in the beak of the little bird hangs a vintage mother of pearl heart as if it were an offering of love. 

Valentino Pre-Fall 2016

I'm really taken by the wonderful attention to detail in these Valentino pre-fall pieces. 

I love the Asian influence in the two dresses and the appliques used in the khaki trench coat. This year I have begun to think about making my own over the knee stockings and the use of embellishment on the examples above is very interesting. 

Images: www.vogue.com

Obsessive Detail

These gloves are so opulent and splendid, I adore the obsessive attention to detail and thought that has gone into their construction. They remind me of the reliquaries I saw at Melk Abbey in Austria where venerated bones were wrapped in cloth and decorated with precious stones and gold filigree.

Fall 2014 Dolce & Gabbana

Photo: www.vogue.com

Original Max Neiger 1920s Art Deco Chinoise Bracelet with Dragons

 The best birthday present of all time! 

This bracelet is a splendid example of Max Neiger's chinoiserie style.

Fascinating Moths

Image: www.mymodernmet.com

Image: www.fixatedonfashion.tumblr.com

Above and Below: Beautiful moth accessories from Giambattista Valli 2012
Right: Alexander McQueen.

Image:
ru-ka.tumblr.com

Seventies Style With Chinoiserie Undertones

 I love the colours and appliques that Alessandro Michele used here for Gucci.
I'd like to have the time to paint a room with Chinoiserie motifs such as these.

Photograph sourced from www.wmagazine.com

Gucci Ready to Wear 2016

I am absolutely obsessed with Gucci's spring-summer Ready-to-Wear collection. The colours, textures and use of embroidery in their garments thrills me. These are the kinds of pieces that weave a dream around the wearer, speaking of opulence and the exotic. Gucci has mixed these qualities with wearable garments to transfer the chinoiserie dream to everyday fashion.

Photographs above www.vogue.com

Photographs below www.gucci.com

The Garden of the Artist, Beaded OOAK Cuff

SOLD

Dusk & Decadence's first sale!

 'The Garden of the Artist' beaded cuff. 

This piece is an artwork in its own right. It is such a delight to know that this piece will be worn and cherished.

This cuff was inspired by 'The Dream' an incredible painting by the artist Henri Rousseau painted in 1910. I felt a great connection to Rousseau's primitive paintings growing up. I love the sense of longing inspired by Rousseau's dreamscapes of stylized flattened space. 

Here I have portrayed a garden as twilight touches the flowers. Insects move busily about the blooms and the scent of night flowers fills the air. In this piece I have beaded around a beautifully stitched vintage Chinese embroidery, its flowers and leaves vie for space amongst the scattering of Victorian millinery flowers and silk flowers some of which I have hand painted. Their centers consist of freshwater pearls and Japanese seed beads. Amongst the flowers little golden pressed metal dragonflies make their way to their beds.

The reverse of the cuff is a wonderful vintage pink obi material and the closure consists of a pressed tin button with a painted center. The cuff is finished with a silver elastic loop to ensure a perfect fit.