Flower Power

Do you remember the Flower Fairies? Do you think she's one? When I was but a wee frock dolly, I loved the floral stylings of Mary Cicely Barker, published at the beginning of the last century. It was only as an older (and some say wiser) frock dolly that I realised that the wee fairies were pretty stylish for their day (check out the Lavender Fairy, dropped waist 1920s styling ahoy!).

So the lovely frock above is not for a flower fairy (awww....), but was made by student Alice Riley, and was the winning design in a flower frock competition held at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire earlier this year (read the full story here).

Of course, if you want true flower fairies, you could always obtain a copy of Fairie-ality: The Ellwand Collection, a divine coffee table tome so utterly gorgeous in its depiction of fairy clothes that I save reading my copy for truly rainy days, when I need a suit made of pansy flowers to brighten my world...

All dress is fancy dress, is it not, except our natural skins?

George Bernard Shaw 1856-950

J'adore Dior...

Cheer up Lily, its a marvellous frock!

So maybe I'm just a little late with this one (blame my rather haphazard filing 'system', which consists of - so far - 5 folders, 2 bags and 2 box files of things I like, that I occasionally go through and coo at, but which are all supposedly destined to end up on here, be warned...!), but anway...2007 marked the 60th anniversary of Christian Dior's first official fashion collection, and the occasion was celebrated with the most sumptuous of fashion shows, once more the work of that favourite genius of mine, John Galliano.

You can read all about the show here, (and immerse yourself in 47 lush images of some of the most amazing frocks I have seen in a while), but at the same time, lets take a moment to remember that it was the House of Dior that created the infamous 'New Look', promising hope and optimisim for a war weary Europe, wrapped up in 20 yards of extravagant skirt... now that is something to celebrate.

My dream is to save women from nature.

Christian Dior (1905-1957)

Fun and Furbelows

If there was ever a man who knew his frills and furbelows, it was the French painter James Tissot (1836-1902).  So lush and detailed were his pictures, they're frequently used nowadays to recreate historical fashions (I had this one on my wall at college), and all this for paintings that were often derided at the time for being, well, a bit tacky....frocks were for fashion plates you see (I know!  Way to sideline the lovely things!), and no matter how fine your depiction of ruffles and bows (this being the very reason you chose to paint them in the first place, ahem...), no matter how marvellous your flame-haired mistress looked in your studio's wardrobe of contemporary frocks, or how often you painted the same dress twice (or three times) from different angles in your pictures, just like, in fact, an actual fashion plate, you were going to have a hard time wooing society on both sides of the channel...which is probably why Tissot turned out some cracking religious themed pictures in his later years, although he never did kick that costume bug, as this yummy painting shows...

You can find all sorts more about Tissot here, for your absolute ruffle fix, I recommend Too Early, 1873 (never arrive too early for a ball, no matter how fulsome your frills), Lilacs, 1875 (see how the flowers weep in sorrow as they fail to compete with her splendid skirt!) and July: Specimen of a Portrait: 1878 (white ruffles yellow bows, slightly bored expression), plus of course the wonder above which is L'Ambitieuse from 1883 (though I'm rather worried there's about to be an unfortunate furniture-dragging incident any moment with that train...)

Of course, we can't all attend balls, sweep onto boats or lounge about under shadow-dappling trees, but we can all wear ruffles, phew....

Women fond of dress are hardly ever entirely satisfied not to be seen, except amont the insane; usually they want witnesses.

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

Beaded Leeks and a Dress fit for a Queen...

Why is it I never manage to make it to the Royal Palaces when they’re open in the summer? Especially when they always have so many frocks on show! Perhaps its because I’m too busy doing other things, but I suspect it has more to do with the…ahem…'tourist prices' that are charged for admission, usually far beyond the reach of a poor London church mouse like me.

But this year, I promise I will go, if only to try catch a glimpse of the dress above, worn by The Queen on her wedding day. Now, although this dress has an interesting story of its own, I’ve always preferred the one about the Coronation Gown in which, after Norman Hartnell (later to be knighted for his services to the Royal wardrobes) presents 8 different versions, the final choice makes a near fatal error in assuming the official symbol of Wales was the daffodil, only to find out it was the far less inspiring Leek (no one gives you a bunch of those the minute Spring starts, I can tell you…). And then, to add insult to sparkly taffeta injury, a chance remark by Prince Philip reminds the designer that Her Majesty is queen not just of the British Isles, but of the Commonwealth as well...

Suddenly, a pretty frock already festooned with roses, shamrocks, leeks and thistles, also now requires maple leaves (Canada), Wattle Flowers (Australia), Ferns (New Zealand), Protea (South Africa), Lotus Flowers (India), and a combination of Wheat, Cotton and Jute, for the country with a bewildering array of National emblems, Pakistan. So how did he manage to get all of these onto one dress? Well, here’s how. Isn't that just the most delicious thing?

Now multiply that pretty assortment by, well, a lot, and you might just get close to the 3500 hours over 3 months it took the Royal School of Needlework to complete before coronation day...Ladies, I bow down before your superior stitching skills (and I salute your aching fingers!)

My attempts to find a decent picture of the whole dress have proved fruitless (although here is a lovely sketch by Hartnell, stored safely somewhere in Australia it would appear…), so I guess I’ll just have to save up and get myself down to the palace this year, or maybe just find myself a copy of the Coronation Day Daily Mirror, which (and can you imagine this now, somewhere beyond page 3?), practically wet its fashion pants with detailed descriptions of not only the Queen’s dress, but what everyone else was wearing.

Now, if you need more detail that I could squeeze in here, the divine fashion-era.com has the full coronation frock run down, and if you still want more (I know I did...) then the ever reliable Woman's Hour of Radio 4 has a practically bead by bead account of the frock itself, tucked away in its archives...

Where's the man could ease a heart
Like a satin gown?
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)

Life's a Drag, and then you sparkle...

So I went to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical the other day, accompanied by my dear friend, fellow Barbie-worshipper and partner in theatrical-watching crime, the lovely Anthony, and let me tell you, the costumes were FABULOUS, with a capital Ooh! Aah! And an Oh Yes Please!!

Now the costumes in the original movie were pretty darn superb, and quite rightly won the oscar for costume design in 1994 - all the more astounding given the tendency of the Academy to be blind to all but the frilled frippery of a good old period romp. Impressive too because of the low budget designers Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel were working with, (though perhaps all the more innovative because of this fact), and those in the show have been done by the same team - but there's more of them!! So where can I start? With the dresses shaped like cupcakes; green with multi-colour spots and candle headdresses? The dresses shaped like paintbrushes, pink and shiny with black tinsel skirts? The whole scene of Australian-themed costumes - Kookaburras, those big lizard things with the neck frills, the cutest lavender fluffy koalas, ahhhh! Seriously, for those with any interest in costume, this is something you simply have to see. (And don't be telling me you haven't even seen the movie...What's that? You haven't? Go stand in the corner...)

And of course, how can I forget the flip-flop dress, as seen here, and in the movie? Apparently inspired by Gardiner's Dad falling alseep outside in the hot Australian sun on a pile of the family's flip-flops, and waking to find them stuck to his body, but also by the flip-flop being an Australian icon...which I would have proved to you with a link, dear readers, except that down under, the flip-flop is called a thong, and you can only imagine what horrors google threw up the minute I approached it with ‘thong dress’...

Now, for some, drag will mean panto dames, but for me, its only ever about the sequins and the glamour...and Priscilla: The Musical certainly has buckets of these - is this a start of a trend in the West End? Oh I do hope so...

Fantastic garbs...succeed each other, like monster devouring monster in a dream.

Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)

I'm Frock Dolly, Fly Me...

I spent a lot of time on planes when I was but a wee frock dolly, and although the food probably made the most impact (to this day I prefer my dinner in separate compartments!), I cannot forget the beautiful air stewardesses and of course, their outfits! Today, my nearest tube station is on the line to Heathrow airport, and I often see neatly turned out airline staff on their way to work – so precise and well-groomed! Maybe I’m just jealous, or perhaps a little bit scared of their Stepford-like perfection (and the fine line they walk between the latest super glamorous Virgin Atlantic advert and their potential to suddenly take up heels and march on the capital…)

Now, those lovely ladies you can see above are from Gulf Air, who managed to combine Arabian culture and modesty with a certain flair for style - the uniforms even underwent a re-design by Balenciaga in the 1990s, which I suppose shows just how importance elegance in the skies is to some airlines....

However, is it just me, or do they look a little bit too much like this..?

Anyway, if it wasn't for a lady called Ellen Church, who in 1930 persuaded Boeing that having women aboard planes would soothe nervous passengers, we wouldn't be able to enjoy all these delights. Considering what Miss Church would have had to wear - and, natty as those outfits are, would you have been soothed? - I think we've come a long way!

Air Stewardesses have been dressed in everything from Pucci print jumpsuits with plexi-glass bubble helmets (yes really, apparently ideal for protecting the coiffures of the famous Braniff Babes from wind when walking to the terminal) to hot-pants and kinky boots (Southwest Airlines winning no prizes for taste in the 1970s), salwar-kameez and sarongs (Air India and SIA respectively). Even our lovely Barbie had a go, though by the 90s, she had progressed from pushing a trolley of barely edible re-heated meat, to flying the plane. No bubble helmet for her, thank you...

A man becomes the creature of this uniform.

Napoleon (1769 - 1821)

My Kind of Girl...

Oh Barbie, with your tiny feet and impossible proportions, I don't care that if you were real you would fall over, or that your perma-blonde hair and twinkly blue eyes might not be the best stereotype for young girls to have around (actually, no, that would be Bratz, brrrr), I just know that you're my little plastic friend, and more importantly, I want your clothes! And aside from wanting to wear them all, I want to make them into art projects! Possibly...

Now you see, I've gone and gotten myself distracted by looking for perfect illustrative Barbie pics and instead finding all sorts of other things, like the fact that the original ad for Peaches & Cream Barbie (yes, thats her up there - I hope you're looking after her Anthony!) is on youtube, don't make me post the link as that'll mean going back there, and half the reason I got distracted was the HUGE list of 'related videos' which were all divine 80s Barbie adverts *sigh* However, I will give you this, the first ever advert for Barbie, back when, admittedly, the living doll's career options were limited to...erm...dressing pretty and getting married...

But anywaaaaay, Barbie's come a long way since then; she's been an astronaut, run for president, and my personal favourites (mainly through receiving them as an entirely unexpected Christmas present last year), been transformed into, amongst other DC comic book characters, Batgirl and Black Canary. She's even, and see how this ties neatly into my previous post (I am SO getting the hang of this blog thing!), been Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.

Oh, I can't possibly fit all I want to say about Barbie into one post, so until the next time (and there will be a next time), go here and try not to spend as much time cooing at the screen as I may well have done in the past...


You know you've made it when you've been moulded in miniature plastic. But you know what children do with Barbie dolls - it's a bit scary, actually.
Cate Blanchett

Cleopatra, coming atcha...

Have you seen Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra? Isn't she/it the most fabulous thing? Ok, so the costumes have less to do with Ancient Egypt and more to do with what was fashionable at the time (and what would show La Taylor's splendid décolletage to its best advantage), the one above, for example, is a beauty.

But who cares? 4 hours and 65 costumes later, I defy you not be sit there in stupefied wonder at the gold! The Sequins! The Glitter! At $194,800 the budget for lovely Liz's wardrobe was the highest ever for a single screen actor, and included one dress actually made from 24 carat gold cloth (I'm hoping it's this one). Nice asp indeed...

I had a friend who wrote her dissertation on the many different versions of the Cinderella story (we never agree about The Slipper and the Rose, I love, she hates)), and I think (were I at college again with vastly sympathetic tutors) I would do the same for the many versions of Cleopatra out there, from the smoky eyes/string of pearls of silent movies to 'Cleopatra 2525', which judging by the imdb plot summary, is something I can't believe I missed. But then, off I went a-googling, and it appears it's already been done. Darn.

In an epoch as somber as ours, one must fight for luxury inch by inch.

Christian Dior (1905 - 1957)

She Who Sews, Wins...

Are you brave enough to attempt making up a John Galliano pattern? Yes? You have great big fashionista steel cojones? Well then, here you go. Ok, ok, so its not the frock in the picture above, more on that later...

I downloaded this pattern a couple of years back and I have to admit I've never had the courage to do more than stare wistfully at it on my screen. But it appears others have not been so cowardly, and there are pictures of their results that make me think, hey, now might just be the time...

Talking of Galliano (as we were), what a beautiful freaky genius that man is. Whether he is inspired by homeless people living alongside the Seine, or an aerial tour of Egypt (that'll be the one above, reviewed better than I ever could here), his designs never fail to take my breath away...and make me trill the same coo-ing noise I tend to reserve for exceptionally beautiful shoes (there will definitely be more on them later...)

Now I was going to cunningly link this into some chat about the costumes worn by Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, but I'm afraid that will just have to wait...to keep you amused during the wait (which may be an hour, or two weeks, depending on how distracted I am by fabric!), why not try this.

Show me the clothes of a country and I can write its history.

Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Its not a frock, but...

Six years ago I went to a ball and met a man in a Jean Paul Gaultier kilt, and I don't think I've ever recovered...

Perhaps it was the male counterpart to this chocolate symphony 2002 mink and chiffon version...

Across the pond, it would appear kilts are making a comeback as working attire, (the pictures from this site would just not come over here to play, hmph) and I'm relieved (if not entirely calmed) to find out that they all come with "standard modesty snap closure system to keep the neighborhood wives from fainting".

Chaps of the world, now is the time to show us your knees!

The greatest provocations of lust are from our apparel.

Robert Burton (1577 - 1640)

Gone with the What?

So I was trying to find a delicious Gone with the Wind costumes web page I once saw, if only to drool (again) over the wonderous confections I dream of wearing/being/possibly just stroking for a while. So I google away, and what comes up is the...ahem...loo-roll cover to the left...

Lovely yes, made by a company called Mori Lee, but many questions spring to mind: Do I really want to get married in teal? How will I get through doors? Has a bird pooped near my hemline?*

So, I eventually found the website I wanted to share, and its still lovely, Walter Plunkett, you were a man of true genius and fabulous style.

Now go find out which of Scarlett O'Hara's dresses you are. I am the burgundy ballgown, which (if you recall the film at all) probably says more than it needs to...

(*Answers: No, With Difficulty, I'm hoping its embroidery...)


I have always said that the best clothes are invisible…they make you notice the person.
Katherine Hamnett, 1989

Going Potty

Do you remember those Royal Doulton and Franklin Mint porcelain figurines that haunted the back pages of the Sunday Supplements? Lovingly crafted costumed beauties with titles like 'Lady Anna Louise' or 'Spirit of Purity'. The fledgling costume sprite inside me so wanted to love them....but I didn't. I think it was their cold dead eyes...

Anyway, if we're talking pottery, remember this Ming vase-inspired wonder? Made by the creator of all things red carpet Roberto Cavalli for his Autumn/Winter 2005 collection, it was famously worn by the Ming vase-shaped clothes horse herself, Victoria Beckham for Elton Johns White Tie & Tiara ball.

Isn't it just the most divine pottery-inspired frock you've ever seen?

Apart, of course, from these or maybe even these...

With charm, you’ve got to get up close to see it; style slaps you in the face.

John Cooper Clarke, 1985

Reasons for Sequins

Hello and welcome to my blog!

My mother always said I was born in a dressing up box, and I spent my formative years costuming myself and my little brother as gypsy women, historical figures and (rather more obscurely) 1980s tennis players for the entertainment of family and friends (at some point, there will be pictures, sorry little bro! But thanks for being such a great mannequin...)

I've spent the last 10 years working with (and frequently IN) costume, and I've seen so many wonderful things that I just have to share with fellow frock obsessives. I want this to be an online bedazzled tour and sequinned wild ride through the world of costume and fashion; there will be frocks a-plenty, quite a bit of knitting, probably some shoes, and really just a whole lot of fabric, fashion and utter fabulousness, this I promise you gentle readers.

I owe a great debt to the marvellous Erin McKean and her blog, plus the lovely ladies at gofugyourself.com, who have inspired me with their tales of delightful dresses and dreadful frock-ups, and convinced me there is a place for costume on the web, not just in my over-stuffed wardrobe. Ladies, I really hope I can do you proud! My thanks also to my employers of a few years back, for whom I spent my time dreaming up ways to improve our website, most of which were ignored or rejected, thus leaving me free to use them here - my time spent as a costume wage-slave will not be wasted!

So please, keep your hands inside the be-ribboned car, hold on tight to your corset laces, and make sure you tip your waitress, because she needs that pair of Irregular Choice green metallic snakeskin shoes with the wedge heel and the silver rosette...


Now thats me up above, take a moment to admire the charming way (at age 4 no less) that I have paired my mum's best garden party hat, her black velour evening top, her dove grey suede peep toe stilettoes (oh how I loved those shoes! I wish I knew where they were now...), with a single Christmas bauble worn on one ear - money just can't buy that kind of styling...

Bring on the frocks!

FD xx


I like to be really dressed up or really undressed. I don’t bother with anything in between
Marilyn Monroe