Birds of Paradise

South Coast Fashion Week is coming up fast, it is on 9th, 10th and 11th May and as well as showcasing our garments we want to promote our accessories therefore a photo shoot was needed.  This time I wanted to direct a little more so I contacted the AUCB and found Tara a photographer who wanted to expand her portfolio. To show the kind of look  I wanted for this photo shoot, I prepared a photo mood board using Pinterest (search for Emily Braz or miimiikins and you will find all of my pin boards) and here are a few photos I pinned.

         

The next step was to find models and I was really lucky to have Chloe and Stefani who were both perfect for this shoot.  They looked amazing and were game to having big hair adorned with sticks.

All photo shoots are a team effort, my sister Jessica is our hairdresser and is always willing to try anything, I could not imagine a photo shoot without her help and my mother, Debbie, is chauffeur, collector of sticks in this instance and can always be relied on to notice when something is out of place during a shoot.  My mother is also my business partner, does a lot of the basic sewing and is always researching new and better techniques to improve our garments and accessories.

You can see we work as a team, I am putting on Chloe’s makeup as my sister completes her hair (Jessica was really good to come this time as she had a very busy day herself and you can see had to come in her rollers), my husband is in the back ground as he acted as a chauffeur as well, picking up Stefani early in the morning and my mum is taking the photos.  These are not the official photos, my mum usually takes the photos for this blog so as to tell the story of the day.

The location was Bournemouth gardens, halfway between Coy Pond and the Square, a beautiful place both to take photos and just generally walk.

          

Originally I thought that bare shoulders would be a good look but you can see from these photos which we took whilst waiting for the photographer, that the girls just look too naked.

 

Fortunately this had crossed my mind the night before and I had packed some tulle which really softened the look and either made the girls look like the Birds of Paradise or as my husband said ‘angry woodland nymphs’, either works for me.

We moved along the gardens following the sun.

Adjustments to the tulle and hat changes were needed, although I did layer up the various crowns and fascinators to get the look I wanted.

I also added a few fresh flowers and leaves at times.

Photographic direction:-

  

Reflectors were needed now and again:-

We finished with two very different small hats :-

I love this last photo, I think it reflects the great time we had and I can’t wait for the official photos to arrive.

New Vintage at The Shelley Theatre

The Shelley Theatre  is situated in Boscombe Manor, Shelley Park, Boscombe and was bought by Sir Percy Shelley for his mother, Mary Shelley, authoress of Frankenstein.  After she died Sir Percy and his wife made Boscombe Manor their country home. A theatre was added to one end of the house which is now being renovated and used for various productions. Have a look at the work that is being done here at http://www.shelleytheatre.co.uk. We were lucky enough to be allowed to photograph one of our vintage inspired wedding dresses together with a small flower girl dress and we loved the way that the beautifully derelict background contrasted so well with the pristine white and blue of our dresses.  The dresses are inspired by the 1950’s and made in lace, satin and tulle, both button at the back as zips were not in general use until the late 1950s.  The fascinator was made to complement and is a circle of satin decorated with Swarovski pearls, blue feathers and lots of bridal veiling to make a proper birdcage veil which encloses the face, it fastens easily with a large clip on one side and a tiny one on the other decorated with an embellishment.

The theatre has at least three levels and this was a small room over the stage which probably was used as a dressing room.  The view is lovely out of the window.  The theatre is much bigger than you think with lots of twists and turns and there is plans to eventually make this into a wedding venue which will be fantastic.

The stairs are amazing, such beautiful wood and are in the corner of the stage leading up to the small room where we took the previous photos.

The stage is quite large and here you can see our lovely models, Tilly and Lois  making full use of it.

Our models had fun

They also had a dance:-

and played the piano

Off to the side of the stage there was another small room.

The mirrors work so well, obviously used for  make up and hair  in stage performances but add an extra dimension to our photos.  Here you can also see Lois’s hair, Jessica (my wonderful sister and hairdresser) did such a great job on both girls’ hair.

In the next photo you can see how well the fascinator sits on the head and is complemented by the hairstyle.

There is a lot of renovation work on the ground floor but in one area we found this superb armchair which proved to be an excellent backdrop for Lois.

The last photo of the morning we took outside.

As with the previous shoot, this was an unplanned extra and therefore there were no funds for a photographer.  I do like to be on the sidelines directing however I again picked up my camera with my mother this time taking photos from different angles and I am very pleased with the final result.

When designing a dress for either a real bride or a photo shoot, I like to think of what will suit the person best which includes their shape, their personality and their preferences.  On our website http://www.mimibespoke.com you can see real brides all dressed totally differently, all looking amazing because they all feel beautiful and happy in what they are wearing.  There are so many advantages in having a dress made just for you, from the fit right through to the finished look, a bride can really be proud in knowing that they had a part in designing their dream dress and it is genuinely one of a kind.

Everything comes along at once

An exciting week.  Boscombe Vintage Fair has a market once a month and I had applied with my mum to have a stall.  My mum has been sewing since she was twelve years old and helps me out when I have wedding dresses to do and I am behind with my sewing but I also help her with her vintage styled accessories. She has a facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Millymoll/421517547885955, and is in the process of setting up an Etsy shop.  We didnt think that we had the stall as it is near Christmas so we then applied for a space at the Anonymous travelling market at Wilton in November.  On the same morning we heard from both the Boscombe Vintage Fair and the Anonyous market that we can sell our wares there.  Exciting and busy times.  Need to plan how to display items, make a few more and on a practical note we need to get public liability insurance.

As well I also heard from the Princes Trust and had an interview with them.  Now it is just a waiting game to see if I can get on their four day course in November.  I need help with marketing etc and the business side of working for myself.

Here are a few photos of the things we make for Millymoll, vintage style accessories: