New things

I've been really busy with custom jobs lately, and I'm absolutely loving it. I used to get really stressed about custom work being too time consuming and not leaving me any time to work on my collections. The solution should have been obvious, but it's taken me awhile to come around to it - why worry myself with producing seasonal collections when my income comes from a steady stream of custom work? Especially as I've been getting more and more bridal jobs, which I love doing.

So, things are going to change around here! I won't be designing regular collections anymore or producing ready-to-wear clothing. I'm dedicating myself completely to custom work - specifically to bridal. I love weddings and have a million ideas flying around my head for gorgeous vintage-style cocktail, bridesmaid and wedding dresses!

When I went shopping for my own dress (ok, we just went to play in the bridal shops - I was always going to make my own dress), there were really hardly any options with sleeves, nothing remotely 60s style, and when I mentioned the idea of a short dress I either got a condescending laugh or was shown mid-calf 'ballerina length' - cute, but mid calf is still long in my book! I want to fill that gap and make the dresses you can't find in the bridal stores. If you're dreaming about the perfect dress and it doesn't seem to exist in real life, I'll make it for you.

As you can see from these pictures, I don't just do bridal. I love variety and I'll make anything. But bridal is definitely the direction I'd like to move in and so that's what the website will be focused on. I'll still blog about cool sixties stuff and travel - because without those things I'd be posting even less than I do now - but the main website home page will be that of a bridal designer. Just wanted to explain everything so you don't turn up in a month's time and think you've ended up on the wrong page!

I'm SO excited about taking the business in a different direction and working towards a big goal. That black and pink notebook (above right) is my 'Bell Street Bridal' book and it is filling up fast with ideas, plans, sketches and scribbles. I'm having fun.