Outdoor inspiration

I have a vision of course. I am a designer so of course I have a vision. It also means I'm constantly looking for pictures that can explain my vision to people around me who are involved in this. Today I found the outdoor inspiration pictures.

This comes from the blog Bohemian Hellhole (a really nice blog if I may say so) and is about the person behind The Custards and her style. And it's spot on, with the colours and the atmosphere.

I won't be able to create that lushness because it is a yard after all, but the flowers will be there. As will the mismatch furniture and colour. I will do my best to make it look as inviting as I can and this picture above will be a great help to explain what I want to accomplish.

The final version

I'm going to wink at Star Trek. The yellow dress I found is typical for the late 60's with it's experimental cut. The Star Trek uniforms are equally famous for original cut. Well, not the Star Trek Enterprise then. I don't want people to think "oh, that's a Star Trek dress" so I have decided to not do the two colour thing in the dress. I'm choosing a yellow fabric, but I'll cut the neckline in the asymmetric way Uhura and nurse Chapel's dresses are cut. I think that's the only real detail I need for those who knows their Star Trek to squee. The dress itself has a cut reminding you of a Star Trek uniform tunic from the early The Next Generation era so I really don't have do anything else.

 

I also found the colour scheme for the petticoat. It'll be a strong pink/raspberry red kind of a colour in soft tulle. I think I'm going to nick the idea to tie small strips of aqua tulle to the pink tulle, just like this tutu I spotted on Etsy. Without further ado:

I found the image below as a colour inspiration. I'm also wondering if I should find a polka dot ribbon, a rather wide one, to add to the tulle. I have to be careful though so I don't make it too full, because I'm not making a squaredance dress. I just want some ruffles because it's candy fun.

Sleeves! And a complete design.

I think I have the design now. I only need to decide on the colours. Yellow is wonderful. Do I use it alone or do I add another colour? Navy? Cerise? And that crochet I was thinking about, will I use that idea? I'd rather not think about that now. But having decided on the design is a great step since I can now go ahead and make the pattern and make a dummy.

I'm going to use the sleeve design above. This is a top from Banana Republic which they sold in 2008. Those along with the cut on the vintage 60's dress from this post and some tweaks on width, length, and neckline and adding pockets will be the final design.

Sunshine!

I think I may have found the dress that will make the foundation of my design.

I'm not going to buy this one though it's a lovely dress. It's too short, and the skirt isn't wide enough IMO. But I love the cut and I can see myself adding pockets to it. A girl has got to have pockets! I'm not going to keep the sleeves and the neckline needs to be lower, but not too low though. Not too long, too short, no décolletage, easy to move around in.

The colour is lovely. That navy is getting more and more difficult to justify. I could have the bottom part of the dress in navy, but the problem is that it might look like I'm wearing an apron. Or possibly too Star Trek-ish. I'm NOT doing geek things here. I'm such a sci fi nerd but star Trek just don't belong in this.

Dress from Beautvintage.com.

Colour!

I've been looking a bit on Etsy.com today, mostly because I'm in need of some inspiration. There are many pretty things to look at over there. For a splash of colour (and things to pull inspiration from), have a look at these! Click on images to go to the shop in question.

Dress

So I've been thinking. 50's? 60's? Sort of? Freestyle crochet? Possibly. Sunflower yellow and dark blue. That's a winner though I am hesitant to use blue and yellow since it's our flag's colours. I don't want people to think of our flag when looking at me. Sunflower yellow and cerise? Now that's a glowing combination! And I could make a visible tulle petticoat in yellow with dark blue satin trimming to go with that. Or it could all be too much. Inspiration pictures:

I'm not wearing white. Why? There are several reasons for that.

• I've been married before
• I don't really like white on myself
• I want to have fun in this dress and wearing it on other occasions
• We're offbeat in so many other ways that I don't feel like dressing traditionally

White is really a rather new thing. Just wearing something nice looking was the way to do it for a very long time until European nobility decided white was the thing - and that had a lot to do with the 19^th century screwed up ideas about female sexuality. White has for a very long time been the virgin colour. Well, I'm not a virgin.

Plates

So renting plates is actually rather expensive and you've got to pick them up and return them. If you add what you spend on driving those 75 miles we'd have to drive back and forth it's definitely a no no.

We're having a bean stew which needs a bowl of come sort and something that will hold the add ons. It can't be large. I think it's better to have people rise and go for seconds (and thirds) and be able to mingle and stay and talk to other guests. After checking just how much various kinds of bowls actually holds I made the startling discovery that my toddler's colourful plastic bowls from IKEA holds the same volume as my fancy stoneware bowls. They look bigger but they don't hold more.

After that discovery I went on an excursion to try and find something plate-like. In one of the cheap warehouse stores in town I found the perfect item. Add the bowl and you get something like this:

Easy to carry around and you don't have to worry about dropping things. It doesn't look large when you hold it in your hands, but the look is deceiving because this solution holds just as much as a traditional bowl on a traditional plate would. However, you couldn't mingle with that. You can with this solution.

Hair issues

I have dreads. So do my Darling. We're a dreads family. I love them but when it comes to party hair it's not that fun. People mostly shrug and tell you to wear a wrap. However, I wear wraps enough in my every day life and I just want to do something a bit different.

I was dead set on simple, simple, simple, and then I stumbled on the birdcage veil above. Peacock feathers! Black! Over the top! I like the feathers with the veil but I would like the veil to be smaller and not sporting that bow thing going on to the right. I know where to get hold of peacock feathers (and other feathers) but the veil material is more difficult. I can get hold of silver and gold. I can of course get some and try to change colour using a marker pen. It's the only thing I think I could use that would actually stick to the synthetic material it's made of. It's worth a try at least.

The veil on the picture is from Castle Bride Couture.

Clothes

You've got to wear them. I have been glancing at dresses and pant-suits since we decided we should marry (back in 2007) and it's almost a shock that it's finally the real thing. I need to decide on something!

I decided from the start that I don't want to wear white. I have been married before and done the white wedding/restaurant reception thing (and I learned a lot from being there myself compared to only taking care of the reception, something I have done plenty when I was a restaurant manager). But what colour should I choose? Good question.

Then we come to what it should look like. I'm a practical person when it comes to clothes and even fancy dresses can be comfortable. I don't understand the ceremony dress and reception dress thing. This is just another expense not needed. If you can't have fun in the dress of your choice it's the wrong dress IMO.

I have discarded the idea of a pant suit. It's tricky to get them to fit well so I'll stick to a dress. Knee-length with width because it's fun. Short sleeves and a neckline that aren't too high nor too low. I want a tulle petticoat in a contrasting colour sticking out below the hem. Cute, practical and a dress you can wear all day and have fun in it. No silk, some easy material that can be washed easily. A dress I can wear again. That's the dress I want. Now I only need to design it. Because of course, the DIY queen will make it herself.

My Darling is not as difficult as I am. He refuses fancy clothes point blank, but last year we got him canvas frontier trousers with suspenders for wedding. With a woodcutter shirt the outfit would be perfect.

These are the trousers in question. I love the strap in the back! You can get them here (US) here (UK) and here (Sweden).