Custom 16th century dress for the lovely Jami Solveig Cirone, Miss Italy/Miss Multiverse 2015.
http://missmultiverse.com/
The pageant’s historic/cultural segment showcases the contestants in costumes that pay homage to their national and cultural heritage. This dress we made helps Jami honor hers.
The gown has more than 12 yards of burgundy velvet in it plus a number of silks and laces. We cartridge pleated five whole widths of velvet (more than 260″ total inches at the waist) onto Jami’s teeny 23″ waistband. We made two petticoats and a hip roll to develop her incredible silhouette and topped it with a hand embroidered bodice. She has hanging sleeves plus quilted sleeves that lace onto her bodice. Within her bodice we installed quite a number of steel stays, lacing stays and grommets. Our hand detailing on the outside includes numerous brass beads and jewels, freshwater pearls, fabric flowers, lace trimmings plus exquisite custom brooches by artist David Powell: @POWELLARTSWORKSHOP on Instagram.
Together we looked at many examples of period dresses, hairstyles and ornamentation in museum costume books plus portraits of notable Italian women.
David’s wax carvings, ready to be cast in bronze.
Prepped to cast multiples at one time:
Freshly cast bronze brooches before they are cleaned up and polished.
Photography session with Simon Blundell: http://simonfoto.com/
Brilliant hair and makeup by Amber Pearson. http://amberpearson.net/
On display for a time in the parlour of our Pierpont Avenue location.
