Inspirations: "Birth of Venus" and Jane Austen

I have been thinking about creating a new range of designs and I have decided to use two inspirations, to create something a little different...

Whenever I read Jane Austen novels, I think of the flowing dresses and beautiful fabrics. One of my favourite DVD's is "Pride and Prejudice", with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The Regency period used Empire lines- what most people would call a "baby doll" style; Grecian decoration, Egyptian ornament, Spencer coats, and military influences. I will borrow a little from this period for the silhouette of my designs. Click here to read more about costume's from this period. All costume photos in this posting are from the fashion-era.com website.



The painting above would have to be one of my all-time favourites; Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth Of Venus". I love the colours, the beauty of Venus, the West wind, Zephyrus and Flora, the spring that are blowing her gently to the shore. I want to use the colours from this painting, as well as the beautiful femininity to help inspire my designs.



I will use a lot of pastel colours (coral, pink, aqua, mint, blues, creams, etc), and lots of florals, as well as floaty fabrics, and I have a great pleated pastel pink fabric that I want to use. I recently bought quite a lot of vintage and antique lace, so this might be added to the mix as well!



I can't wait to see what I come up with, and share my creations with you! I probably won't have them on sale for atleast a month or more, as I will want to take photos first, but I am too excited to not share my ideas with you!

Silk Ikats of Central Asia: Art Gallery of NSW

Yesterday I visited the Art Gallery of NSW to view their latest exhibition, Silk Ikats of Central Asia.




While it was a small exhibit, the displayed items were extremely beautiful, and very inspiring for my work!



The embroideries, colours, detail, patterns, prints, and textures were just simply stunning, and it truly is amazing how much work is involved in each piece. It is astounding that each and every piece was created by hand, and it really inspires me to want to create more hand worked pieces.

I would recommend this exhibit to anyone who is interested in or enjoys needlework/craft, printing, fashion, costume, cultural and historical backgrounds.

After viewing the works at the gallery, I returned home full of inspiration for my latest Penelope Red designs! I am hoping to base my latest designs and next photo shoot on these costumes, colours, bold embroideries, and exotic jewellery. It will be quite exciting to see it all together, and I can't wait to show you!

Please note, not all images displayed in this post are from the gallery exhibition. Some of the images I found on the net.

The shape of the Penelope Red Hooded Coat is perfect to reflect the robes, the mini skirts I have made so far reflect the bold colours, and the textured embroideries.