Big Reveal: Dress #3

The grand finale- it's dress #3 of the "new dresses for work" series. I hope you've enjoyed it, but all good things must come to an end. This dress is almost exactly the same as the first two, with minor variations that mostly apply to the details. This dress has a scoop neckline that's deeper than the red dress, but not quite as plunging as the purple plaid dress. And to add a touch of visual interest, I added a little collar that dips in on one side. The collar is completely rounded, so to create the little dip, I just gathered the fabric together and stitched it in place. It's a perfect spot for a brooch- and I couldn't think of a better one to feature than my Autumn Kiss brooch from Tina Tarnoff.

Need a closer look? I thought so: 

Yes, once again, I made pockets for the dress- they're just so useful! Towards the end of the photo shoot, Kate (of the Studio Nouveau) and I got a little silly and I decided to sit down in the pile of autumn leaves. A lot of great photos came of it, and this one was my favorite: 

You dig? I don't even care what other people think because I absolutely adore this picture. Who knew I could look this great? Ah, the magic of an amazing photographer! 

Some more photos: 

This one is SO my senior portrait (a few years too late):

Well, there you have it, folks- the most recent additions to my canon of work. My goal with these three dresses was to create wearable pieces with a vintage flair- dresses that were suited to my personal style, but that also looked polished and professional and appropriate for work. I hope you like them and as always, if there's something you see that you want for yourself, just email me (reneetbouchard at gmail dot com) or check out my Etsy shop for more information. 

Happy Friday! 

Big Reveal: Dress #2

Here it is, folks- dress #2! I do have to warn you about something, though. While you make think these are three different dresses I've made (the first one was revealed yesterday), the truth is that they are all the same dress. Yup. Hardly any differences between them except minor variations in details and of course, the most obvious difference- fabric. Dress #1 was a nice poly-blend in a purple/black/grey plaid. Dress #2 is made in red gabardine (not real gabardine, it's another poly-blend). Dress #3- which you'll see tomorrow if you haven't already hopped on over to facebook to see them all- was made using a light-weight grey suiting fabric, once again washable poly-blend. Ease of use is the theme when I pick fabrics. No joke. Dry cleaning? I'm not really into that if I can help it.

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber, here's the dress:

Yes, I'm in a library. The children's section, actually. Don't reprimand me- we got permission before we started snapping pictures. Anyway, enough about the location, let's talk about the dress. Aside from fabric choice, the major difference between this dress and the purple plaid dress is obviously the ruffle cape-let that accompanies this dress. The skirt is a smidge longer, too, but that's barely noticeable. The cape-let on the other hand, is hard to miss: 

Side note: How awesome is my friend Kate of the Studio Nouveau who took all these amazing pictures? I'll tell you- she's pretty freakin' awesome. Anyway, the other major difference between this dress and dress #1 is that this neckline is much higher. What's that, you say? You can't see the neckline? Oh, silly me- that's because I'm wearing the cape-let. Well, scroll down to the next picture and you'll see the neckline I'm talking about: 

It's not so straight across and wide as to be considered a boat neck or bateau, but it is significantly higher than the first dress. No cleavage will show at all with this one, which makes it pretty ideal for church, or reading books to young children, which is exactly what I did after Kate snapped these photos. This dress was fun to wear around the holidays, especially when I replaced the black patent belt with a sparkly silver glitter belt- so festive! 

Much like the purple plaid dress, this one also has pockets, but the zipper is not exposed. See? Minor differences, but essentially it's the same exact dress. Check back tomorrow for dress #3! 

My first "Wedding Gown"

My friend Kate asked me to make her a casual wedding dress for a photo shoot she'll be doing next year. I have never made a wedding dress of any kind, but I figured, why not try? After an hour at the fabric store and three more hours in my sewing room, I had this to show for it:

The idea was to have a short, casual dress in ivory that she could wear with mary janes and some other casual accessories. The straps aren't sewn in place yet and she's missing a zipper in the back and of course the belt at the waist hasn't been attached yet. There's still a lot of work to be done before she'll be finished, but I'm happy with the direction she's gone in so far. And since I know you want a close-up of the embellishment at the waist, here it is: 

Just in case you're interested in the details, the bodice is made with 100% silk shantung, while the skirt is polyester tulle and ivory sateen lining. The belt is a satin ribbon wth a chiffon flower detail added onto it. This specific dress will go to Kate, but if you're interested in something similar, feel free to email me. I'd love to help you out! 

Studio Nouveau ROCKS my world!

I know you all have been dying to see the new dresses that I made for myself before starting my new job. I wanted to wait to show them to you because my stupendously talented friend Kate from Studio Nouveau took pictures of me in each of them and I wanted to save the "reveal" for when I had HER photos, not the cheesy ones I take by myself with my tripod. I have to be honest- I don't think I have EVER look this good in a photograph, professional or otherwise:

There is something magical that I love about the combination of cool grey and warm yellow. It melts my heart and makes me drool a little bit. When we had our photo session, the foliage was literally at its peak. I even checked online to find out the actual dates of peak foliage for our area and the day we took these photos was smack in the middle of the "peak" week for southern New Hampshire. In addition, on this particular day, the sun was shining and the air was crisp, but not cold. We ended up shooting at a local library- both inside and out. 

I will reveal more of these amazing photos soon, so you can see not only my latest creations, but also Kate's amazing talent. She really is incredible. 

What an Amazing Wednesday!

Today was quite possibly one of the most fun days I've had since coming back to New Hampshire. When I talked about moving, my ridiculously talented friend Kate of Studio Nouveau said, "I can take pictures of your dresses!" What a dream! She and Lara (her business partner) are two incredible photographers who really know what they're doing. Today I remember thinking to myself, "That's not a camera- it's a magic wand!" Of course, that's really doing Kate a disservice because the magically wonderful photos are actually due to her talent and skill. I don't consider myself to be particularly photogenic, so the idea of being photographed is pretty terrifying. However, the experience with Kate was nothing but completely relaxed and fun. I think we giggled for about 95% of the shoot. It flew by and before I knew it, we were parting ways again. I can't wait to post pictures from the shoot here on the blog, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that. To check out Studio Nouveau's blog, click here. Book them early- they are two very busy ladies, and it's for good reason.

Kate took shots of the three new dresses I made for myself over the last couple of weeks. I made them with the intention of wearing them mostly to work, but I may break one or two of them out for this weekend. "What's this weekend?" you ask. Well, it's Pod Camp NH in Portsmouth and somehow I've managed to get the courage to present. If you haven't heard of Pod Camp, it's basically an "un-conference" focused mainly on new media (blogging, social networking, podcasting, video on the net, etc.). People from all walks of life and various professional and personal backgrounds will be in attendance. I'll be talking about my experience as a fashion stylist/designer and how I use social media within that field- including this blog. What makes it an "un-conference" is that the attendees are actually the presenters. You may be sitting next to someone at one session and then see them leading the next one! If you're interested in learning more, you can visit the FAQ page, or if you want to get even more involved you can register to attend or even better, propose a session to lead.

So the big question of the day is: do I wear one of my new dresses to attend and/or lead a session at PodCamp? I think the answer is obvious, but which one to wear? I'll be sure to take pictures over the weekend and I will also be sure to blog about the experience next week. I have a feeling I have a LOT to learn about new media!