Spectacular Couture!
The couture shows are here and every day has delivered a fresh feast of fabulous shots on Instagram of the latest collections. Theatre, drama and jaw dropping beauty from major designers, giving us a clue as to what we’ll be wearing next year. Sculptural silhouettes at Balenciaga, fashion with a hint of the surreal at Schiaparelli and rich flamenco style at Dior, to name a few, it’s been spectacular.
Couture is Always Relevant for a Fashion Maker!
Couture is the preserve of the extremely wealthy elite. Each dress is created by teams of expert artisans with incredible skill, over many hours, resulting unique pieces of incredible beauty. It's an art form, that is out of reach for most people - unless you know how to make clothes! What’s great about this season is the silhouettes seem more wearable but also, as more and more people take to up-cycling and sewing , these styles become attainable and relevant for fashion makers.
Ok, so not everyone can sew to the standard of a couture dressmaker, however everyone can take some inspiration from the couture shows and make something unique. It doesn’t matter how good at sewing you may or may not be – sewing is a skill that can be learnt and developed over time.
The ability to achieve perfection is rare, what’s more important is having the confidence to make a start. No one is going to come and check your handywork when you wear something out for the first time, it’s more likely they’ll assume it’s shop bought just because that’s what everyone else does.
How to Repro the Look
Couture shows are all about one off pieces, dramatic clothes for special occasions. If you’re looking to re-create the look using vintage a great place to start is with evening clothes. The fabrics are usually of excellent quality and by their very nature they’ve usually only been worn once or twice. Altering existing items is perfect for anyone who doesn’t feel confident in sewing from scratch.
There are some wonderful items currently on ebay.
The dress below is a vintage Victor Costa strapless dress that echoes the Balenciaga & Dior shows
If you like the flamenco styling of the Dior show have a look at the jacket below, currently on ebay.
Again I would also recommend mis-spelling whatever you're searching for as it always delivers results!
Now that you've been inspired why not join our community?
Front Front Row Thrift Flipping is a Facebook community of makers, creators and up-cyclers of second hand clothing who love fashion. If you'd like to have a go at making or up-cycling some old clothing click on the link and come and join the fun! For regular news and updates click on the link and sign up to our newsletter
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