Petal & Pins

Category: Fashion

Budding Genius

While autumn has begun here in Australia I’ve channeled  spring vibes for this photo with my copy of British Vogue’s Spring Fashion 2020 issue.

As a fashion design student long before the age of internet, the arrival of the latest issues of international fashion magazines on the newsstand was cause for excitement. Vogues from France, Italy, the US and UK, Harpers Bazaar, Donna and the then new edgy publications ID, The Face and Details.

If you knew someone going overseas you would ask them to bring magazines back because that ‘Air Freight – Just Landed’ sticker wasn’t as quick as it implied and as a student imported magazines were expensive.

Of course now the latest collections can be seen in an instant on a device in the palm of your hand…but there’s something intrinsically enjoyable about flipping through the pages of a magazine – it makes you slow down and encourages you to take a moment for yourself (maybe with a cup of tea or a glass of wine) and aimlessly flipping or working your way through it from cover to cover depending on the mood you’re in.

In my styled spring Flat Lay are roses from my garden, petal & pins Blush Rose greeting card from the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe Collection, Vintage Rose handkerchief and some of my favourite accessories.

 

Last European spring I was delighted to have my Aquilegia & Rose Dress art print featured in UK Bride magazine’s The Pretty List after the editors saw us exhibiting at the Top Drawer London tradeshow.

Alas my efforts to track down a physical copy came up empty handed but at least I have this digital image to share because it was a proud moment to be included alongside so many pretty floral things…and being called ‘Budding genius’ no less!

 

 

Spring & Renewal

As one of the earliest blooms of the season lilacs symbolize spring & renewal. It’s heady fragrance is unforgettably sweet, spicy and intense and it’s a cause for celebration when it returns to my garden.

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“The smell of moist earth and lilacs hung in the air like wisps of the past and hints of the future.” 

Margaret Millar (1947) Experiment in Springtime:A Novel, New York:Random House

 

Objet d’art

single peony and Soltice Lace book
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This beautiful porcelain vase was a gift from a friend and it’s sensuous form is deceptively simple.

There is the finest line of handpainted gold around the top of the neck and when not showing off a flower is far more objet d’art than just simply an empty vase.

The peony with its hint of pink and ruffled petals is dreamy and romantic just like the  Solstiss lace for haute couture Gaultier Paris from fall-winter 2005 -2006 featured in the book Solstiss: The seduction of lace by Ann Kraatz.

I don’t often bring these peonies inside because they are highly attractive to ants for some reason and indeed this morning I had to give this one a good shake to avoid bringing any inside.

But they won’t be flowering for long with the warm weather we’re getting and seemed the perfect pairing with this vase to share for Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday.

Fashionable Flowers

dresses in an exhibitionmannequindress detail

On a recent trip to Melbourne I saw the 200 Years of Australian Fashion exhibition at the NGV and this wedding dress (circa 1952) designed by Beril Jents was just one of the dresses that not surprisingly caught my eye.

Over the years I’ve made a garden full of flowers from fabric myself – from evening and wedding dress embellishments to adornments for lapels or hats. Just lately I’ve been making ‘spring blossom’ out of paper for part of our petal & pins display at our second trade fair appearance.

We’re launching our new Garden Party card collection, a Black Label range of notecard sets and I have designed a new collection of limited edition prints we’ve called Atelier Pétale featuring a vintage fashion inspired sketch with hats I’ve styled from flowers from our garden.

So our garden flowers continue to inspire me creatively and petal & pins continues to grow! We head to Melbourne next week for the trade fair and Mr Petal & Pins and I are getting excited, thank you for following us on this journey you are part of our story!

 

 

Hemline

hemline for regerade luxe

Hemline detail for the Renegade Luxe dress.

light & space

I have been wanting to share some photos of sunset as experienced at artist James Turrell’s  Amarna installation since I first went to view it but how it connected with a blog about fashion and flowers eluded me…until last night.

Fashion designer Alexi Freeman launched his Autumn/Winter White Noise 2016 Collection at twilight out at MONA using Amarna as the runway.

James Turrell is an American artist primarily concerned with light and space. Amarna is one of more than 80 Skyspace installations he has built around the world and is best viewed at sunrise or sunset.

 Amarna by James Turrell
blue
pink
Alexi Freeman A:W2016
Alexi Freeman A:W 16
Alexi Freeman Autumn/Winter16
Alexi Freeman White Noise collection

Alexi Freeman collaborated  with shoe designer Preston Zly and accessory designer Kate Rohde to present an ethereal collection.

The evening was  enhanced by Byron Meyer’s live soundscapes, Ainslie Walker‘s beautiful bespoke scent Nocturne filling the air and of course those other two fashion show requisites – friends and champagne!

 

all words and images ©2016 Sandra Alcorn blog.petalandpins.com

Renegade Luxe

Jean Paul Gaultier catalogue prêt-à-porter S/S 08Some fashion collections stay with you long after the season has past and the designer has presented others.

It could be the silhouette, the fabrics or the combination of colours – which is what it was for me with Jean Paul Gaultier’s prêt-à-porter Pirate Collection from Spring/Summer 2008.

We were in Paris that Spring and went to the Gaultier boutique on avenue George V.
I lingered at the pieces that caught my eye to drink in the details and gently run my fingers over the cloth. Khaki, brown and olive green in plains, stripes and camouflage prints were given a touch of renegade luxe with the combinations of fabrics and embellishments.

This summer, while looking out my sunroom window down onto the plum tree and the ripening elderberries that memory was stirred by the similarity in colours and contrasting textures.

I pulled out the catalogue brought back from Paris to revisit the collection and was also inspired to design some plum leaf and elderberry dresses for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

plum tree foliageelderberriesinspiration from Jean Paul Gaultier's prêt-à-porter collection S/S 2008petal & pins Garden Fairy's Wardrobe dress

Subtle Shading

The japonica is just starting to flower in my garden and I picked a few sprays to put in a vase with the buds still closed.

japonica sprays

In the warmth inside they opened into lovely tones of cream and peachy pink instead of the usual bright colour that punctuates the bareness of my patchwork hedge in winter.

japonica flowers
The colours remind me of a hat that once belonged to my grandmother. I think the delicate layered feathers would have once been a more uniform tone but I like the subtle shading created by the passing of time.

vintage hat

That faded glamour also inspired me to create this dress for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe with the japonica flowers.

japonica flower dress

Shiny & New!

I am very excited to announce the launch of the petal and pins online shop to coincide with three new Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe card sets – the Catwalk Collection, Prêt à Porter Collection and Red Carpet Collection.

There are also limited edition prints, ‘Ode to Coco Chanel’ card trio sets and some other bits of loveliness in paper and cloth.

To celebrate this new step in the petal & pins journey and as a thank you for following it thus far I am offering you *free shipping worldwide on purchases of any Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe Card Set  – just enter the code FREESHIPPING615   *offer expires 30 June 2015

petalandpins.com

petal & pins website launch

p.s. A big thank you to Mr Petal & Pins who created it for me – apart from my creative input all credit must go to him and I couldn’t be more delighted with the result – I hope you like it too!

kind regards,

Sandra

The Fairy Haberdasher

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

In my studio I have boxes and jars of buttons.

Made from all sorts of things – shell, metal, glass and paste, coconut shell, silk cord and clay. Some are vintage and others made in cloth using an old button covering press.

Bought in bulk or just enough for a single garment waiting to be chosen as the perfect ‘one’, they come from all over the place including a Parisian haberdasher I stumbled upon while walking in the Marais.

But I need to look out carefully to find the fairy haberdasher peddling his wares of ribbons, buttons and other notions.

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