Cherry Blossom Wedding Dress, Part I

As bridal season is comes to a close, we’ve been blessed with a very special patron to create for. M commissioned her husband’s suit for their impending nuptials while also setting about creating a dress with meaningful qualities for their special and very intimate occasion.

M displays a very statuesque stature with a strong and regal presence. She stands at 5’9″, a wonderful frame upon which to create. M also has very symbolic artwork upon her skin which provides inspiration for the details going into her couture gown. The creation of this dress is sincerely true to her personal values and aesthetic with even the fabrics used reflecting who she is. Cherry blossoms were made from embroidered silk organza with hand painted stamen, so translucent and delicate that they seemed almost to float over the body for which they were created to adorn.

A magnificent phoenix tattoo on her back was re-imagined for the dress using the feathers of three traditional Chinese pheasants: the Lady Amerhist pheasant, the Ring Neck pheasant and the Golden pheasant. All of which can be found in Chinese embroidery and paintings.

Each feather is sewn through the quill and affixed to delicate silk organza cascading in sea foam greens, light lilacs and moonstone blues.

The bodice of the dress is corseted with steel boning and covered with Italian satin silk inside and out so as to feel natural and soft against the torso. It is embellished with the cherry blossoms which slowly transition to feathers that form a wonderful hip detail. The hip detail features the longest and most dramatic tail feathers which dissipate towards the train in a lightly scattered natural format.