FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
2nd Place
Art Nouveau Yavanna
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
From the moment I saw the competition announcement, I knew I wanted to make something from a fantasy novel, probably Tolkien. Then I knew exactly who I wanted to inspire my project. Yavanna, Giver of Fruits, also known as Queen of the Earth, is one of the holy ones in Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. When she takes up ‘the form of a woman', Tolkien wrote, 'she is tall, and robed in green; but at times she takes other shapes. Some there are who have seen her standing like a tree under heaven, crowned with the Sun’.
Of course I couldn’t do anything without historical references: I have always wanted to try a Belle Époque / Art Nouveau blend, and there was something about the swirls in Camille Clifford’s dresses that gave me earthy, tree-like vibes. So I decided to make a dress inspired by the turn of the century and Art Nouveau themed. Whilst researching, I was particularly inspired by a specific lampshade and a glazed tile design. My plan was: a trumpet-shaped skirt for maximum swirl effect, with the top part as a corset with a petal design like that on the glazed tile, to get that Art Nouveau suppleness. The white petals symbolise the strength of her singing, which she uses a few times, including in the process of creating the Moon and the Sun.
Outline the construction…
The skirt is made in a pattern I adapted from marquise.de, listed as one 1901 'Skirt Victoria'. This made for a gorgeous skirt, but to get the effect I wanted, I took out one of the panels and enlarged the back panel until I got the train size right. I also flatlined the skirt with some tulle to give it more body. The top was made out of Atelier Sylphe's 'ref W' corset pattern. I scaled it to fit my measurements, but my biggest struggle was making an overbust shape from its underbust pattern. I had to make many alterations to get the petal shapes and to make the silhouette more accurate to the time period; in the end I had to add a lot of padding to get the shape right. My biggest struggle by far was physical. Never having made a corset before, I had absolutely not realized the strength needed to cut steel boning and to insert the grommets. The other thing was, because I wanted this specific petal design on the corset, I could not fit this design to the pattern. So I decided to make the corset in a flesh colored coutil, then add the fashion fabric on top, securing everything with the tiniest stitches I could possibly make. This sort of applique was incredibly hard to do because of the thickness of the coutil, but I got almost all the lines straight.
The shape of the bodice is stunning! And what a lovely drape of the skirt <3
Thank you so much! I took me many tries, but I am very happy about how it turned out!
Is gorgeous, Deborah, congratulations!
Thank you, Rebecca! <3
Oh my God! I am in awe of such gorgeous bodice! Looks perfectly executed and tbe photos are stunning!
Thank you so much, Safira! <3
Genuinely incredibly, the shape and the colours are so on point for art nouveau!
Thank you! I did have a lot of fun with the research! 🙂
Simplismente deslumbrante, maravilhoso, belíssimo. Feito com muito capricho. Você é de um talento gigante.
Amei tudo.
Thank you very much! You are very kind! >3
This is stunning. Art Nouveau fits Yavanna so well, and your costume looks truly amazing.
Congratulations, really !!
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to mix theses inspirations!
The shapes, the lines, the colours! the attention to detail!! This is fabulous!
Thank you so much!!! I did make too many mock ups until I was happy with it, so I appreciate your comment very much!
Gorgeous! I love the clean design. It enhances and emphesizes the beauty of the design details that are there. This shows that you do not need a lot of fuss to tell a story.
Thank you so much! I am very minimalist in my regular clothes, and i wasn’t sure if I could do the very elaborate look. I am glad I was able to convey the message with so little! <3
Stunning.
Thank you! 🙂
Incredible design work! The art nouveau structure creates a perfect leafy, growing feel.
Thank you! <3
Simply stunning! From design to execution to photography, an absolutely excellent job. The arm ribbons really tie it all together for me as vines on a tree
Thank you! The ribbons were literally decided on the last minute! I am glad it added to the look!
Stunning work!
Thank you!
I love the Silmarillion, and am so excited about this take on Yavanna! The concept is cool, and the results are breathtaking
Thank you very much! I honestly never thought I would get so excited about it, but now I want to make costumes for all the female characters! hehehe
This is stunning and I love how you used the Silmarillion as your book, This dress is inspiring and now I want to do something like this
I have never heard of Yavahnna, but this dress looks like one for a godess. The shape is beautiful and I really love the Art nouveau style! it is so elegant!
Thank you so much! <3
So beautiful!
Thank you! 🙂
This is absolutely stunning
Thank you! <3
This Yavanna is just perfect! <3
Thank you! 🍃
This one is truly breathtaking! Such a refreshing take on Tolkien’s aesthetics.
Thank you, Verônica! You are the best! 💙
That corset is stunning. The whole thing is beautiful! thank you!
Thank you! It did take me a lot of tries! 🙂
This is exquisite! I’m a big Tolkien fan, and this dress definitely does Yavanna justice! I adore the art nouveau influences, and the shape you have created with the corset is just divine, the lines of the design are so clean and elegant, well done for managing to applique the design through thick layers of coutil, you pulled it off beautifully!
That comment made me so happy, you cannot imagine! I was super scared true Tolkien fans would think I went too far. Seriously, thank you so much! <3
Awww you’re welcome, honestly you deserve to be proud of what you made! I think the curse of being creative is that we all doubt our ideas! But the beauty of creativity is that two people can picture the same character and come up with two completely different impressions, it doesn’t mean there is a right or wrong answer, it’s about where your imagination takes you! (Also, if you’ve read the Silmarillion, I think that makes you a true Tolkien fan too 😉 )
Spectacular!!!
Thank you very much!
Very eye=catching! I adore the shape you have achieved – the front petals over the bodice particularly. And those colours are just gorgeous!