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Divider_GoldMoth

Priestess of Dagon, Father of the Deep Ones

stitch-1

SUBMITTED BY:

Charlie Grilhé (Maison Charlie Grilhé)

LINKS:

(click images to to enlarge)

Other Credits

Makeup Artist & Photography Assistant : Rose Tental

Outline the story …

My creation is an interpretation from one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft Novels : "The Shadow over Innsmouth". It's the story of a young man, a bit too curious, discovering the horrific truth about humans matching with Deep Ones (horrible humanoids sea creatures) to have immortal children, gold, jewels and plenty of fish.
I wanted to create a corset of a Priestess of the Esoteric Order of Dagon with jewelry, pearls, seaweeds and, above all, the big and immobile eyes of Father Dagon and the Deep Ones. I fell in love with the interpretation of Dagon by the artist Trufanov who was the main inspiration for the eyes and gills design. Because Lovecraft has a tendency to sexism (among other oppressive ideas), I wanted my Priestess to be sexy and powerful instead of a submissive victim without strength or will.
The aesthetic of the Lovecraft Cosmogony is very chaotic so I wanted to create something asymmetrical. It was thrilling to work around the beauty in ugliness and horror. Because Dagon and the Deep Ones are creatures of the see, I tried to create very organic embroideries with greens and earth tones. My inspiration for the embroideries comes from Michele Carragher work (Game of Thrones Embroiderer) for the seaweeds embroideries and Michele Clapton (Game of Thrones costumiere) for the dragon scale smock. For the eyes and gills, I was inspired by the amazing work of Fistashka.

Outline the construction…

I used a pattern from Sparklewren (Underpinning Museum) with very deep cleavage and oversized hips for a very graphic effect.
My corset is made out of a changing taffetas, coutil and 32 flat and spiral baleens for a strong structure. I tried a lot of new techniques for this project. I began with the dragon scale smock that I've ironed flat for a fish skin effect.
Then the eyes and gills for which I used a technic inspired by Fistashka embroideries. I used glass beads (I had some of them since my teenage years ;) ). It took me more than 30 hours.
The taffeta was fragile so it was a bit challenging to use it on the corset without destroying it, so I accepted and used this fragility as patina. The seaweed embroideries were also a first for me. I did a lot of research about Michele Carragher's work. The youtube channel "Taking time with Tasha", who learned with Michele Carragher at the London Embroidery School, helped me a lot. I used embroidery thread mixed with artificial gold thread, wire mesh ribbon, miyuki beads, glass beads, plastic beads and mixed colors fake pearls. I used a color palette of old gold, pink and purple. Emiah's tutorial about beaded corsets helped me a lot to manage embroideries between baleens and through strong fabric layers.
Through all those steps, I had the Game of Thrones Costumes book open on my desk, as well as the Waisted Creation book.

COMMENTS

Divider_GoldMoth

28 Comments

  1. Avatar Helene on March 11, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    Wonderful work of art 😍

    • Avatar Charline on March 12, 2021 at 11:29 am

      Thank you very much <3 <3

  2. Kitty Mortensen Kitty Mortensen on March 11, 2021 at 8:59 pm

    Stunning art piece! looks SO cool on

    • Avatar Charline on March 12, 2021 at 11:29 am

      Thank you so much <3

  3. Avatar Laura Wemyss on March 12, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    I love the smocking! Such a wonderful effect, particularly with that taffeta.

    • Avatar Charlie Grilhé on March 12, 2021 at 4:06 pm

      Thank you very very much! 🖤🖤🖤

  4. Avatar Kait on March 12, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    Gasp! The details and texture of this are stunning!

    • Avatar Charline on March 12, 2021 at 8:31 pm

      Oh thank you very much Kait <3 !

  5. Avatar Lindsey on March 13, 2021 at 1:52 am

    This is a piece of art. you nailed all the techniques you use to make this!

    • Avatar Charline on March 14, 2021 at 11:25 am

      Thank you very very much <3

  6. Avatar Mathilde on March 13, 2021 at 1:10 pm

    I love it: from the texture of the smock to the delicate embroideries, the shape of the corset….
    Your work is stunning, and you’re so talented!

    • Avatar Charline on March 14, 2021 at 11:26 am

      Thank youuuuuuu <3.

  7. Avatar Rebecca on March 14, 2021 at 12:26 am

    this is all about evocative textures and sheens. i love your squid-y eyeballs with their fabric lids, and the placement of your motifs is smart– keeps the eye moving over the surface. good luck from icarus!

    • Avatar Charline on March 14, 2021 at 11:26 am

      Thank you very very much for your comment’. It goes right to my heart. <3

  8. Avatar Mandy Pursley on March 14, 2021 at 4:35 pm

    I love this! Such rich textures and beautiful detail work! Bravo!

  9. Avatar Marion Brégier on March 16, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    Aaaaaaaaah so beautiful I might have lost a few SAN points. I love it ! The beading is… insane. (sorry, the puns just make themselves)

    • Avatar Charline on March 22, 2021 at 8:04 pm

      Huhuhu ! I’m the SAN DETROYER ! <3
      Thank you so much <3.

  10. Avatar Laëtitia on March 18, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    Je l’ai déjà dit sur les corsetières francophones, mais ton corset est vraiment impressionnant. Ce marron glacé avec le smoke en écailles et ce perlage… il est magnifique! Vraiment, encore Bravo! 😀

  11. Avatar Amanda on March 19, 2021 at 1:13 am

    Absolutely beautiful detail work!

  12. Avatar Carly Van Groeningen on March 19, 2021 at 11:08 am

    This is fantastic, so many amazing textures.

    • Avatar Charline on March 22, 2021 at 8:03 pm

      Thank you very very much <3

  13. Avatar Phanuel Jagna Levinsen on March 20, 2021 at 10:35 pm

    The embroidery on this is just amazing, i’m completely blown away. Deeply in love with how you did the golden details.

    • Avatar Charline on March 22, 2021 at 8:03 pm

      Oh thank you very much <3

  14. Avatar Maeri Certo on March 23, 2021 at 1:10 pm

    Absolutely phenomenal job! Your beading looks like you’re a pro and you did so well with the dragonscale embroidery! I also appreciate that you addressed the issues with the author as a person and intentionally did something that would have blown his closed little mind! 😀

    • Avatar Charlie Grilhé on March 31, 2021 at 10:04 am

      Thank you very much ! Your comment means so much to me. Thank you for reading all the text about my creation. It was very important to me to talk about the fact that I’ve chosen a character of this author but I don’t share his values.

  15. Avatar Stephanie Murison on March 25, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    See, I look at this and it reminds me of all the reasons why I wanted to learn about costuming in the first place! I am in awe! The beading and the colours of those amazing eyes, and that dragon scale texture are just incredible!

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