FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Queen of Autumn
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Photographer : Rose Tental - Assistant Intern : Alicia Paulin
Outline the story …
My Queen of Autumn has been inspired by two series of urban fantaisy books : "Folk of the Air" by Holly Black and "Les Royaumes Immobiles" by Ariel Holzl (not translated in english yet). I was also inspired by my passion with Cloak and Sword movies (especially movies with Jean Marais, "Beauty and the Beast", "Le Capitan", "The Hunchback". But also "Fanfan la Tulipe", "Cartouche", "The 3 Mousketeers" etc.).
The Fae Queen of Autumn is the main character of the Royaumes Immobile serie. She's a very powerful character, a warrior. I made my own interpretation of a Fall Queen, crowned by her own golden horns. I was very inspired by the aesthetic of the outfits described by Holly Black : the rich colors and textures, the various fantasy and historical inspirations.
I imagined 18th c. covered stays with very big Louis XIII lambrequin sleeves, combined to create a very impressive silhouette. These sleeves evoke the huntress goddess Diana. It's also inspired by a Royal French court hunt in the 17th c. The green of the inside of the sleeves are the summer slowly falling asleep under the rich colors of autum. The skirt is very rich and full to balance the sleeves and to give a regal look. The embroideries are inspired by the amazing Michele Carragher. They represent sycomore tree seeds, looking a bit like insects. I wanted something very organic with patine. The beading around them evoke the dust in the light of the end of a sunny fall day.
Outline the construction…
FR contest is for me the occasion to work on new techniques. The first big part was for the stays. I wanted to create my own technique of arc drafting for a while, more simple and intuitive (I have dyscalculia so I tend to create my own techniques, more logical to me). I used as model the stays from 1760-70 (pattern n.24) from PoF 5.
The underskirt is made of two synthetic taffetas I had in my stash. I made a 18th c. inspired skirt with very tiny pleats.
The overskirt is made with the same very VERY heavy cotton velvet than the stays (found years ago in a dead stock). To ensure a voluminous regal look, I've sewn thic cartrige pleats. Every single stitch on it is handmade. The side openings are finished with the same red bias than all the rest of the outfit. The overskirt is so heavy it needed it own ridiculously big hip pillow, sewn for the occasion with 2 petticoats on top of it before the underskirt.
The embroideries are in 3D and can move as if it was alive.
For all the costume, I was very careful to ensure that no machine stitch was visible to not to take the viewer out of the story. Every visible stitch is handmade.
AlI the fabrics, aiguillettes, haberdashery, were already in my stash or even already been used for decors. The only things that were purchased were the velvet ribbons and the metal rings. The bias is handmade with fabric scraps of a very beatiful taffetas (around 20m of it has been cut). The green taffetas is from the scraps of my Dagon corset that was made for the 2021 FR Competition.
This looks gorgous. The red velvet looks so rich and matches perfectly with the taffeta skirt. The stays looks lovely and I especially love the front decoration on them. It is a gown fit for a queen of autumn.
Thank you very much ! <3 <3
This is so pretty, your images are fit for the front of the book, you look effortlessly powerful. That dark red against the brown/coppery shades scream autumn and regality. Beautiful work
This is absolutely stunning. I love the sleeves! <3