Two wildly creative & extraordinary talents have just joined forces at Vignettes ~ to our, & their ever-growing fan bases sheer delight!
First, my dear, dear friend Shirley who’s always been so far ahead of the times with whatever direction & collections she’s pursued ( ie: a phenomenal collection of Victorian memorial jewelry & one-of-a-kind, antique silver & turquoise jewelry) has just unveiled her latest passion. It started years ago, long before anyone else was doing it, when she found a new creative calling, repurposing, refashioning & upcycling jewelry & Victorian parts into unique objets d’art & pioneered what was to eventually become the ‘Steam Punk’ movement. Oh mais oui - mes amies, Miss Shirley’s avant-garde, forward thinking, cutting-edge style helped launch & put the “Steam” into the modern day Steam Punk craze!
Her latest collection of jewelry, frames, top hats & other one-of-a-kind, lovely oddities are a fascinating assemblage of high-end antique & vintage parts melded together with an unrivaled imagination & creativity that will stop you right in your tracks!
And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better ~ she teamed up with San Diego’s premiere Couturiere ~ the high Priestess of historical, period apparel, costuming & bridal attire…Holly Hess.
I first met Holly years ago when she opened her studio, Atelier Polonaise, & became one of the first in San Diego to create & recreate custom historical recreations (to a huge & adoring fan base) & have since followed her as she rose up the ranks at the Old Globe Theater & the San Diego Opera. She is now widely regarded as San Diego’s premiere historical couturiere, non-pareil & at the heart of it all ~ she is a true artiste, the likes of which do not come along in many lifetimes, insanely gifted, who sees the human form as a canvas & is able to translate that into wearable paintings. She goes on to embellish each of her custom pieces with many unconventional materials along side tiny vintage glass pearls, metal findings, beads & jewels, & then hand-dyes each silk ribbon & floss; each thread being laid like a brush stroke, layered & stitched to create “painted” textured surfaces. Her creations take months, sometimes years to complete as each are given much thought & research about subject, materials, construction & design. And her inspiration? Vintage images of women, antique santos, European textiles & anything with a mythical quality.
She has just embarked on another major project, very dear to our hearts here at Vignettes, that will be months & months in the making, a memorial/tribute piece to the one & only French icon ~ Marie Antoinette. Be still my heart!
Watch for it here as we follow this monumental project on it’s journey ~ all the way to the official unveiling of this masterpiece at our Valentine’s Soiree 2012. Holly is the only couturier/dessinateur that the royal court would ever entrust & commission to undertake this projet tres importe & so ~ de par la Reine, “by order of the Queen” ~ it has begun.
Marie is definitely smiling down.
Welcome aboard Shirley & Holly!
And Don't Forget: Vignettes' Chic 16 Aniversary Soiree ~ Saturday, September 24th 2011, Noon to 5:00 pm
Hot off the presses & now on newsstands is the latest issue of ‘Altered Couture’ Magazine - Be sure & check out the incredible 4 page spread they just did on our resident design genius/darling, the one in a bizillion - Karen Lampard of Café Paperie. This is an issue to pore over & savor & all of course - due to the amazing Karen.
