Dresses UK

Gals,

I just had to share this recent snap from Dad. It doesn't get much more "Steampunk" than this!!!

Its a photo taken of a local chemist/pharmacy in my hometown, Clonmel. Unbelievably this establishment was open when I was a child and Mam used to purchase ointments and interesting lotions in gorgeous glass apothecary style jars with labels and twine on them. Its got such antiquated character, almost reminds me of a set from a Tim Burton film!!

Folk often ask us where we get our inspiration from and quite simply a local building like this will fuel the creative juices every time! Honestly, can you not see a jacket in this picture??

In Style....

bonzie & ger

Ok, by now you guys know that I like me a bit of olde worlde now and again, well for this latest piece I did everything bar feed it to the neighbours dog to get that old, antiquated look on something brand new. I think I managed to distress it enough, in fact it looks like something out of an old historical museum! Job well done I would say! ;)

x

bonzie

Ok, you know how the saying goes, everything happens in threes! well this month thats exactly what happened. I was approached by 3 magazines to do an editorial on my "Bonzie" label, which I sell in my etsy online boutique, here!

I was blown away by this news and am just bursting for the day when Im heading down do the corner shop to pick up the editions with my pieces inside! When this happens my mam goes round the town with a copy strategically placed under her arm for the day, just in case she bumps into anyone that she can tell! lol

I don't want to out the publications yet until the features break in case they have a discreet policy on what coming out in future issues. so it will be fun to blog about them when they are out.

I was also asked to take a profile shot for one of them and as a "runner away from camera" person I had to bite the bullet and try.

well it came out fine, that isuntil I went a bit crazy in photoshop and added all kinds of mystic and artistry! I kinda like it now! To me it kind of reflects the quirky nature of my label too!

so stay tuned for magazine coverage!

x

bonzie

This Cuff was a gift made for the fabulous Di of DesignersBlockUk, its a truly inspirational blog by an inspirational woman! go check it out for sure! it would be one of the ones that I visit often to see whats new and trust me I am never disappointed guys!

Every once in a while I get so busy in the studio on private commissions that I don't get a lot of time to devote to my firstborn (my etsy online boutique! lol) This really begins to bother me after a short while as Ireally feel that the shop gets stagnant and all the wonderful gals who stop by from time to time must be feeling somewhat dissappointed when things don't get shaken up a little. Hence this cream tatter skirt was born.

I decided to step out of the studio deadlines for 1 day and devote my time to creating something new for my etsy shop. This had major theraputic value as it gave me a change from the run of dance costumes that I am currently buried under!! lol It also allowed me to add a change into the etsy shop which was beginning to show mould from sitting unattended for a long while!

Perhaps I could request an extra day in the week to devote purely to new and exciting projects to keep the my etsy presence fresh! ;)

xxxx

have a great week you guys.

Bonzie

This is the most recent cuff in my etsy boutique! I love the golden autumnal tones in this piece (even if I have missed the season by a mile!). I love the romantic nature of this one!

Lately I have been entertaining the idea of doing a big trunk show at the end of the year ( well lets face it a collection takes a lot of time to put together). Trunk shows are still very much an American phenomenon, but nonetheless for independent designers (such as myself) Ithink they are perfect!! Im still in the development stages, but certainly there is a little pep in my step about doing this event, so watch this space!

This is the latest custom piece for a fab customer of mine on etsy, buffyleigh.

I love how deconstructed the finish of the piece is. It has a fab texturised surface quality ,which is quite difficult to capture on camera too! The neck on this is so dramatic too! (I just love neck action!) lol

I have added embellishments all over this piece in random sections, featuring, antique lace, vintage buttons (courtesy of my antique shop fiend pal Ruby) , metal (for steampunk love) and stones with some ebroidery too! all in all a piece that im very excited about!

This corset is one of my latest couture creations for a special client! Its made from red raw silk and is broken up with some black charcoal tweed and highly embellished with lace, beads, buttons and french knots!

Its been hectic in the studio today, I got an explosion of activity in my etsy shop this morning after my couture scarfs were featured on the front page!!! it was so exciting to see all the buzz, only thing now is the deadlines that follow!! :)

so its all systems go at the mo and I have enlisted my sewing pal to give me a hand, and for company while I crack up in the studio!!! lol

Yep Sus, you know who you are!! lol

This custom order is the second bag for my etsy pal SimplySusan! (aka from now on the bag lady)! Thanks Sus!

Go check her shop out , makes beautiful cards, top quality ( I know because I got one for xmas!) ;)

Its been very quiet recently for me on etsy because I am not able to list much or do any marketing (have limited internet access at the mo), but to be honest its been suiting me as this is the time when the studio gets hectic with private commissions for christmas! So if the etsy shop was too busy I would be in a heap!

The most recent activity on the shop is a custom order for my etsy buddy Ruby. Its a couture scarf/neck piece made from black/charcoal Irish tweed and embellished with various steampunkesque bits and bobs, chains, vintage key charms, antique buttons etc. There is also a splash of leatherette trim for extra punkyness! I love how this turned out, aswell as the matching clutch!

Ok, so I decided to pop a few of my bridal pieces into my etsy shop ( for the sheer joy of fluffing it up a little! ) I am totally aware that its impossible to sell an higher end items over the net and especially something as special as a wedding dress, because lets face it , that baby needs a lot of fitting before the wedding day! But I thought it would be a nice element to add to the shop just to show a little of what can be done with that particular victorian/steampunk style and not being afraid to introduce a few frayed edges (sacre coeur!) into a wedding gown! (well why not!)

An etsy pal Rubyclover asked me how did I get that ethereal quality to the photos and to be quite honest Rubes, (nothing to do with camera, or photoshop) I think its the venue! They were shot in a renovated lepers hospital here in Ireland and I think that foggy dewy atmosphere is more about the fact that its haunted and nothing else! Mwah ahaha! (am I too late for Halloween?)