FASHION THROUGH THE AGES

A top notch wedding venue, Shell Dance Gardens in Pacifica, California was the perfect backdrop for an editorial I've had in mind featuring not one era but several spanning the 20th Century..  Face it, the last hundred years have brought us some spectacular innovations in style and what better place to celebrate the romanticism of it all than in a giant greenhouse with breezeways of gardens bathed in opaque light?   Helping me with my vision for this shoot was one of the best fine art photographers around, Sean Sato.  He sees shapes and forms then works them into beautiful compositions.  

Photography by Sean Sato
Dresses and Head Chic by Amy Jo Tatum
Make up and Hair by Zita Zalai Beauty
Models: Funn Fisher and Devon Ariel Delzell

Location: Shell Dance Orchid Gardens

Above: This pre-1920s gown was inspired by Downton Abbey and Irene Castle, a ballroom dancer who with her husband Vernon hit stardom circa 1914 dancing in dresses like this (sans the train) to the Castle Walk and Foxtrot.  This two-piece dress is actually a slip dress with a cami/tent thrown over it in tulle, tiered and bordered in a mix of Chantilly laces.  Yes, after the wedding you can pair up the top with a pair of jeans or velvet pants for those nights out n the town.  Or even wear it as a shorter dress . . . .

Below: Sean is so creative in all ways.  We didn't have bouquets for the gowns so what did he do?  Says Sean, "I even had a chance to make bridal bouquets, with inspiration drawn from my mother's sogetsu ikebana". These bouquets added a welcome rustic element to our project . . . . .

INSPIRATION FROM THE  1930s 

Time traveling through the 1930s for me means tuning into black and white movies staring Joan Crawford and/or Carol Lombard.  These women popularized the slip dress in high sheen fabrics.  Once upon a time this was a new and daring concept for evening wear, the body-clinging, baring the shoulders and decolletage look was sometimes covered over with a capelet or sheer robe.  

Above: The CAMILLE Ensemble is a silk chiffon slip dress paired up with a crocheted cotton lace capelet bordered in lightweight Chantilly lace. The added rose floral to the hair is a very 1930s accent. Below: The SHELIA 4-ply silk crepe slip dress has such a beautiful hand to it.   It is matched up with Peau d'ange sheer lace capelet bordered in Chantilly lace

Above:The PICCALINA lace kimono in tulle and Chantilly lace is something I’ve been wanting to design and create for quite awhile. Again I was inspired by old movies of women in delicate robes and/or dressing gowns, who of course sported long trains. While this particular design started out in the style of a dressing gown, the addition of flowing sleeves falling into points gives it that, if a kimono was made out of lace and tulle, this is what it would look like quality.  The under dress is a 4-ply crepe sheath lined in silk habotai.  

Above: A cowl-necked blouson in Peau d'ange lace over a 4-ply crepe slip dress.  Lace godets and train   bordered in Chantilly lace makes for the drama of a grand entrance.  Below: A salute to the 1940s  artist Frida Kalo. The novelty lace used for the bolero does hint a bit at the likes of  Latin American folk wear.  The Alencon lace bustier is elaborately beaded pairing up nicely with the tulle skirt. 

 Above: My Salute to Audrey Hepburn.  Dresses in the 50s were full, flirty and  celebrated the female form.  The bodice style is clearly 1950s-60s matched up with a full tulle skirt. Below: The LISA Dress is  crocheted lace redolent of the 60s 

 Special thanks go out to Zita Zalai, our make up artist and hairstylist extrodinaire who put these already gorgeous models together.  This shoot was challenging in the sense we wanted to feature a few decades of hair chic with corresponding make up.  Zita accomplished going from Downton Abbey to Chelsea in the swinging 60s so beautifully, all in 8-hours!  Kudos Zita . . . 

Last two photos were taken by Zita