Edith Cushing's Heartbreak dress
We do love the costumes from the Crimson Peak movie greatly. And this unique piece impresses with the number of techniques used. Meet the Heartbreak dress! One of the multiple Edith Cushing's spectacular outfits.
It all started with the agreement that there would be no corset and that we would have to integrate it directly into dress. It was an interesting challenge and as a result we constructed a boned inner piece, which was covered with pleated fabric. One of the main features of this dress is the technology of fabric pleating. Katya made it by hands in the best traditions of the 19th century.
And here's what she tells about this experience:"The work was very scrupulous. I cut out the details, some of them I sewed together. I soaked and rinsed them well and then began handmade pleating . I felt like a washing-bear and a small snail that slowly and painstakingly climbs Mount Fuji. After a particular detail was finished, I dried it into a special cover. After this, I unpacked all pieces, laid them out on the table, signed each in order not to get confused and manually painted them over with a sponge. I felt like an archaeologist who collects a relic exhibit. I can only imagine how the girls felt when they collected all these meters of ruffles and a puzzle of crinkled fabric that was supposed to become a bodice. It was really fun!"
The next step was the belt. Unfortunately there is so little information about this dress! During searching we found out an article and it was said there were no flowers on the original dress. It caused a long dispute between Kate and Ann. Finally Kate insisted on a certain floral motif. As we do not pretend to be a literal copy and we make our interpretation, we decided to go forward with it.
The belt was tailored from velvet and embroidered with handmade flowers, lace appliques and czech beads. Embroidery design was developed by Kate, the embroidery technology - by Ann. Ann found small red heart-shaped beads and decided it will add a special touch regarding the dress's name.
The whole look was complemented by fine lace sewn by hand, metal buttons and handmade flowers, dyed in the colour of the fabric.
In total, the dress took nearly 30 meters of fabric and several weeks of painstaking work of seamstresses. And we are really proud of the result!
Check out other dresses from our Crimson Peak collection
Here are some of our victorian dresses and edwardian outfits. Check out out steampunk costumes collection too.
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