cind e ceremonia Oscarurilor, ne distram teribil comentind rochiile doamnelor care pasesc pe covorul roshu. de cele mai multe ori, in spatele deciziei de a purta acea rochie e cite o poveste frumoasa.
iata povestea rochiei purtate de sotia lui Colin Firth, Olivia, anul acesta cind sotul ei a luat statueta pentru rolul din The King’s Speech.
povestea e spusa de designerul care a creat-o, Gary Harvey
The show stopping dress Livia wore to the Oscars was made up of 12 dresses; can you talk us through the production process?
For me it was important to know how Livia wanted to feel in the dress, then what she was going to be doing and for how long!
Livia would have to sit in a car for 4 hours, then accompany her husband, Oscar nominee Colin Firth down the red carpet, whilst looking beautiful, age appropriate and attracting as much attention to the www.vogue.com ‘green carpet challenge’ without outshining her husband! Then seated again for another 4 hours for the ceremony, then leave accompanying, 2011 Best Actor Oscar winner Colin Firth for more photo opportunities! Form nearly always follows Function!
Only then did we then move onto the aesthetics, silhouette, colours and fabrics. Livia’s Mediterranean skin-tone means she can wear most colours and she has a petite frame and long neck that can carry most silhouettes, she hated lace but apart from that the brief was pretty open.
We decided on a long panelled sheath dress with an internal corset to emphasize the hourglass figure so familiar in my work and a full tulle bustle skirt at the back to add some good old fashioned vintage glamour, there was also a concealed side zip from bust to hem in case nature called, and a cleverly concealed elastic panel under the seat to allow comfortable sitting down, the colour inspiration came from a vintage piece Livia inherited from her grandmothers wardrobe.
Armed with a vintage nightdress off I went scouring the flea markets, vintage, antique, and charity shops of South East London, Brick Lane and Brighton buying up old vintage dresses, out of date styles in great fabrics, scraps of fabric, all inspired by the era of ‘The Kings Speech’ and all within the tones of the colour palette in as many non crease fabric constructions as possible.
None of the dresses were museum pieces, some damaged beyond repair, beautiful ball gowns who’s wearershad enjoyed too much punch at the party and taken an elegantly dressed debutantes drunken dive, resulting in stains and rips down one side of an otherwise immaculate dress, others had never seen such a glamorous outing, left in the back of someone’s closet for decades cut in a style that had never been in fashion, made in exquisite fabric, now it was this dresses turn to be in Hollywood!
The most I paid was 250 pounds and the least I paid was 16 pounds, together Livia and myself chose the best 12 pieces for the final dress.
We did four fittings in all, each toile made from old curtains or bed sheets also bought in second hand shops, everything in this dress was to be recycled.
The final dress came out exactly as I’d intended a modern yet timeless Hollywood glamour, the corset hugging her beautiful frame and the tulle bustle emphasizing how petite she is, worn with nude heels and clutch from Roger Vivier, a nude make up look and a modern ‘up-do’ reminiscent of the era of the film created by Georgie Eidsel, exquisite fair trade, fair mined, first ever certified gold jewellery created by Anna Loucah. The whole thing came together really well with Colin and his Oscar providing the perfect final accessories to complete the look.
The press coverage was amazing and Livia was a dream client to partner with.
