Meet Alexandra (and Stetson)

 THIS is Alexandra!  She is one of the loves of my life!  I met Alex and her family while dancing at Oakley Ballet Center. (BTW: I am a ballet dancer.) Currently she is a dance major at Texas Christian University.  She's talented.  And when I say talented I mean, is-that-the-same-girl-I-met-in-person-dancing-on-that-stage-right-now talented.  Her entire family is wonderful and they have adopted me for many holidays and for general comfort, care, and fun.  Her mother, Elizabeth is a particularly lovely woman that I love dearly.  I call Alex my sister.

Alex and Elizabeth read the blog regularly and when Alex says it's a good one I KNOW it's good because she is a fabulous writer.  So after last week's blog she was like, "I wish I could come to the store and you could dress me up!" To which I replied, "CAN WE?!?!?" And then Elizabeth offered her gown to be part of the Mother's Gown series!  So pretend you're in a DeLorean and let's go back to 1987.

 TA-DA!!  LOOK at this dress!!  The ENTIRE gown is Chantilly lace!  The WHOLE thing.  Yes.
Supposedly this is how the selecting of this gown happened:
Elizabeth was in Santa Monica, engaged, and working while attending school.  She had been gown shopping a few times with girl friends but nothing had been quite right.  One day she goes to a movie with a friend, sees this gown in the window and then the next day she and her mother went in and bought it!  Her dad bought the gown for her :) Awwww!!  Not only did she choose the gown but she also chose this veil and headpiece...

 

 I'm gonna talk about this head piece for a minute.
You just DON'T get head piece/veils like this now.  And I know that some of you are saying, "Thank God for that" and I don't ENTIRELY disagree....but I mean come on, it's very princess from a time long ago!  I can absolutely see why and how this trend happened.  I'm not saying I hope it comes back but I'm pretty sure that Princess Buttercup would have worn this in her wedding to Wesley.

 The fabric is beautiful.  Elizabeth has always had fantastic taste!  I love that the sweetheart neckline has this lace overlay all the way to the neck!  I have actually seen Elizabeth's wedding photo and she was not so different from how Alex looks today!

I was also told that there used to be a rather large bow on the behind.  Elizabeth wisely had this removed.  The part that I'm in love with: THE SCALLOPED TRAIN!  LOVELOVELOVELOVE.  And there are bows on it.  Yes.  BOWS.  So cute!!  And that back...gorgeous.  Well played, Elizabeth!  And thank you for letting us show your gown! I love you!

Of course I'm going to photograph Alexandra is other gowns when she's in my store!!

She likes this dress because of the two tone...the bodice is gold charmeuse and the rest of the gown is lace!  It has a small halter strap which is unusual.  But Alex is unusual so I thought she might like it :)  

Isn't that pretty on her!  I love the sweep of the neck line and I love the way it hugs her curves.  She's pale (I love you, we both are really white though, sister.) and we all loved the gold tone against her skin!

It's an a-line gown - but it's a teeeeensiieessst but more fitted in the hip than a regular A-line.  So it's not an A-line.  It's a B-line?? Ahahahahahahaha!! I just made myself laugh!! A B-line!! Get it!! Like, "I made a B-line for the brownies."?!! Oooooh I'm funny.

 LACE!

And the pretty back.  Looove it!  It's a great dress on her for sure.  But everything looks good on your when you're this pretty :)  (Biased? No. Factual? YES.)

NEXT!

It's just enough fairytale romance to appease the 7 year old girl in all of us.

Alex said she liked lace and a natural waist...and I pulled this.  She loved the gown!  This is a natural waisted ball gown of tulle and lace, a straight neck line, and a zip closure.

But it's not TOO fairytale romance so that the grown up in us is comfortable too.

There is beautiful 3D detailing over the entire gown that gives it a much more playful feel than if it was flat.  I love the detailing on this dress.

It's such a sweet gown that would be GORGEOUS in a springtime garden wedding. (hint, hint)

 SUCH a full skirt.  I love the rounded train and the detailing.  I like that there isn't so much sparkle but there's a whole lot of details.

She really loved this one, too.  But it wouldn't have been THE DRESS.  Although her waist looked teeny.  Well, I mean, she has a teeny waist, and this just accentuated it because of the full skirt. She's a teeny little dancer person.

  I got a little emotional when I saw her in a wedding gown.  :')

And now...an Anjolique:

 LOOK. AT. HER. CURVES.  Gah!  I love this gown on her so much!!  She's got a slammin' little body and this one ups the ante!

And obviously paired a killer birdcage with it.  Perfection.  She looks like a million bucks.  And this gown doesn't even COST a million bucks!  It's actually an amazing buy!

 

This gown is shown in gold...LOVE IT.

Good grief she looks so much more adult in this!  And I knows she's an adult but she never shows her sexy side and so it's like BAM! Va-voom!!

It's a trumpet silhouette and the train is flared creating this champagne glass effect.  It's silk and has a mild scoop to the neck line.   Alex loved this gown and surprised herself a little bit I think!  She really REALLY loved the beautiful gold color!  It was amazing on her skin.

 It's a little bit 40's and a little bit modern all at the same time.

Her patootie looks adorable <3

But THEN...

 She fell in love.

She loved it so much that she wouldn't stop looking at it!  It was so cute!  I was like, um, caaaaan you look at meeee?  This is a GORGEOUS Casablanca gown that we affectionately call the "twinkle dress" because the bodice twinkle demurely.  It's feminine.  It's simple.  It's delicate.  Lovely.  Chiffon overlay on a natural waist.  A slim A-line and gorgeous beading.

The scoop neckline is very flattering on her.  She's surprisingly busty for such a small person and this was gorgeous on the girls.

There is an illusion belt made with beading that gives the gown some sophistication.  And the entire bust is covered in a gorgeous bead pattern.

See!  It "twinkles" in the light!  Well done Casablanca!  Sigh.  I just want to look at her in it some more...

Then I tried a veil on her.  A double layer with a raw edge and I put the blusher over her face and I said, "NOW you're a bride!" and she replied, "But I feel like a willi."

Alex on the left : A Willi on the right

Ok, so a Willi is the ghost of a young woman promised to be married but who died before her wedding.  There is a whole classical ballet about it, "Giselle" that Alexandra and I had the honor of performing in through Footworks Youth Ballet, Artistic Director Kirsten Oakley.  Shameless plug, I know.  But this is how we know each other!  As bunheads!  And it JUST SO HAPPENS that Alex danced the role of the Queen of the Willis, Myrta!  She was chillingly beautiful.

Ok.  Back to wedding gowns...

Schmergh!! Look how beautiful this is!  Buttons, twinkley buttons all the way down to this chapel length train.

And of course, a lovely back with the same pretty beading. 

Right side....

 

 Left side! 

It was at the very end of the shoot and I knew she didn't have much time, but I showed her the bodice of another Casablanca and she liked it but not the skirt...and that's when the "twinkle" dress popped into my mind! And this is the gown that Alex loved the most! I'm so glad she could stay just a little longer.

And that is your introduction to my beautiful younger sister, Alexandra!  If she chooses to get married someday I am excited to see what her future self feels beautiful in.  I'll probably get a little emotional that day, too.

ALSO:  I am blogging from my couch.  I am very sick.  Renee is very sick.  My room mate was very sick last week.  And the best boyfriend in the world may be getting sick.  But Pam is lovely and said I could go home to write :)  Thank you, Pam!

This is our dog, Stetson.  He loves me.  He kept me company while I wrote and also barked very protectively at the scary noises the roofing guys were making.  Thank, puppy.