Queen of Earth and Sky

This was the second piece that manifested, beginning the moment Megan ( Green Orchid) left my studio, her dress having been sewn on her as we drank wine and chatted... The creative force was strong that night, and I kept on seeing this waterfall of iridescent brown cascading off of one hip, with rivulets of gold.

So I took the brown taffeta and began to drape. There were very few cuts made in the fabric, mostly it's darted, tucked, and seamed, using the bias to create an organic flow off the ASIS down through the legs. After shoring up the base, I cut spirals out of some gold silk that had been given to me by a client a few months ago, and applied the technique used to sew the ruffles on flamenco skirts to add the gold rivers.

Dawson came down the next Friday and fixed my question about " what to wear on top" with the first bustier he pulled out of his bin. The copper wire over the burgundy leather was the perfect offset for the skirt.

The pants and crown came last - flanking my final day of sewing before the show. I was so enamored with the ruched taffeta pants from Ice Flower and although I wanted maximum variety, I finally realized that those pants were the right choice, and dove in to them as soon as I'd unlocked my door that Friday evening. There was no greater joy than slipping them on and discovering they were perfect!

The crown was my creative finale. I started it at 5 AM on Saturday morning, without a clear idea of what I was building. I used a sunhat with the brim cut off for the base, and began to attach the feathers I'd selected in a reflective diagonal pattern. Once the bottom layer was done, the ostrich feathers began to make sense, and from there, the crown essentially built itself.

Then... the model dropped out. By 10 AM I was driving up to the bay with Andrea as my co-pilot, frantically trying to find bodies to cover the crazy attrition that had happened over my all nighter. ( Dawson got sick, and three models had to cancel for various pressing personal reasons). Long story short, when the second model also discovered she couldn't walk ( she was already walking for Sophia, and the body paint meant she couldn't help me out) I realized that this Queen was destined for me. And quite joyfully, I put her on.

It was a delight to share the stage with the Autumn Queen and my best friend, Kierstyn.

It was perfect.

Many thanks to both Charles Schoenberger and Chuck Revell for the photos used.

Leather and necklace by Dao Pow Industries

Makeup by Maggie Powers