Dolce Dreams

Blinded by Desire V by Ingrid Mida 2010

 "Dolce" is the Italian word for "sweet", and it was indeed a sweet dream to have my work featured on the lovely blog Dolce Dreams twice this week. The first post called "Do you Know where you are Sewing?" featured an array of talented artists who use embroidery as their medium. Much to my surprise, Nathalie of Dolce Dreams declared my Revolutionary Fashion series the Grande Finale!! And then to make this dolce dream even sweeter, she featured a post with more of my work yesterday in a post called A Special Showing.

Blinded by Desire, Mixed Media on Toile de Jouy by Ingrid Mida

I am honoured to find my way onto her beautiful blog Dolce Dreams, especially as she is a very talented embroiderer herself. I know because I am lucky enough to own several of her pieces.  Her lovely lavender sachets get tucked into my suitcase and have traveled with me to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Paris and Berlin. A pretty sachet with the words "Je suis calme" sits in my lingerie drawer and is a constant reminder of her friendship. See more of her work on her lovely Etsy shop here.

McQueen and Embroidery

Although Alexander McQueen was known for his exquisite tailoring, I've not seen much mention of the extent to which he deployed embroidery and beading to embellish his garments. However, in touring the retrospective of his work at the Met, it was apparent that embroidery was one of the creative tools that McQueen used often.

McQueen kimono inspired coat spring/summer 2001

The workmanship on these pieces is incredible and cannot be fully appreciated unless you see them in person.  All I can say is that they were utterly breathtaking in both conception and execution.

From McQueen's show Autumn/Winter 2008-2009

From McQueen's Dante collection Autumn Winter 1996/97

And as I walked through the show, I thought of my friend Susan Elliot of Plays with Needles who is incredibly passionate about embroidery and beading.  These photos are for her!

From McQueen's Ecclect Dissect Collection for Givenchy Autumn/Winter 1996-1997

From McQueen Voss collection, spring/summer 2001 collection

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and runs until July 31, 2011. To read my review of the exhibition, please visit Fashion Projects or click here.