fleurs des villes - MANNEQUIN SERIES 2018

#FDVplaceSTEFOY

When I received the email from Tina Barkley from Fleurs Des Villes I thought it was too good to be true. 

I was getting an invited to be part of the florists that were challenged to make a dress with fresh flowers that needed to last 5 days, and only 5 spots were left.
Fleurs Des Villes was paying for the flowers & travelling costs.. wow.

I called, talked to Tina and jumped right in!

Uh wait, what? I was committing to something crazy that I never did before, and my planning started. Was I able to do that? What do I needed? How many flowers? WHAT flowers should I use? How about the structure? 

1. idea

Usually I don't overthink when its time to design. I looked at past designs to make sure I was not going to repeat anything, Asked Tina about some ideas that were taken and that was pretty much it.  I also Asked Alain and he kind of read my mind with how many colours to use, and wisely advice to spend an important portion of the the time planning the structure and focusing on details. 
I wanted something elegant, impressive, flashy and similar to my style...
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Venetian Carnival Theme it was.

Check all ideas on my Pinterest Board here: https://pin.it/bdyejdhp7rmdsp

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2. sketch

3. STRUCTURE

A project like this can't be done by yourself. I asked my designer sister about ideas, and my good friend Dean which loves carpentry (and has all the tools, obviously) and after some sketches and his input he came up with this.
​Work all day and structure was ready. 
Materials: Wood & Screws, Insulation Board, Floral Foam

I didn't have the mannequin, so could only start building with non perishables. I did some tests for the torso and the wig, and of course asked my hairdresser Tammy how she could make it better. She has a lots experience in wigs and turned my "Marge Simpson" massive head into something more LouisXIV style. Literally 10min.
Materials: Preserved Spanish Moss, Hair Spray, floral wire, Chicken wire (for structure)

TEST WITH CORDYLINE

AT THE SALON

AFTER (before flowers)

4. MANNEQUIN

Mannequin arrives 1 week before the show! 
Now it's time to work with the panels but as suspected, using the legs and the glass base didn't fit the space in between panel.

Easy, no legs. An additional support for the torso mas handmade to avoid it to fall.

5. FLOWERS

I had to roughly calculate how many flowers to use measuring the area per panel and the area of the dress I needed to cover.  Assuming half opened blooms, I calculated the area that one bloom would cover, and then combine them to get the effect I wanted.
​Total stems used: 1300 aprox.
PS - For more details on calculations, send me an email and I'll share the technical stuff ​

In order: Carnation Red & Burgundy, Rose Red Freedom, Gypsophila Million Star, ​Minicarnation Red & Burgundy, Gold Floral Spray Paint Hypericum Spray Red & Cordyline Leaves

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6. PRe-ASSEMBLY

I had to do as much as I could before arriving to Québec City on Wednesday.
Saturday - Pickup Flowers at Wholesaler
Sunday - Hydration 24hrs
Monday - Build panels & dress edge, pack any tool I could remotely use.

Uh, quick recalculation with real flowers to make sure I didn't need another trip to supplier.

Late night inspiration: Dress detail & Bracelet...

7. LOGISTICS

Thank you to my friend Julia, who offered to help me load the panels into the car. Each panel was roughly 100lbs!

The night before we built the torso & masque.  
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​Taking shape with an extra coat of spray paint and details!

8. ON SITE

We needed some muscle to lift those panel on the stand, and we had to take turns or the tables beneath wouldn't hold us. It took us 5.5 hrs to finalize the assembly and we finished before deadline.

SPECIAL THANK YOU!

To Catherine... she is a fantastic artist, manager, friend and loves tape!
​Thank you again for all your help! xoxo

Thank you Karen & Tina for inviting us to be part of this fantastic show!
​Merci Vincent pour ton aide, on se revoie bientôt a Québec!

LA DAME DE VENISE