I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t drop it. I had to have it.
A couple months back I collaborated with a dream team of creatives on a styled shoot here in Seattle. The second I was approached by the lovely Jasmine Star about the potential of working together, I knew exactly what I wanted the shoot to look like, and the direction I wanted to take the concept. I rarely start a design with a dress, but once I set eyes on this one, I couldn’t have it any other way.
I found the dress randomly while scrolling Pinterest and couldn’t take my eyes off it. BUT…small problem. There was zero crediting under the image (surprise! surprise!) and after a good 30 minute google search I still couldn’t find the source of the image. Long story short, I spent longer than any sane person would tracking down the photographer of the image and after more hours than I’d like to admit, found an original source via Flickr. I was so so excited about the possibility of having this dress or one similar to it as the wedding dress for our shoot, that I sent an email to the email address I found on the Flickr profile and hoped for the best. Within seconds I received a bounce-back email saying the email address wasn’t valid. No!!! Resisting complete devastation, I realized I could send a direct message to the Flickr profile. I left it there and attempted to accept the fact that the dress might be untouchable.
I waited a week, went on vacation, didn’t check emails as a promise to my husband and then on the last day of our anniversary trip realized I had a Flickr message reply waiting for me to find it. There she was…sweet Martha. Martha who took the photograph of the amazing dress AND Martha who custom-made the dress for an art foundation exhibit. Hallelujah!! A couple messages later, I came to realize that the dress was nowhere near Seattle…nowhere near the United States for that matter. The dress was located in the UK, Martha was on holiday and not home to retrieve the dress, and with a little over a week until the shoot, I started to panic. How would I get it here in time? Would I overnight it? – ouch on the cost! Hop on a plane and fly to get it? – during the Olympics it seemed an impossible feat. Give up and not use the dress, find another?? – Nope…again, NOT an option.
So after a multitude of messages/emails/brainstorming sessions/thank you’s/and plea’s Martha had a friend “post” the dress and with a little over a week to go until the shoot I held my breath and hoped for the best. Again…no other option…no other back up plan…no dress unless this one arrived. Two days later it arrived on my doorstep and it was as exciting in person as I imagined it to be in the original image. I loved everything about the dress, the soft silk, the custom buttons up the back, the hand-stitched pattern covering the front of the bodice. I loved it all. And after seeing the final images from the shoot from Jasmine this week, every drop of effort and brain power was worth it and more. I can’t wait to share this shoot with everyone. Images to come really really soon!
photo cred : {jenn elliott blake via vsco}
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