I just had the realisation that I never updated the blog with the final finished piece of the Violente corset outfit! Created for the Foundations Revealed 2017 competition, you can see the dress diary/creation process in this blog post. Sadly, I didn’t place in the top two of the FR competition, but I’m still pretty damn happy that I made this outfit: it shows a big shift in my corset making skills, and the winners were incredibly deserving! You can see all of the entries here, and my write up here.

Also, before I share the final images of the Violente outfit… I figure that I might as well share my previous FR competition entries to show the progression!

2015:

The ‘Króliczek’ corset (Polish for the ‘bunny’), was actually created in the second half of 2014, shortly after I’d finished my degree course. I think it’s technically the 8th corset I’d ever made, and the first without any supervision from my degree. It represented a big step for me in just trying things and seeing how it goes, and I played with a lot of new techniques (such as flat felled seams, they really foxed me!). Mostly though, I had fun with embellishment. Layers and layers of lace, both antique Victorian and a contemporary French chantilly, ethically sourced rabbit fur scraps on the hips, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals. Quite a textural feast! It’s not the most cohesive of designs at all, but I’m still rather pleased with the learning curve that it represents. It actually placed second in the FR competition improver category, so I was rather chuffed at that.

2016:

The ‘Ink’ corset. I’m not going to lie, I am still in love with this piece.  It’s something that I’ve actually worn out, which is very rare for my creations.  I adore the aesthetic, the surface tones and textures of the ink, the construction and cut. The fit isn’t perfect, but I don’t even care: it was an experimental design, and it worked well enough. It was so freeing to create a piece where the embellishment process can be summed up as ‘fuck it’: haphazardly flinging ink and painting a piece with hours of work lavished over it. You can see my blog post about it here, the painting process here, and the FR page for it here.

And without further ado… 2017, the Violente corset! This is just going to be photos as it already has a recent write up. Enjoy!

(oh, and it’s worth mentioning – that crown is one of my prized possessions, it’s a 1920s bridal headdress that I restored. It’s covered with wax flowers and it’s utterly exquisite! One of these days I’ll finish restoring the cathedral length lace veil too…)

Karolina xx