The Dashwood Debut

Today on my birthday, I debut my Dashwood dresses with great pleasure. This morning I greeted the day, remembering last night's dream which featured my mom. I don't really recall the specifics of my dream, but I woke up happy just to know my mom was in it. This brought on a burst of inspiration to blog about the Dashwood dresses and the unbroken bonds we share as family.

In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, we mainly follow the story of two older sisters in love who happen to have a 13 year old sister. I can relate to this story, since I have a older sister and a younger one. I suppose I would be the Marianne out of the group and when I first started designing the Dashwood collection, I designed for her first.

When I started working with Jillian Cooper, we shared our stories in fashion and I started designing. Then, later on, her two sister-in-laws (Kristin and Cori) and the dress inspiration for the Dashwood Sisters was set in motion. 

Our first model, Kristin Cooper is wearing the Elinor gown after the Sense and Sensibility eldest daughter. Her gown is made out of Italian bridal satin, delicate lace sleeves and a beaded blue satin sash. She looks like the perfect wife for a Mr. Edward Ferrars.

The next model is Jillian Cooper wearing the Marianne gown. I decided to use the same Italian satin from Elinor's dress layered it with a French lace from the Caudry region from one of my trusted vendors and a silk satin sash. Given Marianne's depiction in Jane Austen's novel, I thought she had to have lace to show off her feminine side.

Last but not least, is Cori Cooper wearing the Margaret gown. Since Margaret was the youngest, I thought the pale yellow was a fun color to add. With Cori's great smile and the gown, I'm sure she can brighten up any room. The yellow colored fabric is a cotton twill layered with a French lace, again from Caudry, France.

Here was an adorable shot of the Cooper sisters posing as the Dashwoods. It goes to show that Jane Austen created a world for people to escape in and she helped me create a world for me to sew for.

A special thanks goes out to Liz Philosophos Cooper for lending out her estate and taking the photos for the photo shoot. It was a perfect background for the gowns.