the fall of a sparrow

There was a dress Florence Welch wore at one of her Dance Fever concerts in Naarm that's been on my mind ever since. Delicate blue lace, billowing sleeves, and a cape that would surely be the envy of any witch or whimsy lover... I filed it away for later, thinking I'll wait until the next Florence + the Machine album so that I'd have something to wear when I'm weeping in the cheap seats again as she puts us all under her spell.

But then one of my dearest friends saw an outfit in Taylor Swift's Eras tour that captured her in much the same way and we thought... why not make them and wait for the full colours of Autumn to come out so that we could take photos under the falling leaves? And this turned into such a healing couple of hours of prancing about and exclaiming that we've "never felt this pretty" before.

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by friends and loved ones who are always down for adventures and whimsical days such as this one. So much love to Vanessa for taking these beautiful photos and for asking me to dress her up as an apothecary witch! 🍁

Just taking a moment for The Dress before I gather my thoughts and share a proper Ren Fair post ✨️ I had grand plans of making two costumes and that very quickly went out the window with how busy I've been lately.

But it meant I could really focus on making this costume - with all the hours of cutting out the velvet, stitching trim on the sleeves, gathering mountains of fabric, and grumbling at my embroidery machine whenever it stopped mid trim to complain about the bobbin running out.

If you're based in so called Australia and have the funds to spare, I'd really appreciate it if you could buy a beanie, a pair of socks, or one of the new caps from Fight MND. They were a huge support during my step dad's illness and are working hard towards a cure for the disease.