Date: c. 2015
Origin: United Kingdom
Fabric: Silk and cotton lace
Brand: Sparklewren
The ‘Falling Blossoms’ corset began life as the ‘Rose Gold’ corset, an unembellished style first stitched in 2014, inspired by early 20th c. historical corset styles. It is created from a single layer of silk/cotton satin, and is stitched with lapped seams that each encase a spiral steel bone. It fastens with a spoon busk, reminiscent of c. 1880s corsetry with dramatic abdominal curvature.
The corset was finally embellished and renamed ‘Falling Blossoms’ in 2015. The ‘base’ of the embellishment is a flat hand stitched, metallic French leavers lace. This has then been overlaid with textural, hand painted metallic English lace, with the motifs individually cut and stitched with 3-dimensional placement. Fraying threads and asymmetric composition give an organic and botanical effect.
The ‘Falling Blossoms’ corset inspired the first of the Sparklewren ‘Curated Collections’, in which clients were presented with a small collection of designs based around this piece for a limited ordering period. It also inspired a small range of experimental samples and ready-to-wear styles that incorporated the textural ‘Falling Blossom’ lace appliqué.
Jenni Hampshire began creating corsets under the moniker ‘Sparklewren’ in 2009. The designer’s background in Fine Art has resulted in a body of work akin to wearable sculpture. Historically inspired silhouettes and construction techniques are paired with lush, opulent embellishment and couture construction techniques. The brand specialised in one-of-a-kind heirloom garments, with each garment taking weeks of carefully considered embellishment and craftsmanship.
Kindly loaned by Marianne Faulkner
