Behind The Making Of The $10 Million Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra
Every year the Victoria’s Secret catwalk hosts the most expensive set of lingerie in the world: the Fantasy Bra.
It’s an advertising coup, of course – but it’s also a showcase for the handiwork of some of the world’s top jewellers and designers.
This year’s Fantasy Bra is, of course, no exception, and we have exciting titbits from its making by exclusive jewellers Mouawad.
It’s being worn by Candice Swanepoel – and she revealed exclusively that the jewellers actually made it specifically for her measurements.
“They had to make a mould of my body to be able to make it,” she revealed – but they didn’t give her any details about the final product. “My imagination didn’t do it justice.”
That’s to be expected, considering that the result has an eye-boggling 52-karat pear-shaped ruby hanging from the centre.
Making a piece of this complexity takes months. Rather than material, the bra is moulded from 18-carat gold, and has been encrusted with 4,200 gems, all of which need to be hand-selected for purity and perfect colour.
Mouawad themselves say that the array of yellow and blue sapphires, rubies and diamonds was meant to be a patriotic tribute to the American company.
However, it also goes back into fashion history. The scalloped bra, with its matching belt, is referencing the 1960s in its wild colours – and also, Mouawad says, has a ‘warm wink to the Royal Crown Jewels’.
However, somehow we doubt Duchess Kate will want to get her hands on one….
Image: Candice Swanepoel in the Fantasy Bra 2013.
The 172-Year-Old Secret Of Prince George’s Christening Gown
Earlier this year we brought the news that Prince George won’t be wearing the original christening gown of the Royals.
Instead, he’ll be wearing a replica – probably best, considering the original is 172 years old, and babies do tend to stain delicate fabrics, royal or not.
However, a century-old mystery about the original gown has just been uncovered in Britain.
The gown, which was made in 1841 for the first daughter of Queen Victoria, was used for countless royal christenings, but its maker was never revealed – until now.
It’s now emerged that it was all the work of one gifted woman: the Scottish embroiderer Jane Falkirk, Embroiderer to the Queen. She came from a humble background and very little is known of her work other than the gown.
Tragically, Falkirk died at age 45, and fell into obscurity.
However, she’s now been recognised as the maker of the beautiful original gown – though how it was discovered, and why it was a mystery for 172 years, is still unclear.
Prince George’s christening will be private, but we’ll be the first to have pictures of the replica of Sutherland’s original gown on the heir to the throne.
Image: The original gown by Jane Sutherland.
Get Into Gothic This Halloween
Don’t feel like dressing up this Halloween, but still want to get into the holiday spirit – without sweating yourself into pieces?
Fear not. Rescu. has your ultimate guide to gothic fashions this season – and, as the editorial ‘Disturbia’ in this month’s Dazed & Confused proves, you can still pair couture with scare and get away with it.
The key colour palette of Halloween? Oranges, reds and blacks, of course. Done properly, you can look spooky and fashionable at the same time.
A Thakoon red leather dress paired with black lipstick from Revlon or MAC and a Karl Lagerfeld studded collar (all pictured) will manage to merge the two, for instance.
If you want to blend orange and black in your outfit, we’re loving Balmain’s fires-of-hell printed orange and black jeans, Acne’s red-and-black jacket (both pictured) and Preen’s patterned Dita dress.
It’s all about spikes and studs to bring the horror without the dripping-blood excess. Valentino has some great studded cuffs, while fashionista favourite Noir Jewellery has a wide range of gold spiked necklaces, rings and earrings (pictured), to give that vaguely keep-off look.
Want to go spookier? Get a hold of ASOS’s Actual Pain t-shirt, spelt out in chic-yet-gothic cobwebs, and pair with a leather skirt and killer booties – Jason Wu’s Harlow whipstitched toeless pair are just right for summer.
Or, of course, there’s T by Alexander Wang’s black leather shorts with a high-necked black blouse – the prim Morticia Addams weirdness of the monochrome The Row blouse is excellent, or there’s Bottega Veneta’s over-the-top black pussy-bow prudishness.
Accessorise with black nails, an ear cuff in gold studs from Rock N’ Rose, a Pamela Love pentagram cuff bracelet to bring an occult feel and a spooky clutch- Alexander McQueen’s stud ones, for instance, or Charlotte Olympia’s Sucker For Pandora, which has pretty lips with vampire teeth.
Are you ready for high-fashion Halloween?
Image: Gothic Halloween fashions.
