The ‘Award’ season officially kicks off tomorrow and we’re about to see a flood of gowns over the coming weeks. But lets take a look at the birth of a couture gown.

Gorgeous journalist / TV presenter and all round fabulous Shelly Horton was heading to the G’day USA Gala event. So we both met up with the insanely talented couturier Steven Khalil at his Paddington boutique to plan her glamorous red carpet gown. Steven has created gowns for the who’s who of the celebrity world including Kate Ritchie, Sophie Falkiner, Melissa Doyle, Rebecca Gibney and Sonia Kruger.

We began by giving Steven a brief about the look and feel of the gown that we had in our minds. Literally within minutes he had sketched the perfect gown that we both swooned over.

Time for a few measurements and we agreed on the perfect shade of red.

The sketch and fabric sample.

One week later the design was turned into a callico (a plain unbleached woven cotton) dress. This helps Steven see how the dress will sit and how it will be crafted. A week later the dress was ready for a final fitting. 40’s screen siren Veronica Lake was my reference point/ inspiration, so I added some art deco jewels and clutch. Side swept curls and sexy nude pumps would finish off the look.

…and voilà the final product on the red carpet at G’Day USA….

…and that my friends is the birth of a couture gown. Bring on the ‘Award season’.

I will be blogging live as the Golden Globes red carpet kicks off from 11am tomorrow morning. Hope you can join me – right here on this blog.

Happy styling.

DG

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