| Boudoir Queen |

Someone's got to come out, be outrageous, and break the rules. God save us from the normal PLEASE! Be silly. Make it fun! The world needs madness and creativity so badly. Gardening, cooking, dressing, the way we entertain our friends, the grace we exude - it's all art. It's what makes us deep, rich, astonishing and miraculous creatures. I'm talking about love here. Bliss. Joy. Having a ball. To lose touch with this is tragic. Steven Arnold.

In a world so engrossed with fast fashion & give it to me now & gone tomorrow attitudes, we hardly stop to look or connect with the artistry, heart and soul that gets put into each garment. Most people just see something that gets put on their backs each day & nothing more. But, to some of us, there is magic, there is this living and breathing force that we feel when we put on our clothes, we aren't just dressing for the day, we are merely extending our insides to the outside for the world to see. When one is able to put their vision in a physical and tangible form for the wearer and viewer to experience...this is where art comes alive and this is the Boudoir Queen for me. I'm always happy to feature the BQ here & if you've been reading this blog for a while now, you'll have been acquainted with her many times before like here, here and here. Dawn is one of my very favourite designers & I'm lucky enough to call her a friend too, she's bursting with originality, coolness, talent and creativity. 

As you can see from the following decadent array of pictures, the Boudoir Queen is back with a splendor of new beauties. Sumptuous blacks with soft creams & peek a boo sheer fabrics that give a decadent yet rock n' roll vibe to the chill of winter. You're going to need a manor house somewhere to swan up to wearing these or maybe just pretend there's one. My particular favourites are the peek a boo fabrics and the white feather jacket that is too gorgeous to be real. One can only live their best Stevie Ray Vaughan (or Brian Jones) life wearing this delicious piece. And modelling this (in the top photo & subsequent photos) is none other than the Boudoir Queen's son Dylan, who in my humble opinion carries the fashions better than most runway models - coolness & gorgeous looks run in the family. 
Her work creates a mood, a very unique mood, not so much for those who want to fade into the background but, for those like me that like to stand out and crave something original. There is a certain decadence that is missing from fashion that is attainable for those that seek originality and I feel Boudoir Queen sits perfectly pretty in that spot. These clothes drip with elegance and vivacity, treasures to keep for all time to love & cherish! 

P.S. All images copyrighted to Dawn. The Boudoir Queen unless stated otherwise. Used with permission. Please do not use without it, thank you.

The following dresses created by Dawn were inspired by the famous Schiaparelli lobster dress that was made in collaboration with Salvador Dali worn by Wallace Simpson. Dawn was inspired by surrealism which only makes sense when she was a model for Steven Arnold who was a protege of Salvador Dali himself. Photos that were taken of her by Arnold were just hanging in Paris last week (see below) these experiences and surrealism itself were the inspiration behind the Hand dresses below. I absolutely love them too, being a huge lover of surrealism.

Below: The inspiration for the above, the Original Schiaparelli 1937 lobster dress in collaboration with Salvador Dali worn by Wallace Simpson, the future Duchess of Windsor. 

Snippet shots below from the Paris exhibit with the Fahey/Klein Gallery from Los Angeles that featured the work of Steven Arnold - which Dawn 'The Boudoir Queen' was a muse of. One of the photos of Dawn is called The Pagan Goddess Reigns - bottom right in the images below. Image credits to the Steven Arnold Archive.

Mini Interview with Dawn - The Boudoir Queen

How do you feel your work has evolved from the earlier collections to now?
The designs are much more polished. We are great at coming up with unique concepts. Without a doubt we have a much broader knowledge, just as a result of education and maker of a thousand dresses over the years. Our speciality is 'the sleeve', all our collections have really cool and unusual sleeves. We now have a library of sleeve patterns we've made. We can go back and pull patterns from different collections and use elements from each show for new designs.My seamstress Shannon has been with me since 2008, I feel like I have come full circle. Boudoir queen started doing doll faces on purses, textile cuffs and chokers which were all photographed by Hedi Slimane. We've been in just about every magazine publication I've ever wanted to be in. We started using recording artists because my husband is in the music industry. We still specialise in making stage clothes to this day.

What are you loving just now? 
I'm loving my Schiaparelli inspired dresses made from old west or (soiled dove) style Victorian whites. Adorned with elastic red zippers and red roses. Since my past has been popping up with the Steven Arnold photos on display, we've been inspired to get a lot surreal. The photos that Steven did with the lobsters on my head have always been a favourite. I have it hanging in my room and I always say you really haven't been photographed until you've had your image taken with lobsters on your head. Maybe I heard that somewhere, I don't know. I'm very much into wearing white these days & we have re-styled our classic zipper dress and given it a little Avant Garde twist. We're recreating these dresses in different colours. Enough years have past and I've always loved the Shiaparelli lobster dress, so we were very inspired by that dress with the colour scheme. They're a little Victorian Horror/naughty nurse sexy.

What was it like being a muse for Steven Arnold? What was he like?
Well working with a prince of surrealism was the chance of a lifetime & a great honour. I don't think at the time I realised what a big deal it was. Steven had a few muses such as Pandora and I came along a little later around 1987. Steven is best known for surreal black and white tableaux vivant photography, he worked out of an old pretzel factory he called Zanzibar Studios in Los Angeles, that is where we did all the shoots and my sittings. I was like the Edie Sedgwick fluttering around the studio, he loved it. I mainly modeled for him, my photo was just on display last week in Paris. For those who aren't familiar with his work, they soon will be. He is making a huge resurgence, Dali loved Steven's work and in 1974, he apprenticed with the Dali in Spain, helping him to embellish and inaugurate his 'Teatro-Museo Dali'. Dali dubbed Arnold the 'prince' of his court of Miracles, which included other counter-culture icons like David Bowie, Andy Warhol, Superstar 'Ultra Violet', Amanda Lear, Marianne Faithful, Mick Jagger, Diana Vreeland, John Waters and Divine. Steven was filmmaker photographer, assemblage artist and a set designer like no other. I learnt so much from him. He was a gentle soul & true genius.

Picture of Steven Arnold in the early 1970's, years before the Rocky Horror Picture Show made it's debut. Widely distributed, it said that lead character Frank N. Furter's look was based on this photo of Steven. (photo from Steven Arnold Archive)

You have a distinct Boudoir Queen style, do you ever feel the pressure to go away from that?
I feel pressure on a daily basis for about a minute. Then I go back to doing my own thing. I started designing after a career as a Hollywood makeup artist in the 80's, so I picked up a lot of ideas during that time. Boudoir Queen has become more of a Cult line. I have abandoned the thought of fitting into a mainstream genre. I have found that sticking with my original concept and slightly changing it to fit in a bit with the current trend has worked best for me. I'm not a designer that is trying to find myself, I know what I love and I know what my clients expect from me. I'll continue as long as they still want to buy something unusual. The Museum of Whimsy in Astoria Washington has Boudoir Queen on permanent display. My clientele for the most part are eccentric women and many younger actresses and musicians. I have clients from every age group. One thing I am working on is taking some of my best sellers and having them massed produced, that's what I'm toying around with just now. 

What's the next exciting thing to expect from you?
 I'm currently working on vintage curated boxes. 'The Boudoir Box', these boxes will contain beautiful one of a kind pieces hand picked and curated by me. Some will be vintage trinkets and some Boudoir Queen. In the 80's, I had my own makeup line, back before it was trendy. Called Poor Little Rich Girl Cosmetics with big Edie Sedgwick eyes on the label. My neighbour in Beverly Hills was Anastasia. So, having years of experience in cosmetics, I would like to expand my clothing line and add fragrance and candles into the mix. Because my clothing is made from rare unique elements the gowns can be expensive. The Boudoir Box will be something that is more affordable. I'm hoping to put together the boxes in the $125 price range. That's what I'm currently working on bringing out next. 

I know this was a lot to read (more pictures really) But, Dawn/Boudoir Queen is one of my friends & inspirations, so for her to always give my little blog so much time means a lot - Thank you petal! <3 I hope you enjoyed her creations and interview too. Be sure to check out more Boudoir Queen at the following sites, have a great day!

Etsy / Shopify / Blog / Instagram

With Love from The Dainty Dolls House <3