At the beginning of June after I had established my timeline for constructing these garments, I immediately visited the Pinterest board my close friend, Joyce, and I created to captured all ideas and looks for Fetes Galantes. Below, is one image that inspired us for our trip.Looking back at it now, it was obviously the color pallete to draw from. Inspirational color palette

Our board is composed of beautiful pastels or vivid silk florals. Think of the most beautiful plate of Macorons you’ve seen and that would be the palette to draw from. However, I got ansy and ordered a beautiful olive green damask (I may still do something with this in the future).

Not enough color

I remember texting Joyce and showing her my find. Here reply was simply this:

O.K. – I was happy enough with my decision. Also that day, I stumbled across a beautiful lace that will still be incorporated into the dress. See below. There are hints of silver thread that are hard for a photo to capture…

But then, I decided to watch Sofia Coppola’s Maria Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. Well, that kind of changed everything as far as my color choice for the main dress. So I was on the hunt again.

My position at Thermo Fisher requires a lot of travel. I have the opportunity to visit many countries including lots of great places in the USA. This year, it seems like I’ve been in Canada many times. A few weeks ago, I had an afternoon in Vancouver and I thought, this is a great time to hit some fabric stores that I wouldn’t normally get to go to. While flying from Ottawa to Vancouver on an early morning Air Canada flight and after catching up on work emails, I researched fabric shops in the city. Straight away several great options popped up in Google. ATEX, DressSew and a shop completely focused on Buttons, called Button Button. There were a couple of other options that felt more like a Fabric Depot or JoAnn’s and were out of the way.  Dressew, ATEX and Button, Button were basically all on the same block, so the decision was made.

After landing at YVR, I picked up my car and headed downtown to hit the shops. First up ATEX.

I was particularly excited about this shop because I had read that this was “the” place to go and shop for designer fabrics. Upon walking in, one immediately feels surrounded by bolts and bolts of fabrics. Upstairs is dedicated to clearances fabrics and acetates. Downstairs, I found the rather small selection of silks. Unfortunately, the store really had chiffons and satins. I was really on the look out for taffeta or faille. Moving on.

Next up – Dressew – Wow. This place was jam packed with all kinds of fabrics and notions. When I say there was more than an aisle dedicated to zippers, I’m not kiddin’!

And they also had a great selection of pure silks. I was lucky enough to spot this dusty rose taffeta and thought this is the one!

Just what the doctor ordered!

It was a good quality silk and $18CAD/meter. Done deal.

Feeling satisfied with my choice, I went about the rest of my work day. That evening, I met up with a colleague who has become a good friend. We had some great tapas and cocktails at a place called Cuchillo. Definitely recommend!

A spicy Negroni!

So, with Sarah’s exterior fabric chosen, it was time to order fabrics for the foundational undergarments.

The shift and hoop skirt will be made from 3 oz weight white Irish linen. For the pocket panniers, I chose this floral print Irish linen.

Lucious underwear!

There will be various embellishments for the robe de la Française and I’ve decided to create a post simply on embellishments!

Now, my intention was to also blog about the fabric I’ve chosen for my outfit, but alas that hasn’t happened yet.  Stay tuned for another post when the inspiration happens!

That’s it for now.  Later.