Description
Concept
La Gatta Bianca menas “the white she-cat” in Italian.
This robe à la française brings together the aesthetic of the Marie Antoinette movie, my love for ballet, and the flirty taste of old hollywood movies, without forgetting a touch of historical accuracy, good proportions and an interesting fabric pattern choice that will make sure yours is not “just an other robe à la française”.
I always loved the marabou trimmed robe anglaise worn by the Princess of Lamballe character in the 2005 Marie Antoinette movie, and I always wanted to create something alike. I wanted however to create a new character, so I took the Puss in Boots pas de deux from the Sleeping Beauty ballet. Traditionally, the two cats wear 18th century attire and wigs!
It is inspired by a dress worn by the Princess of Lamballe in the 2005 movie, though it features several design choices to make it different. Please read ahead.
The dress
So what do you have here? La gatrta bianca is a robe à la française in all its glory. This means the dress will have a stomacher at the front, a separate skirt, and the back box pleats flowing to the floor.
The fabric I will start from is in the palest pink, with small stripes in a more saturated ballerina pink color, and stripes in the palest silver, with a small pattern of waves and dots. It does not come to the eye at the first glance, but it is what will make your dress stand our and bring some texture to the game.
The piece will have two types of trimming: white marabou boa and silk organza worked in both bows and pleated trimmings, in a lovely rose color.
What makes la Gatta Bianca so peculiar? She’s a cat. So it has tinkerbells! Silver tinkerbells on all the front of the dress! I have worn some on my wig at fetes galantes in 2024 and it was a blast. I want you to know what it feels to FEEL in person how it is fairytale-like.
It does include wig and ears!
* it will NOT be a replica of the photos you see here. They are gust to give an overall idea, but though the dress draws inspiration from those, the primary reference is the sketch. The dress will have a different back, a different fabric to start from, a different material for the trimmings, a different skirt, sleeve and stomacher design.
Requirements
All sizes, ages, colors and genders are welcome, as long as you are patient and kind. Like in a real fairytale.
To do my magic and turn you into La Gatta Bianca I will however need a good pair of stays to work on, a petticoat and a panier. If you do not have the stays, please look here. For the other items, I can send you links of other makers.
If you already have a set of undergaments, please email me showing them worn, so I can let you know if they create the shape I need. I don’t do this to force you to buy my stays… to be true I don’t enjoy making them, I really do prefer working on the dress directly. But I know far too well that compromising the shape from the start takes away from the beauty of the final piece. And we both deserve the best we can achieve, don’t we?
Deadlines
I do need at least 6 months to create this. 8 if you need me to make your stays as well. Ths dress includes a mock-up fitting process, and you will need to send me your measurements. If you follow these steps, it can take even less. Hower, I will not promise to make it for any shorter deadline. Please email [email protected] BEFORE placing the order, if you have deadlines.
Payment plans
All magic comes with a price, I know. And sometimes you want to get yourself a dream. i want my dresses to go in loving hands, and this is why I have a payment plan mode. Please note that for this dress I will need a 1/3 deposit, to take it off the shop and make it a private listing. The following payments can be smaller. But I did already purchase most of the supplies, so the first payment needs to cover those.
Agreement
Countless hours of my time will go in this piece. I will pour myself into it. So yes, you do buy a dress that is yours, but you also portray my work and my business while wearing it. So by making the purchase you agree to wear it properly. This does not mean you can’t take the ears or the choker off, or that you can’t use it to portray an other character. You can add a bergère hat, a cape, gloves, even tune it to a different decade with the accessories. But it does mean that you need to wear it with the undergarments it was made for, that you will learn to put it on properly, that you will not wear the shoulders down just because you fancy it, that you will not alter it without my consent. It will be your dress, but it is my creativity child. I am available to do a videocall to teach you how to wear it, what to be careful about. If you like my work and are willing to wear my piece, please pleaseplease trust me on this as well.
