I'd like to tell you a little bit about the unseen making of this image, which I shot for Beyond Burlesque couture in London a few years ago (the Beyond Burlesque designer also creates corsets for Vivienne Westwood, a perennial favourite of mine):
Photographer: David Angel
It was a snowy day in London, which was perfect for the glamour fairytale we created... but in real life, snow is cold! Bare skin in the snow is very cold. I had blankets thrown over me between shots, flasks of hot drinks and even hot water bottles to keep my skin the right colour and my muscles able to move freely throughout the shoot. I am fairly sure that in this particular shot I had the hot water bottle pushed up the front of my dress, and that exaggerated hands-on-waist pose is helping to keep it pushed in!
I love it as a festive image not only because it is so chic and timeless, but because its back story reminds me of Christmas itself- all the less-than-glamorous rushing around, preparing, shopping and wrapping that goes on behind the scenes before the moment of calm when the payoff comes: a special person opens the gift that's perfect and personal for them.
I think sometimes with social media we feel we're lagging behind if we're not up doing yoga every morning, followed by sashaying into town and easily finding a slew of "perfect" (expensive and 100% ethically sound) gifts, AND not forgetting to keep our noses perfectly powdered the whole time while we're at it. Really, who remembers that stuff? The part that I remember is that "wow" moment when someone opens that little thing that's perfect just for them- regardless of where it was acquired or if the price tag was in single digits.
With this in mind, and with the photographer's kind permission, I have turned this snowy couture image into a Christmas card that anyone can afford. If you know someone who would enjoy an elegant Christmas card, why not order a couple? At just £1 each plus postage, they make sweetly sophisticated little tokens- and they are printed on premium matte recycled stock.
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