Dress #071.5: 1920s dress in black and gold. 2019 Capybara with tiny shell shapes standing

with tiny shell shapes standing in for the applique along the bottom of the dress

Materials: Japanese papers

it is stitched onto cold-pressed 100% cotton paper

until I found this delightful (if slightly guilty-looking) specimen in the 1918 book ‘Wild Animals of North America: Intimate Studies of Big and Little Creatures of the Mammal Kingdom’

accented with silver paper and an acrylic rhinestone

Dress #071.5: 1920s dress in black and gold. 2019 Capybara with tiny shell shapes standingThis hand stitched black and gold dress is based on an American or European gown from ca. 1928, just when Phryne Fisher was making a splash in St. Kildas, Melbourne. The dress hangs in two tiers, with each edged in Japanese tissue to imitate the floating layers of the original. Nepalese paper in gold on black stands in for black cotton adorned with a profusion of tiny metallic and black glass beads. It is stitched onto cold pressed 100% cotton paper.