Frocked is always a fan of Vogue & Vivienne Westwood

Hello there!

Oh we have been ever so quiet – & do apologise, but we have been going through some changes & creating a whole new, & updated, collection; it is having the final touches done as we speak!

Keeping with the British theme we have started a collaboration with a Welsh production unit, who have made for Vivienne Westwood plus Int Fashion Week Catwalks, & they are fabulous!! Christine & her team at Anderson Apparel have opened their arms to Frocked, & we fit right in with our new designs & their expertise & enthusiasm; one of their team has also just won an award & is off to a swanky presentation evening where even Vogue will be present…will she be wearing Frocked?? )

We are launching the new collection in London this month…& it is so exciting – even the girls at Anderson Apparel are excited working on our new designs!!! From office tailoring of dresses, shirts, Dapper Pants & coat dresses, to sleek ‘wrap & backless’ posh frocks & the always favourite Flutter Frock range – all new & updated! The Beach range has also seen a wave of creativity & new design wash over it with new items added & favourites updated.

The new collection will replace the garments on Frocked.co.uk & we will slowly filter in the new images over the end of November through December.

Welcome to Frocked!

XoX

Goodbye to Posh Frocks & Corsets

Well, we are still clearing out our past designs, samples & seconds from the Frocked Studio & haven’t finished yet. We are working on the new designs too…ooh exciting news for our new posh frocks & corsets but a sad goodbye to the old designs. There is so much we want to do …but time does not always allow for this & so unfortunately for today, but maybe not for tomorrow, some design ideas just have to go to the back of the sketch book.

We recently put the last full-length Cappuccino Posh Frock on eBay with a dramatic 80% discount off rrp – but, I may add, this dress is a sample factory second & has also been used on catwalks & photo-shoots hence the discount. (This is the style Daisy Lowe modelled for Frocked de la Vallière on the London catwalk………& who is she modelling now? Vivienne Westwood’s latest collection shown at London Fashion Week!!)

I remember seeing Bex, our model, in this dress for the first time – it could have been made for her it fit so beautifully & the colouring of the dress was simply perfect. Everyone on the shoot agreed she looked stunning, if not a little cold…even with the remainder of the previous-nights Halloween body make-up ‘ever-so-slightly’ still apparent!! We have also seen this dress on someone darker & it looked scrumptiously divine too.

We weren’t sure whether to put the last mid-length Flutter-by-Day posh frock on eBay, but with it being an X-display dress that we have used on a photo-shoot & us still having the remnants of a couple of the first-ever Flutter-Dresses, we realised it was simply too sad to have this dress locked away in our studio; she needs a new loving owner. The red handcrushed velvet Vallière Corset Top also needs a special person to wear it, as you can see from our model, how striking does she look in the red velvet?? …& she stepped in at the last minute, only coming along for a day out with the photographer & friend; this is also on eBay with a 50% discount…it is the last one after all!

All these designs are being updated & we hope to start adding them on the Frocked.co.uk site in March/April……we only wish we could show them to you sooner!!!!

HAPPY sales SHOPPING!!

The de La Valliere family…or not

I have always, …well, nearly always, or rather most of my adult life, wanted to research into my family tree. The Valliere branch being my first option due to the incredibly exciting story, & possibility, of being a descendant of King Louis 14th…. As I have never actually confirmed that my family are of this lineage, I can only sit & wonder – until this week that is.

I had a lovely e-mail from someone asking me how the business got it’s name, & were we part of the de La Valliere family. This has prompted me to do some digging & actually start that family tree.

Having been given family trees that other, older, members of my family have compiled I hope to have a good start, albeit these documents are NOT the Valliere trees, I have already e-mailed family in the States to start on my quest…..exciting!!

But I must not digress too much as I have some new designs to get created, old stock & samples to sell & a …do you think I will find time to try out my new surfboard??

Working on a Sunday

XoX

Frocked.co.uk Designer Room Clearance Sale Flier

Our Studio is very busy, & looks busy busy…we really need to create space for the new Spring Summer ‘08 collection & updated designs, & so we thought “this is the ideal time to have a studio clearance sale“. It’s been super exciting trawling through past designs, old stock etc to see all the things we have done, but also sad to see some designs that did not work or were not made to the Frocked standard.

Oh well, this just means that you can buy at much lower prices….& even one of our first ever mannequins/tailors dummy, Norah, has to go – we need the space, & we won’t be moving to bigger business premises any day soon! This will have to go on our eBay listings….not quite the thing to put on Frocked.co.uk don’t you think?? &, actually, we do also sell seconds & sample garments on eBay but NEVER new stock – these are sold exclusively on Frocked.co.uk, unless a selective boutique has stocked them, which has included Texas!!

Lately I have been designing new summer ‘08 stock for the Frocked range, & getting rather inspired by the strangest of things….more will be revealed when we launch the new stock, in the mean time our Knot-a-Vests from Summer ‘07 are now in the sale, albeit only a few left in certain sizes & colours, but these are the last of this design. Sadly our last Faux Fur Wrap is also up for grabs – a sumptuous, posh yet fun, pink raspberry shimmer-satin & faux suede/fur wrap that is a sample second & definitely the last of the faux fur; the fur floats all over the studio when we work with it, like little floating faeries!! The Flutter Posh Frocks & Vallière fashion corset tops are being updated, & therefore all dresses & corsets in stock will be added to the sale page…including the ever so opulent red velvet corset.

I must now stop digressing & get back to the job in hand…sorting the sale stock!

Happy Shopping!

Frocked de la Vallière frocked on the London Catwalk!

Our 2nd catwalk fashion show….& we were asked to show on a London Catwalk whilst still in our 1st year!!

Corsetted or Corset

Dec 07

Well, I was unsure what to wear to our B’day bash. As usual I knew I was going to be late after trying on a myriad of outfits that would all fail to inspire, or make me look my best. However, the new Corset dress, a 1st sample I may add, was just sitting in the Frocked Studio waiting to be taken to such an event & test-driven! (Yes, we do test drive our garments; we need to be sure they have been worn & ‘tried out’ before we can say they are ready for creating for you, our Frocked Friends & customers.) Once tied in, I realised we definitely needed to move the zip to the side to help with getting on & off & to save from having to undo the corset-tied back – especially when being prepared & done up by oneself, but otherwise this dress felt so flattering & comfortable that I couldn’t wait to go. I have always worn a Frocked de la Valliere corset top with a shirt or lace top etc, either worn underneath, or over & tied at the bust….but this looked fabulous on it’s own – even if I do say so myself.

Scrutinising in the mirror – the corset dress not me, I knew I had to make a subtle amendment to the bust line; with thread & cotton to hand we now had a great new design detail, which I would develop with Sophie in the Frocked Studio, but this sufficed for my evening. Throwing my heels & lippy on, off we went painting my nails on the way as per the norm!

My Twin voiced her approval as soon as I took my coat off in the restaurant…she applauded ME for looking beautiful & having lost weight (which I hadn’t) & Her being a bronzed fitness instructor; I had actually seen her only hours earlier – just shows you what a dress can do!!

This corset dress is in our beautiful black pinstripe, but I have already been designing it in other colours & fabrics…..we wish it well

T xox

Happy New Year 2008!!

Some of our designs new & old!

Frocked Modelled Slide Show!

A different kinda surfing…not online fashion boutiques this time!

It was about time…

I, at long last, booked a ‘fun-in-the-sun’ holiday away from the Frocked Studio at the end of September – at the last-minute of course! This was a week-long surfcamp with Extreme Holidays staying in their surfcamp-villa in Lagos, down in the south coast of Portugal….& I found it on the internet – see, my procrastinating whilst working sometimes does me good!!! Sketch book for new designs at the ready I was off…

…I haven’t flown since my last visit to LA in 1999, & so this being my 1st flight in over 8 years it was bound to be a tad stressful. A sleepless night & a 4am start did not help, but the mimosa/buck’s fizz did…& it helped A LOT. I floated into the airport in my pink Frocked vest & flowered luggage with not a care in the world & arrived above the clouds just fine & dandy; I even took pics of the engine, the clouds, the moon, the sky, Spain’s coast, & lots of Portugal’s tattoo-like marked hills (I feel new inspiration for next Autumn/Winters Frocked collection!).

The Extreme guys were lovely, tanned & smiley & drove super comfy leather & walnut-trim 4×4’s to transport our groups (what a cool bunch of people) from the airport to the villa, & also to take us out to their chosen spots for the most suitable surf; you can’t choose what the waves do like you can fabric & the first day nearly put me off for life! Being a beginner (totally) I just got dumped & dumped with short breaks straight onto the beach – I was most definitely a little battered & bruised, it was raining & I started to wonder whether I should stick to the safe world of fashion & design!! …& as the others were more experienced I suppose this was nothing new to them!!

Yet the following day the weather was kinder & we were taken out past where the waves break at a fairly quiet beach in Lagos…but with all the building-work going on I foresee it will soon be overrun with the ‘tourist’! I cannot believe (today) that I was actually out there in those big waves (hey Mr.Surfer reading this, they were gigantic to me, ok) but I managed to catch a couple of waves, although of course I was not standing…yet. I did struggle to get my big bulky 8-9ft board back out past the waves as they were almightily strong…I am only small & I could tell, it was 3 steps forward into the waves & 10 back to the beach with my great big yellow banana – ok, surfboard, but it WAS big, & it WAS yellow!!

Over the week we were taken to 2 beaches in Lagos but mostly traveled through the National Park to a cute, small coved stretch of sandy beach, with a cafe that had table & parasols where we could sit & chill, & look out at the real surfers do their stuff…except the first day there we used them to keep the rain off! Yet it just got better as the week progressed & the sun shone hotter (I loved my Surfday Beach skirt on those days), & with guidance from the instructors I got to stand up & feel comfy riding my wave…I would definitely go again, & have already bid on a board on Ebay…& I sense some surfing influence in my sketch book!

PS I have another fave restaurant: the Lemon Grass Thai in Lagos. The food & presentation were simply awesome, the food tastes delectable & so fresh, & the owner we met was super cool & def looked like he surfed..but I don’t think I could see him in Frocked!