Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware Part 13: A Peacock In White

I don't know why it took me so long to put these two beauties together!

This peacock teapot by Edie Rose is one I've had in my collection for almost a year and have blogged about it before here. I love that it's a teapot shaped like a peacock. The teapot has texture throughout it's body which gives the peacock's feathers and the flowers added definition. It is a very regal looking teapot. I love the subdued and yet somehow vibrant looking colors on this piece.

Trashy Diva's Katherine Dress in Peacock, like the teapot, has an overall white background with the focal point of the dress being the beautifully and richly colored peacock feathers embroidered throughout the waist and hips. Like the teapot, this dress also has a very regal feel to it. It has a classic 1960's silhouette which exudes grace, elegance, and sophistication.

This dress is actually one of my favorites of Trashy Diva's and was the first dress of theirs that I ever bought. I have it in black but the beauty of the white tempts me to buy this version as well. I found this one from Kittenish Behaviour who has this as well as many other sought after pieces by Trashy Diva.

Edie Rose Peacock Teapot

Trashy Diva's Katherine Dress in Peacock, photo: http://kittenishbehaviour.com/store/designers/trashy-diva/trashy-diva-katherine-dress#.VMwJiC6Gy1Y

Trashy Diva's Katherine Dress in Peacock, photo: http://kittenishbehaviour.com/store/designers/trashy-diva/trashy-diva-katherine-dress#.VMwJiC6Gy1Y

Making Little Hats AKA a DIY Tutorial on Fascinators

I am so excited about the new little hat I made over the weekend!

I've slowly been compiling quite a collection of hats, fascinators, hair flowers, and hair bows. It was within this obsessive frame of mind that I saw Trashy Diva's blog post on their new fascinator collection by Louise Green, Fascinator Frenzy. These hats and fascinators were so whimsy, cheerful, colorful and just so fun!!! I was dying to get my hands on the Louise Green Cherry Doll Hat! But then I saw the price. :( As much as I do spend my money I just couldn't take the plunge. And so I was sadly resigned to the fact that I did not and will not own the Louise Green Cherry Doll Hat. But that doesn't mean I would have to go without some whimsy, cheerful, colorful and fun little hats and fascinators of my very own. I decided to make my own. And here friends is my DIY tutorial on the new fun little hat I made over the weekend.


1) Start with a fascinator base. I bought this teardrop sinamay from seller guigkat on ebay. I have also seen similar fascinator bases on etsy.

(My trusty bff Murkurie overlooks my work.)

2) If your fascinator base doesn't already have a hair comb, alligator clip, snap clip, headband, elastic string, or neck tie (some kind of way to keep the hat on) you will have to get one of these items.

For this fascinator I decided to utilize a hair comb because the base itself is not too flexible so a snap clip probably wouldn't be too practical, I didn't know how well an alligator clip glued on to this somewhat nonporous surface of the hat would hold, and I didn't want to have the visibility of a headband, elastic string, or neck tie on this particular hat. 

3) I sewed on the hair clip to the back of the fascinator sewing around the base of the hair clip between the last two teeth on each edge of the comb. 

4) Next... things to put on the hat! For this hat, in the spirit of the Louise Green Cherry Doll Hat, I wanted to make something with fake fruit. I decided to make a grape fascinator!

5) And yet, while I was out gathering my grapes I saw this peacock feather in the same aisle. I thought, how lovely these colors go together! And you may know from my other past posts, A Good Peacock is Hard to Find, and  A Peacock for All Occasions, how much I do love peacocks!

6) I hot glued the peacock feather about halfway down the fascinator and at a jaunty little angle to give the hat some asymmetry, gluing the feather at about the eye of the feather and also at the base of the feather.

7) Then I sewed the feather on for extra reinforcement at the base of the feather.

8) Next I added the grapes. These I sewed on as well sewing around the stems of the grapes at the top middle of the bunch and also at the end of the bunch. I knew I wanted to have some of the grape leaves on with the bunch but the grape leaves that came with this bunch was super rubbery looking and not to my liking....

9) So I took a leaf off of my artificial grape vine in my house and hot glued that on to my fascinator!

10) And voila! My very own whimsy, cheerful, colorful, and fun grape fascinator!

A Good Peacock is Hard to Find

"'What a beauti-ful birrrrd!' the priest murmured." The Displaced Person, Flannery O'Conner

I love peacocks. Mind you, not as much as I love cats, but I do love peacocks.

I used to live in an apartment complex that had tons of these majestic birds prancing about, singing their call. I miss those birds. So, I'm extremely happy now when I can find peacock things that help remind me of just how beautiful those birds are. Last month I wrote about a peacock teapot I got in A Peacock for All Occasions. And now, just a month later, I found the most beauti-ful peacock dress!

I got this dress from Cats Like Us. I was fortunate enough to be on their email mailing list and again fortunate enough to open my email within the same hour they sent it out which said that they just got in more of these peacock dresses from Heart of Haute. Then once again I was fortunate enough to be able to be one of the lucky people to grab this dress in my size before they sold out. And boy, were these dresses selling out fast! They only had this dress up on their website a few days the first time around before they sold out, then the second time they stocked this dress, they only had most sizes for the first day! After the first day they only had this dress in xsmall. Though if you are pining over this dress like I was fear not because Heart of Haute will be restocking this dress and anticipate to restock it sometime in May.

And now, on to the review!

The Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal dress is a fitted A-line dress with a boatneck neck line and matching tie belt. It has a hidden side-zip though no back closure. While the lack of a back closure could create a bit of a nuisance to get in and out of the dress, it ensures there are no back seams on this dress that could unintentionally make breaks in the print of the fabric on the top back side. The fabric is 100% cotton which is my fabric of choice for easy care. It has a nice heavy weight that gives the dress substance and gives the skirt of the dress a great flair! The colors of this dress are extremely vibrate without being overbearing. The teal, blue, green, and mustard yellow colors really stand out against the black background of this print. And, if that wasn't enough, metallic gold adorns the peacocks as well as the flowers throughout the print. As I've mentioned before in other reviews of Heart of Haute's dresses, I am continuously surprised at the great fit of their dresses. It's almost like each of the dresses I buy of theirs was made specifically for me. For reference I am 38"-30"-38", 5'3" and as usual I bought this dress in Large. I did find that the arm holes did feel a little tight in this style and felt it rubbed under the arms a bit but I think if I sized up the dress would probably fit a tad too big. In any case, this is a beautiful dress which was well worth the wait as well as its weight in gold!

"'So beauti-ful,' the priest said. 'A tail full of suns,'" The Displaced Person, Flannery O'Conner

Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal Dress- Front View

Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal Dress- Side View

Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal Dress- Back View

Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal Dress- Close Up of Print

Heart of Haute Monique Peacock Royal Dress- Close Up with Earrings

I couldn't resist putting these two things together for this review. How perfect are these earrings with this dress? I got these earrings last summer at the annual Fremont Festival of the Arts from a seller at the festival, Melissa Huntsman. I even bought these earrings with peacocks in mind when I saw them!

A Peacock for All Occasions

""So beauti-ful," the priest said. "A tail full of suns," 

...and he crept forward on tiptoe and looked down on the bird's back where the polished gold and green design began. The peacock stood still as if he had just come down from some sun-drenched height to be a vision for them all." Flannery O'Conner, The Displaced Person

I love peacocks. They are so majestic. The way they prance, the way they lift their tails and show off their plumage, their call... “To the melancholy this sound is melancholy and to the hysterical it is hysterical. To me it has always sounded like a cheer for an invisible parade." Flannery O'Conner from her essay The King of the Birds.

With this being Mardi Gras weekend I figured it was a perfect time to blog about my new find, the Peacock Teapot from Edie Rose by Rachel Bilson... yes that Rachel Bilson from the show Hart of Dixie! Who knew that she also designed teaware, dinnerware, and other kitchenware?!

The Peacock Teapot from Edie Rose is in the shape of a peacock. The peacock's head, looking behind him, forms the lid of the teapot. His plumage, first curving up then cascading down, forms the handle as well as the backside of the teapot. Sculptured roses, one in full bloom and another still in its bud, encircle the spout. The spout itself is one of the roses' leaves. A raised relief design is seen throughout the teapot as well as the peacock's colors of turquoise, purple, and green. 

Isn't he lovely?

Peacock Teapot by Edie Rose

Notice how the peacock's expression seems to change depending on the view? Compare the first picture with the last picture...

And so I leave you with one more quote from Miss Flannery O'Conner on the beauty of the peacock..

"The peacock stopped just behind her, his tail--glittering green-gold and blue in the sunlight--lifted just enough so that it would not touch the ground. It flowed out on either side like a floating train and his head on the long blue reed-like neck was drawn back as if his attention were fixed in the distance on something no one else could see...." Flannery O'Conner, The Displaced Person

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!