Fall Festival

I've been busy working in theatre for a few weeks. I thought it would be a nice idea to do a little pop-up shop there, which soon spiralled into a festival with help from Kat, a talented illustrator. For guests we had a pumpkin decorating competition, guest judged by the glorious Victoria Wood and our lovely Harriet Thorpe. To tie in with the Macmillan cancer coffee morning we had a cake stall which raised nearly £300, a kissing booth with a dashing dancer adding to the funds. As the costume department are hugely talented we had a whole selection of fab homemade stalls, hot chocolates, handpainted bags, bath bombs, and from 'The sweet pickle company' 'Spookeys' 'Bravegirlgifts' alongside a selection of new pieces from Abbie Walsh inc sequin jackets, a beautiful sequin and lame dress, sparkley collars, rosette headbands, necklaces, flower wrist corsages ..... such fun all in 45mins...! 

My entree for the pumpkin competion,'A Spider's nest' (with help from my little 3yr old son Kit).. we were a proud 4th

And the winners are..... the swing boys.. Judged by Victoria Wood and Harriet Thorpe. They were presented with a rosette and a hamper full of goodies.

A selection of new pieces made especially for the festival....

Blue sequin and bead collar with embroidered gold stars, pompom wrist corsages and silk polka dot collars

Vintage necklaces and Wonderland flower necklace displayed in the miniature glitter wardrobe.

Beautiful bead and crocheted lame gold collars.

 Sequin collar and flower wrist corsages.

Pink bead collar with tiny vintage midnight blue velvet flowers.

A stunning 20's sequin and 30's lame dress with sequin embellishments.

Felicity & David's Garden Wedding Celebrations

Felicity Shemoon nee de Pulford on her wedding day looking beautiful, wearing a vintage 1940's lace dress and satin ballet pumps. Felicity wore an Abbie Walsh headdress, made using Edwardian wax flowers with off-white antique tulle veil. The veil was made with a long inverted cut style: shorter at the back and long at the front. This suited Felicity's silhouette, complimenting the neckline, sleeve length and cut of her dress and softly framing her face.

 The Shemoon Wedding

Felicity and David were married in Ramsgate on Saturday 28th September. As an interfaith couple they were married in both Jewish and Catholic civil proceedings and came together at Felicity's parents garden for everyone to enjoy each faiths traditions. The Jewish Chuppah, handmade by the brides mother.

A wedding which was all about enjoying each others company and celebrating David & Felicity's life together.
Every little detail was done with love, the flowers were collected and dried by Felicity's mum. The food was made by there favourite delicious tapas restaurant alongside challah (traditional Jewish bread) and home dressed olives.

The wedding cake was a competition! With ten places in the competition, guests had to apply and bring it along on the day, ranging from Indian sweetmeats to a traditional white and silver decorated fruit cake - the remaining guests voted. The winning cake was named the official wedding cake and was cut by the bride and groom!

Music was provided by talented family members on djembe drum, guitars and vocals. Later in the evening, they provided backing for open mic, with singing and dancing in the old tractor shed. Everything was decked in fairy lights, doily bunting, ivy and origami cranes and doves made by the Brides hens. When they weren't dancing, guests were reclined on straw bales and persian rugs, being kept warm by oil drum bonfires cut out by the groom D hearts F...... a little bit perfect I'd say xx

Pictures taken by Maxime Imbert

Headbands in Michael Grandage's A Midsummer Night's dream

The gorgeous new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fourth production in Michael Grandage's  season at the Noel Coward theatre, St Martins Lane, starring David Walliams and Sheridan Smith.

Set and Costume design by Christopher Oram, A Midsummer Night's Dream is sensual, sensitive, classy and romantic. Love love love Christopher's designs, having worked with him on Evita in 2006 and the Donmar Westend season in 2009, I was lucky enough to work on A Midsummer Night's Dream during tech week, with the costume supervisor Poppy Hall and Wardrobe Master Tim Gradwell. 

Two of my headbands made the play, worn by Helena played by Katherine Kingsley and Hermia played by Susannah Fielding. Helena wearing a cappuccino headpiece with sequin flower embellishment and Hermia wearing a satin headband with an off-white vintage fabric flower with sequins.

Here's a little clip of the play Watch Here

It's a fabulous production, go see it if you get the chance.

Glamour October - 'Check you out!'

Check me out! In the October issue of Glamour magazine, in a shoot featuring gorgeous autumn/winter checks, plaid, tartans and wool, loving the tonal colours of orange, red, plum and blues, complimented by black and white, clashing prints and punky shoes. Styled by Sophie Cooper, assisted by Alexandra Lunt and photographed by Coliena Rentmeester. The 'Check you out!' shoot features an Abbie Walsh black and white Stripe colour, which jetted off to LA for the shoot.

L'Officiel Netherlands in 'Church is Out'

In the September issue of L'Officiel Netherlands, beautiful Dutch model Queeny van der Zande stars in the 'Church is Out' fashion story. The black and white story is photographed by Paul Bellaart in the country side just outside of Amsterdam, styled by the lovely and talented Michelle Duguid. I love this shoot and so very pleased to have white cotton collars, white cotton frill cuffs and a black silk bow collar featured alongside stunning autumnal fashions from Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes and Valentino. 

Anna & Elliot's Country Castle Wedding

At Lympne Castle in Kent on Monday 29th July Anna and Elliot Townsend celebrated there gorgeous wedding with a relaxed atmosphere, sunshine and beautiful country surroundings.

In March I had a lovely appointment in my studio with Anna, Anna knew which sort of design she wanted for her birdcage headdress and brought along her dress and shoes. We matched colours, played around with flowers, veil size and hairslides. The result is this beautiful vintage off-white silk flower with handbeaded centre using spare beads from Anna's dress, off-white veil with haircombs either side, so sits across the face for the wedding ceremony. The veil was then wrapped around Anna's bun for the evening, this gave a fresh new look without any effort, beautiful, elegant and relaxed, sums up the wedding.
The dress was a whimsical internet purchase which was a heavily beaded Sue Wong from America, shoes by Benjamin Adams. Anna's flowers were picked and arranged with her bridesmaids Jenny and Jo in Blooming green flower farm in Kent. Anna's little girls Ava and Olivia were her flower girls.

I also made a wedding garter for Anna as a gift from her Maid of Honour, Katie Greengrass, I used spare beads and embroidered flowers from Anna's dress to create a keepsake of her special day. It was a pleasure to be a part of Anna's wedding, best wishes and happiness to Anna and Elliot x

Summer Party

Thursday 4th July was the summer party for Abbie Walsh accessories. Hosted by Donna Tann in Faversham, Kent, set in her beautiful garden annex. It was a perfect English summer's evening, throughout the evening over 50 guests took a short stroll to enjoy a relaxing evening. Showcasing a beautiful selection of Fashion & Bridal accessories, handstitched, handbeaded, embroidered and vintage one-off pieces.

 Cuffs, Collars, wedding hankies and headbands.

Wedding headdresses, wrist corsages, necklaces, vintage feather tickling stick, cuffs, headbands, collars, vintage purses and personalised wedding garters.

Guests enjoyed Special offers on the popular flower wrist corsages, rosette headbands and pom pom wrist corsages, adding a bit of shee shee to any outfit.

Stunning flower wrist corsages, little piles of rosette headbands were placed around the displays and white & midnight blue ballet tulle pompoms on beaded wristbands.

A rail of beautiful capes, jackets and collars made using amazing antique bead, sequin and print fabrics. A miniature frosty white glitter wardrobe displaying vintage necklaces and earrings on customised mini hangers. 

Guests enjoyed elderflower champagne cocktails, accompanied by freshly cooked and prepared sun-dried tomatoe & paramesan mini scones with a cream cheese centre, tomatoe & mozzarella toast with basil, paramesan & poppy seed straws and chocolate & pistachio strawberries. 

As the sunset we enjoyed the warm summer evening in Donna's lush green garden with tealights and the sounds of Mr scruff, Liane Carroll, Gotan Project, Matthew Halsall and Buena Vista Social Club. Guests left with a free gift, a handmade little flower brooch made with vintage fabric petals. The prize draw was pulled out by Donna's little girl Martha - Congratulations to Jemma Elliott who won a handbeaded showgirl wrist corsage.

Thank you so much to everyone that came, to Donna and Ollie Tann who opened up there super gorgeous garden and annex. To the two charming barmen and lovely Rose Morris who helped with guests.