It’s not until you are involved in the process of creating a couture gown that you appreciate the talent and time it takes to create something so spectacular. My girlfriend Belinda Glynn of Once Was spent hours and hours researching and sketching the design for my bespoke floor length French lace, Indian leather and Chinese silk dress I wore to last night’s Logies. Then there were a series of design meetings with seamstress extraordinaire Lenka Harvey of Lenka Couture, close to 50 hours of snipping, clipping and stitching, not to mention three rounds of fittings to get my gown fitting me like a glove. This is the diary of a Logies’ gown…
Belinda’s original sketches, some hair and make-up research, then the couture process began… The first step was for Lenka to create a toile (a calico test dress) based on Belinda’s design. As the dress took shape the girls draped the different fabrics over the toile to see how they sat together and would fall in the different areas of the gown.
It’s incredible how close to Belinda’s sketch my gown turned out. It’s almost like a photo! There was only a small amount of this lace – which was originally white – available in Australia until the end of May so we bought up every available centimetre and Lenka dyed it black. Each of the tiny buttons fastening the back of the dress had to be painstakingly covered in leather. Pins were a bit of a touchy subject. Lenka couldn’t use them to position the leather or it would have been damaged so she had to resort to paperclips and, in some instances, bulldog clips, to hold things in place.
These shots, above, are of the final fitting which happened the day before the Logies ceremony. Belinda and Lenka made final adjustments to the fit and Lenka trimmed the train into a perfect arc. The girls used the tiny amount of lace remaining in the gown’s décolletage. There was only a scrap left!
Next stop, Crown Promenade! While Lenka diligently steamed and pressed my gown to within an inch of its life, I sat down with hair an make up for a ‘light’ touch-up!!! Then it was time to put on my finished gown. We were all so excited to see the finished article. A little tweaking and a lot of button fastening and I was ready to rock the red carpet. But first we had a few (hundred) photos to take…
I love the way my peek-a-boo Rene Caovilla shoes match the lace of the dress so perfectly. Finishing touches came courtesy of Olga Berg who provided me a selection of gorgeous clutches to choose from, and a final sprinkle of sparkle from House of K’dor!
Little did I know there was a surprise waiting for me once I arrived at the red carpet. My husband Steve got there 30 minutes before me and handed a dozen roses to people in the crowd either side of the carpet and asked them to hand me the roses – a Mother’s Day Gift – as I progressed along the ruby rug. I was so shocked! It was the start to an outstanding night that saw The Block pick up the Logie for the Best Reality Program and an incredibly well-deserved gold Logie for Waleed Ali. I can’t thank the fabulously talented and creative Belinda and Lenka enough for giving so much of themselves to make me feel like a princess on the red carpet.
Find OnceWas on Instagram @OnceWas_
Find Lenka Couture on Instagram @Lenka_Couture
Megan Dougherty
Bravo Management Pty Ltd
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Hawthorn East, VIC AUSTRALIA 3123