Flower Garden Dress Commission

The Commission Brief

This dress was commissioned for a formal garden party event with a very specific brief: a floor-length formal dress incorporating real pressed botanical elements — not printed fabric, not embroidery, but actual pressed flowers visible within the fabric layers. The brief presented a set of construction challenges that required custom solutions, as incorporating organic materials into garments sits outside standard garment-making technique.

The Botanical Technique

The central technical challenge: pressed flowers are fragile, hydrophobic in the wrong direction (they absorb moisture from skin but cannot be cleaned by any standard method), and require specific finishing to survive wear without crumbling or discolouring. Heidi developed a technique using organza layers heat-sealed around the botanicals — the flowers are pressed and dried fully, then positioned between two layers of sheer organza and sealed using a low-heat bonding method that creates a translucent window effect. The botanical is visible through the layers but fully enclosed and protected from contact.

The sealed botanical panels were tested for flexibility (they need to survive a full event of sitting, standing, and movement), colour stability (ensuring the botanical preserving technique doesn't change colour over the event duration), and visual appearance under different lighting conditions.

Garment Construction

The base dress is a structured formal gown in a sage green silk dupioni with a fully boned bodice — the green was chosen to complement the botanical palette (primarily soft florals in cream, blush, and dusty rose against a pale ground). The botanical panels are incorporated as an overskirt and as bodice accent pieces, creating layers of visual depth.

The bodice is constructed as a fully boned strapless form that provides genuine support without the botanical panels interfering with the structural elements. The overskirt attaches at the waist seam and can be detached if necessary, making the gown slightly more versatile for different events.

Care Documentation

All commission clients receive care documentation specific to their garment. This commission came with detailed care instructions covering: storage flat in acid-free tissue (never hanging, which stresses the botanical panels); spot cleaning only, never immersion; and the expected lifespan of the botanical elements (several seasons in careful conditions). This level of documentation is standard practice for complex commissions at Chimera Costumes.

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