Twisted Fairy Tales Collection: Wicked Queen

I wasn’t actually planning to do any villains for this series, wanting to focus on the dark side of the heroines themselves, but the Evil Queen from Snow White is a classic! I still remember being terrified seeing her transform in the Disney movie! Thinking about the character, she’s a mature beauty, and a superficial one at that-she relies on what she adorns herself in to emphasize her beauty, from the most glamorous gowns to the best make up.

The inspiration for the dress came from a Balenciago dress worn by Emma Watson. I loved the romantic twist of the industrial like bodice with the rough draping of the skirt. 

The bodice was my own design, and I love the color-blocking opportunities it offers! Due to a lack of black jersey, I went with a magenta and black palette. I later made the design of the bolero jacket piece-the dress by itself just didn’t seem regal enough. The soft purple lining fabric for the skirt was great for draping the skirt, the lightness and puffiness of its weight easy to manipulate, with only a few stitches to attach it to the dress. Finally I topped up the majestic feeling with an antique pendant, fashioned into a head piece with some braided through the hair.

The idea of the many mirrors in the background come from the scene in the ABC series ‘Once Upon a Time’-a series I totally recommend for anyone! In the series there isn’t one single magic mirror, but a spirit who is always at the Queen’s disposal. As she struts down a long corridor in her palace, the spirit jumps from mirror to mirror as they talk. I figured perhaps the Queen is so infatuated with herself that she surrounds herself with mirrors, in all shapes and sizes. I positioned Jaime, my model, on a couch I made a few years ago. The small plastic skull (part of some Halloween decorations) was the perfect size! I took one shot of her, and then has the image printed and mounted onto some antique mirror frame images. The effect was really cool, how her features and presence are amplified by the multiple reflections! 

 I loved the end results, especially the antique feeling with the shadows as well as the eeriness of the many faces looking out. I chose this as one of the few from the Halloween collection to sell next month. I was a little worried, especially with the skull, that the image was too dark for greeting cards-but honestly, that’s what PunkeePixie’s all about; the whimsy and beauty in all this unexpected!