Alluring Serenity

“Alluring Serenity dives into what swims beneath the waves and how the ocean can be beautiful and calm on the surface while deadly beings lie waiting down below. According to folklore, those beings could be both mermaids or sirens, and while each is beautiful, only one is deadly. Perhaps beauty can disguise what's hidden underneath, so carefully take a closer look and choose: is it a siren or a mermaid?”

For my first look I wanted to represent the way seafoam crashes on the beach with the waves, and the creme crepe fabric was perfect for that. Against the blue satin underneath, the flared skirt gives the appearance of flowing waves while the bodice is as if a mermaid is peeking out above the surface. I also wanted to explore a new technique of an illusion neckline for this look, and so I added cascading pearl beads on tulle that looks practically invisible.

A collection about mermaids wouldn't be complete without a mermaid skirt, and so my second look I wanted to be my interpretation of a literal mermaid. I hand-hemmed the skirt to be the asymmetrical look so I could control the way the curve flows, and it is covered with a waist facing underneath as I felt that mermaids would not wear waistbands. The beads are on an elastic cord and are meant to imitate gills on a fish with a nice bead in the center of the mermaid bra for an elegant touch.

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To play with the ideas of "mermaid or siren?", I followed up my mermaid look with a siren inspired look. Pictures of a kelp forest and green algae were what guided my color choice for this look, and the soft sage green midriff fabric I found worked perfectly. The folds of the skirt are like scales and the ties on the bottom as well as the pearl beads on the top are meant to capture the enticing nature sirens portray.

As my pièce de résistance for this collection, I draped this front-to-back cowl dress that inspired by the "coming out of the water dress" in The Little Mermaid. I wanted to end my collection with a beautiful and elegant dress that encapsulates the feeling of the deep blue sea. The satin texture and lighting along with the deep cowls and flared skirt flow similarly to beams of light in the wide expanse of the ocean.