The Victorian Era.  When I think of the Victorian Era I always think about the magnificent dresses adorned in pearls, lace, gold brooches, feathers, beads, and ribbons.  Layer upon layer of silk, satin, and velvet in rich, royal colors: all the robin’s egg blue, scarlet red, eggplant purple, evergreen, ballet pink, and ivories you could ever desire.  Ugh, I was born in the wrong era. Though I am grateful my mother never tried to put me into one of those corsets.  Torture devices is what I would call those. I could never risk the ability to breathe deeply in order to look like an hour-glass.  Sigh…but the way fabrics were manipulated and transformed into fantastical waterfalls of fabric just mesmerize me.

Thank god I can still taste a little bit of this era with these beautiful textile necklaces.  They can be worn with any little black dress or with a plain white tee-shirt.  Either way, they make a statement on their own, “I feel pretty.”

Katherine Wardropped is an award-winning 3-D textile designer.  Her goal is to organically develop her “sculptural fabric technique” to a range of creative disciplines.  Particularly her brooches and necklaces all remind me of swirling wedding cakes.

However these necklaces are only available in London-based boutiques, though you could commission Katherine to create a masterpiece for you..if you are willing to pay a Victorian price.

If you don’t want to break the bank, then you should check out the necklaces created by Laura Su for her website Prismera.  Laura takes chiffon and other fabrics, sculpts them into ruffles, and applies vintage-style satin, ruffles, and sequins creating a modern take on Victorian high-style.