Could you ever fall in love with a wild rose bush, as it languishes in sun?
Then you’d want to take it home, but soon realize there’s not enough top soil in your apartment.
My solution? Make an Art Gown, and dedicate it to someone who has the earthy requirements!
Wendy Ellen Thomas is perfect! Visit her blog Chez Chloé & see what I mean.
Wild Rose is a simple concept. Black is the earth.
Pink is the wild roses.
As a veggie, I will never wear a leather dress I inherited from work, but I can do it justice.
Originally, it was a mini with tank style bodice & nasty zippers up the front.
With much glee, I cut away and restyled.
I spent less than $30.00 on a delicate pink lace with rose pattern.
I used the lace for the corset insert & the skirt.
To decorate the bodice I began cutting flowers from the lace.
That was about 3 dozen delicately flowing petals I cut out.
Once I’d decided to use a swath of black voile for the tail, I began cutting out 200 more roses.
Each wild rose was hand sewn onto the voile.
Wild Rose outakes
Wild Rose settles into her new home’s “Art Gowns” Room.
She bathes her tail in the warm sunshine.
Wild Rose is a romantic …
… and pines for a lover.
Wild Rose says, “Let’s invite Wendy Ellen Thomas over for dinner!” She can really cook up a storm & Resa will do the dishes!”
Wild Rose designed, made & written by Resa McConaghy – October, 2015
Photos © Resa McConaghy – taken November 4 – 2015
Art Gowns 
Egats- that is so gorgeous and can I humbly say you really get me. I just happened to be here in this moment just as you posted this. Coincidence? I would say not.
Your a blessed, talented woman Resa and it flows through your words, and the fabric that passes through your hands. Have a beautiful weekend and I think you’ve inspired me to update my blog! cheers ma dear! xx wendy
Dear Wendy!
I am thrilled you like Wild Rose, and I would say… not a coincidence that you were there when she went live!
She really is a beauty.
I’m looking forward to some more great recipes from Chez Chloé & will see you over there. The last recipe with the zucchini is a perfect meal!
Much love to you, and thank you for the inspiration!
_Resa xoxo
That is one really beautiful gown. Wow!
Thank you, Timothy! She is a special girl, and I am very happy you like her! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Special indeed. Her roses are always a reminder of the beauty of roses. Alas, the few beautiful blooms on some of our late blooming rose bushes got zapped by hard frost Friday morning.
I just saw your Roses pics on your photo site. They are gorgeous. Frost is a nasty visitor to beloved gardens!
I’m glad Wild Rose is living indoors!
Wow, amazing – so perfect and fascinating, really breathtaking… 🙂
Dear LDN,
Thank you!! So how is your tux holding out? Any noise coming from the closet? “lol” 😀 😀
My tuxedo is handcuffed, for it’s own best… 😀 😀 😀
“LOL” Well, I supposed it is less expensive than hiring that snappy guard dog. xx
A tux in love have no chance against a snappy guard dog… 😀
😀 😀
Ah, Resa what a breathtaking gown! Romance, elegance, beauty, glamour, finesse, blossoming, grace all in one Art Gown! Congratulations, my dear friend! You’ve created a gown of rare beauty! 🙂 love xxxx
Marina, thank you for saying such nice things!
I only make 2 or 3 a year, as they have become emotional experiences. I need a bit of time between each new girl, but they are very satisfying to my creative self.
Much love to you, and I look ahead to hearing your new album!
Love Resa
xoxoxoxoxo
One of your best, at least to my humble opinion…:)
Oh, how sweet of you to say that! xo Yes, she is a beauty! Thank you so much for coming to see Wild Rose! I’ll be over to your blog shotrly to see how your girls are coming along!
Thank you Resa, things are very quiet on my side…taking pics, drawing, but have to get them on my sites…:)
Wow Resa, mind-blowing work of art, just amazing talent and visionary you are! Love how you develop the story and apply it. An enormous amount of work what went in to apply all those roses which ended to be one breathtaking Art Gown indeed! Romantic with an edge, delicate but hard at the same time, leather and lace what a magnificent combination! One of a kind beauty, congratulations, you have created perfection! xoxo~Eva
Aww, Thank you, Eva! I’ve always loved the effect of Leather and Lace! It feels very, very old & very Rock’n’Roll!
Yes, she was a lot of work, as all of the Art Gowns are, which is one of the reasons I only do a few in a year.
Your shoe illustrations are a lot of work, & every bit as fanciful as my Art Gowns.
xoxo – Resa
It is amazing, dear Resa… So perfect… the wild roses out takes, the shape… gorgeous…
I love the Classic-Modern conjunction, respectively given by the front with the corset and the back of the dress
Congratulations…. sending love and best wishes. Aquileana 💫🌟
Much Love to you, Aquileana!
I am so glad you like Wild Rose! I’ve wanted to do a mythology Art Gown since I started following your blog. I think she will be my next piece, although all I have right now is some cream voile and a vague idea.
Best to you, and have a great weekend and week and everything! ❤ ⭐
This Resa is an amazing piece of art – your creation of gown elegance is a mast piece that showcases your incredible talent. Wondering using the black to show off the pink gorgeous lace, wow!! Perfect use of the rosettes. Love the story “billowing” with the images of the gown. Congratulations on such an exquisite piece.
Mary, this comment means a lot to me, after all you are a fabulous artist.
I truly appreciate that you see the artistry, and not just a garment.
The Art Gowns take a while to create, and I always feel … sort of empty when I finish the post. I could compare it to finishing the last page of a good book.
I’m wondering if you feel something like that when you finish a painting?
Have a great weekend, & see you soon on your blog!
Interesting question Resa. When I’m finished with a drawing or painting, I’m tired and sometimes exhausted because of the energy and focus it requires. And if I’m lucky enough while in the middle of the project I get a high (endorphin rush) and then I know I’m on the right page. Your gowns are incredible pieces of art – you have a great eye for seeing what’s possible with fabric types and pieces. Have a great weekend too!!
Exquisite
Thank you! I’m very happy how she came out!
You nailed everything except the dishes 😉
A masterpiece!! xoxo
As you well know, the Art Gowns were evicted from Queen’s end for not doing dishes and housework! 😉
They have learned nothing! No, wait…. they have learned that I will do the dishes. Wild Rose figured it out immediately. The other Art Gowns must have tipped her off.
She is a pretty one though! Thank you… masterpiece is good word! lol
xoxo
Amazing!!!
Wild Rose is a wonderful work of art, I’m in love with this combination of fabrics and colors, impressive the artisan work done with all those roses …
Resa Congratulations, you’re the best !! 🙂
Hugs and kisses.
Hugs and kisses to you, too Belén!
Wild Rose really is a beauty. The artisan work is very peaceful…Zen. I would like to do more.
Thank you for your lovely words, they mean a lot to me. Maybe I’m a bit crazy… a grown woman playing with a giant headless doll & making gowns for her. LOL!
Nonetheless, it is very satisfying.
xoxo 🙂
They are true works of art that deserve to be exposed, you’ve never thought about it …
They are works with high artistic value, and economic, there is a lot of work invested in them.
Kisses.
I wish I could find a manager/business partner!
I would love to have an Art Gowns exhibition, like an Art showing in a gallery.
It’s crazy… I can work within a budget, a theme or a dream with a goal in mind. Yet, I seem unable to market myself or my product.
I started blogging with hopes in mind.
“Art Gowns for Charity” is my favorite idea for marketing, but even then I need a true business mind to take it further.
Well, importantly, I have met some lovely people, you being one!
The rest remains to be seen.
Kisses to you!
Someday I’ll have a large studio with an exhibition space … and we can talk about your new partner in Spain 🙂
I strongly believe of the many possibilities of your works.
She loved the wild woods. The dark shadowing trees, the thick green moss velvet under her feet, but especially she loved the wild roses. She filled her basket with a thousand petals. Then wove them into a gown of earthly delight.
You write the best little stories! What a compliment that you were inspired to one by Wild Rose.
Thank you so very much, Virginia! XOXO
Reblogged this on Arcilla y fuego and commented:
Una maravillosa obra de arte de mi querida amiga Resa.
A wonderful artwork from my dear friend Resa
Wow!!! Thank you so much. I hope everyone in Vigo likes it. After all, should my little Black Drake ever get married… in the future…. when he grows up more and isn’t always thinking of chocolate … I will make his bride’s dress!
Exquisite for someone on Opening Night.
Thank you, Frank!
How creative and expansive feel, just like a rose.
Thank you, Maria! Roses are undeniable beauties. Do Wild Roses grow in Puerto Rico?
No, it’s a temperate zone shrub, but they grow in Colombia and mountains in South America
That is very interesting!
The Wild Rose is the provincial flower for Alberta Canada. It is called Wild Rose Country.
The bushes fascinate me. They are absolutely unruly and messy looking, a disaster. Then in amongst the twigs and leaves are these sweet little pink roses.
I have also once seen white, and understand yellow exists as well.
Yes, there are so many temperate zone flowers I don’t know, much less from North America, I mostly go to Florida and they are subtropical. Everything else above Florida, I don’t know.
As usual you are amazing dear friend. Your rooms are gorgeous enhanced by the bottle of wine on the mantle piece ( 😉 ), all of which is upstaged by this beautiful gown. I am sure that one day you will have a magnificent exhibition of your “girls”. Just brilliant Resa 😀 Love & hugs. Ralph xoxox ❤ #<
Ralph!
I would love to have an “Art Gowns” exhibition! I just need a manager & business partner. I can create, but marketing eludes me! 🙂
Love and hugs to you, Ralph!
Hope all is well, and that I will see you & S&S in a post soon!
Take care,
Resa xoxo ❤ #<
I really do hope that someone locally in the fashion business reads your blog and allows you to show off your “girls” in their city main street store and window. Good luck my friend.
S&S have just published a post.
Love & hugs 😀 xoxox ❤ #<
Wow ! This is just gorgeous ! Splendid !
Thank you very much! I adore making these unique pieces. 🙂
Another masterpiece Resa. I am always happy to receive a blogpost from you and see your wonderful work! It is so inspiring even though I cannot sew. It is nice to read your process. Well done and I am looking forward to the next one.
I can’t than you enough for this comment.
It seems like you have been here, enjoying my art from the beginning.
It is always hard to finish an Art Gown post. I spend months on one dress, and then, like a good book, it’s over.
Well, I do have an idea for my next girl, but undoubtedly life and work for $ will slow it down.
See you soon, and best wishes!
Cheers,
Resa
It’s an amazing gown Resa. Having created these works of art, what do you do with them? I hope you or someone else wears them to the ball!
Dear John,
LOL Most are stored in the basement,… in pieces.
The first few were destroyed, by me.
I wanted them to be regarded as ART not garments.
If you can wear it, it’s clothes.
John…. I used music as my example.
I hope you understand.
Live music goes into the air, and is gone forever. If you were not there for the performance, you will never know it.
So, somebody says… “Let’s record it!”
Now we have an audio representation of it.
Jam sessions are one thing & songs are another.
Songs have titles.
SO… like recording a song, I give my Art Gown a name… it’s the title.
I take photos. This is the recording. The actual making of, is the performance.
Call me crazy, but I believe there is art in what I am doing here.
If I allow people to wear it, it will become merely clothing.
OMG!! Do I need a business partner/manager or what?
Cheers,
Resa
Very interesting. Agree absolutely it’s art.But as you say, music has a way of staying with us, through recordings, videos, etc. As well as our memories. So it’s a shame if your art stays in your basement after its initial flourish. Because it deserves more. So maybe a future challenge for you is to adapt all those amazing ideas into “clothes” – things that ordinary people, maybe on a special occasion, will wear. Isn’t that a bit like fashion really? You see all the stuff on the catwalk and think, who would ever wear that? Then it gets adapted for the commercial market. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – after all, clothes are for wearing!
I understand where you are coming from. Now I’ve finished my music book, I sometimes think, shall I just move on now, rather than take up loads of time on boring stuff like doing an index, clearing quotes, finding a printer, and so on.I’ve done the creative bit and it’s there for friends and family to see if I just send it round on email. But I tell myself, no, it’s worth giving it a push, just in case. Because all art – and all creative work, no matter how simple, is art – is worth sharing.
Thank you, John! I’ve been searching for a business minded/investor type person to partner with.
It could even be an idea involving using the gowns for charitable purposes.
At least I’ve saved most of the gowns!
Simply beautiful gown! I enjoy reading about your artistic process. Each thing you create is a labor of love.
You are very right!
Each of my girls… each of the Art Gowns is a labor of love.
Labors of love are joys, in their unique ways.
I suppose in trying to make the most of everything, I have ended up making “Art Gowns”
Thank you so much for visiting here!
I don’t blog often, as each Art Gown takes months to create. It is always a joy to see you here and connect on your wonderful blog.
Resa
WOW!!! 🙂
Thank you!! 😀
HAPPY NEW YEAR, Resa! Wishing you all the Best!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Anyone who is fortunate enough to wear this gorgeous gown, will feel literally enveloped by an eternal springtime feel.
What a lovely comment, Marcelo! You are like an eternal springtime feel!
I don’t want to come across as a raging narcissist, but I’d look totally mint in that gown!! Possibly.
Actually my Christmas work do is coming up and it’s a James Bond theme (predictable, I know). So it’s a tuxedo snorefest, or something more interesting. Any suggestions, madam?
Possibly!
Ah, the Christmas fest!
Well, you could go as Octopussy! Put a twist on it. Get a cute cat costume. Then get a bunch more cat legs (with the paws on) and attach randomly to said costume.
Voila…. Octopussy!
OR
Pussy Galore
Many outfits to choose from here. I rather fancy Galore’s Flying Circus black unitard with wide white belt and white go-go boots. The chest logo is a splendid star burst design
BETTER YET
Go as Galore’s Flying Circus Logo! All you need here is a gold starburst costume. If unavailable just rent a regular gold star costume, and your sparkling personality will make it seem more bursty!
I’m sure I’ve been a big help!
Whoa, flying circus logo! I love logos.Logos make the world go round, don’t you know? Mercy buckets for the advice, I shall spruce things up a notch. Mwahah. Mwahaha. Mwahahahahaaaa!
Mwahaha! You’re going to look simply marvelous, darling!
This is the third time that I returned to your post. You inspire us to seek the beauty of life. “It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done. Vincent van Gogh
Dear Rebecca,
What an inspiring comment. What a beautiful quote you have chosen to leave for me.
I am touched and honored by your thoughts.
It is always a joy to see you. Your blog is awesome with purpose. I’m so glad we have connected out here in cyber world.
Much love, and best wishes to you!
Resa xo
I love street art, which weaves creativity into the “fabric” of daily life. It is there – front and centre – challenging, as well as inviting, us to think, to respond, to become involved in a bigger dialogue. It was Edgar Degas who said, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Street Art is not hidden in a private collection, but shared with a diverse community. Thank you for creating this amazing blog that showcases this artistic expression.
You’re welcome, Rebecca & Thank you!
I always felt stuffed up in Art Galleries, especially the big ones.
I love the freedom of walking anywhere I want, in whatever weather I want and finding street art!
I love sharing it, and like to document what I can before time erases it.
Street Art has made the city I live in a beautiful, safe and intriguing place, especially in the most dingy and old areas.
You have great thoughts. I guess you read a lot, as well as loving art!
Resa xo
Gorgeous dress
Thanks Al! Nice to see you. Hope all s well in Al World! 🙂 🙂
🙂
Reblogged this on Spiritual challenges .
Thank you!!! 🙂
Stunning. I would love to swoosh around in this stunning gown 🙂
Ahh, swooshing!!! What a great word for wearing a gown! 🙂
These are absolutely stunning.
Thank you! I truly enjoy designing them!
How talented are you? What are the gowns eventually used for?
Oh, Thank you! Well,as I consider them art, I would like to show them in a gallery setting, perhaps in conjunction with an artis’s paintings on the surrounding walls. Or possibly as hostesses (on mannequins) for a charity event.
I think they’re amazing, and I hope that you succeed in getting them ‘out there’. Why don’t you try self-publishing a coffee-table style book of them online? 🙂
Interesting idea! 🙂 I’ll check out some online style books!
Beeeeautiful!
Especially loving the roses on the gown! 😉
Lol! Rosy loves roses. I love it! 🙂
😊🌹
This is absolutely fabulous! ^_^ Delicate, charming, and a big slap in the face of naughty! ❤
Yes, I’m good at slapping faces! LOL!! ❤
I would love to model this for you on my blog. *grin*
What a lovely compliment! ⭐
=)
Gorgeous! So glad to see you’re back creating them 🙂
How sweet of you to say so! Working on a new one now. I’m hoping she’ll be ready for the holidays, but some things can’t be rushed, so it will be when it will be. 🙂 ♡
Can’t wait to see it!
I always look at this dress when visit your blog. So gorgeous!
I love her, too! Now, I am working on a Goddess. LOL Not kidding. She will be done in 3 weeks or a bit more! I am so excited!
Love, love the dresses! You are a Goddess yourself creating such beauty 🙂
XOXOXO
You are a genius~
Thank you, Cindy! & I hope you like Mnesomyne!
Oh, Resa, that’s magnificent! I’m so sorry I’ve been so absent, but it’s lovely to see that you are still making these wonderful art gowns!
I’ll always love seeing you here!!!!
I love this, its stunning and pink is my favourite colour. Wow you have such a talent.
Thank you! Although all my girls are equally beautiful in my eyes, everyone else seems to have a favorite!
Wild Rose was a joy to make. Thank you for your lovely visit!
Gorgeous, stunning and mind blowing , dear Resa!!!! All your gowns are jewels and I would not be able to pick a favourite one… Thank you for sharing.. xoxo
Francina! It is so nice to see you! Wish I had more time to hang out in cyber space here!
I wish you all amazing things! Resa 😀
Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
Thank you!
He’ll yeah !!
GOD BLESS FASHION&WOMEN
see ya soon
Gianmarco 🖐
Hi Resa, I couldn’t find a new post here, but investigated this via the photo. I love it. The gown reminds me of both the Renaissance Era and ancient Japan — with an added dose of sass. I enjoyed your description of how you made it too. Hugs on the wing!
Yeah, I’m working on a new post, ep. 2 of the Art Gowns Paris Adventure. I need drawings, and somehow the Virus has sucked up time and concentration.
However, I’m getting into a new flow.
Thank you for finding an Art Gown post you hadn’t read, even better your wonderful comment. She is a very pretty Art Gown, and you’ve given me some new eye to look at her through! xo
The new Art Gown has been started, and is finding its place of being worked on, in the new flow of life.
{{{hugs}}}
I can’t wait to see the new one, Resa.
So many writers and artists are having the same difficulty getting focused. I’m spinning my wheels at 180 mph, stuck in a muddy mental lack of focus. Hugs.
I get it! We are definitely living in a funk!
So, I’m back here working on my next instalment, again.
I did a post on GLAm, in the meantime, while I was drawing. I’ll read the next instalment of The Delta Pearl with my Sunday coffee, and have read the first part of Glowing Pigs! So far….love!