Earlier this year, Hand & Lock had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Klein Couture to produce the exquisite embroidery for the radiant Regency Era gown pictured below.
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The outfit was specially designed for an event at the 2025 Jane Austen Festival in Bath.
The celestial gown was embroidered with gold thread, metallic bullions and fresh pearls; brought to life over hundreds of hours of couture work.
The Creation of the Evening Outfit
The theme of the soiree was celestial and Jennifer’s design paid tribute to this with embroidered sun rays adorning the lower skirt, puff sleeves and matching reticule. The sunrays framed golden leaves, sunflowers and wheatsheaves.
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The embroidery alone took a team of five embroiderers over a month to complete, incorporating a wide range of embroidery techniques. Machine embroidery formed the base design, using metallic threads containing a percentage of real gold. Worked on fine French Chantilly lace, this project was particularly delicate as the material had to be handled with expert care throughout every stage of the process. The base design was then adorned with hand embroidered goldwork techniques such as padding, cutwork and chipping. Embellishments including golden metal spangles and antique gold beads add twinkling details whilst tiny seed pearls highlight the centres of dainty flowers.
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Sampling is essential to ensure every detail is just right before we proceed with the final production. For this project, we sampled multiple rounds, testing various stitch densities, techniques and golden tones. We settled on this beautiful shade of antique gold to perfectly match the sequins on the polka dot lace of the main body fabric.
Jennifer & her team worked their magic, turning our flat embroidered panels into an expertly constructed couture gown & accessories. The whole outfit really came together with final details like bullion fringing, trims and a goldwork embroidered headpiece.
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The final evening outfit was truly breathtaking and Hand & Lock is honoured to have been selected to work on this prestigious project. This was a celebration of embroidery through and through, highlighting H&L’s signature techniques.
Discover more of Jennifer’s stunning creations at https://www.jenniferkleincouture.com/
Love this celestial design? Shop our gift guide inspired by this beautiful dress
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Author: Liss Cooke
