Get creative with the eternal Ballroom favourite: Ostrich Feathers
Ostrich feather boas have for a long time been a classic adornment to the competition ballroom dress. They add an instant touch of glamour and luxury to your design, whether used sparingly as floats, or as a full boa hem.
Our feather boas and feather fringe are lovingly created in South Africa by a team of expert crafts people. They are then custom dyed to co-ordinate with our full range of fabrics and trimmings. Bring your look to life with co-ordinating shades that add depth and contrast to your ballroom couture.
Ostrich Feather Qualities
You can achieve a wide range of effects by incorporating feathers into your design. They typically add volume, texture and a lightness to your couture that emphasises movement across the floor and catches the attention of judges and spectators alike.
The Chrisanne Clover Range
Renowned for our colour matched fabrics and trimmings, feathers are no exception! Select from a wide range of colours to seamlessly work with the rest of your design. From vibrant pinks and reds through to soft pastel hues, create the look of your dreams.
Where can you use Ostrich Feather Boas and Fringe?
We like to always try new techniques in our couture and are seeing designers world-wide adopt feathers creatively into their work. Here are just a few ideas to consider:
Feather Boas
Our boas are luxurious 6-ply - don’t settle for less when you’re aiming for a full look. Lower ply boas aren’t as impactful and don’t have the density that defines a full feather boa finish. Use them for any of the following:
· Around the circumference of the ballroom skirt hem. Typically these will be added to a ready wired or crinoline finished top layer to give the skirt structure. This also gives you something fairly robust to attach the boa to. Be sure to make the joins as seamless as possible. All our boas come in 1.8m lengths, and on a full ballroom skirt you may require up to 6 or 7 boas depending on the circumference of your finished top skirt layer.
· Use one complete length (or more if you want a bigger effect!) folded in half from the wrist for a float
· If you’re on a budget, use a smaller length as a wrist trim or create a pom pom affect by attaching a small length of feather to a narrow fabric strip attached from the lower arm of a sleeve
· Wrap a boa around the elbow attached to either a gauntlet or arm cuff which you can then either extend into a drop length or simply keep compact around the arm to create a higher up float and extend that ballroom frame
· Use the boas above the bust line around the dress bodice
· Pluck individual feathers from the boa and apply them in small groups to create a lighter effect on ballroom skirts. This is great for achieving a graduated or contrast effect with different colours or simply to add subtle texture and definition onto your dress.
· Although less common in Latin dress design, feathers can still create a fantastic feature as part of the skirt to create volume and texture. Often associated with the samba dance style, they create a vibrant effect.
Feather boa is used to trim the skirt hem and hanging float pieces on each arm
Ostrich Feather Fringe
With each feather individually plucked and sewn on a band, this a great way to achieve a flatter finish.
· Use instead of a full boas for a full ballroom skirt trim by sewing the band under the skirt to conceal it – consider using a ribbon binding to create a feature of the join.
· Layer up the fringe to create a multi coloured effect
· For complete extravagance, create tiers of fringe all the way from the hip down to the skirt hem. Play with multiple colours to create a graduated look. Why not combine with an array of multi-coloured crystals on the bodice to complement the overall design?
· Add the fringe onto the edge of circular fluted georgette arm floats to create a softer feel than a boa would offer
Feather fringe trim is used on the top skirt hem and bodice decoration of this wine couture
Learn more about our feather range by checking out our catalogue or by browsing our competition couture for some inspiration.
