Page 4 - Cake, Croquet & Corsets

Rrococo Revisited Written by Maggie Green
RWhen a group of kick ass gentle rolling hills, beautiful flower gardens, huge trees ladies (and a few good men) lining the lakes edge, and blooming lily pads waiting get together and create from to be captured on film. With our photographer Amee’s the heart you get to see magic. amazing eye for beauty, I could envision the noble And magic is just what this ladies and lords lounging the day away.
team created in September. As
a makeup artist for almost 30 years, I tend to have grand visions in my head of shoots I would love to create with story lines, narratives, and visions all come to fruition, and that, is where this piece
comes to life...
In early August I was browsing the fabric aisle and
it hit me...” I am now part of this amazing team of women who love nothing more than to create larger than life projects and support each other at Synergy Design Firm.” And then “AH-HA! My Rococo dream is about to commence!” (If you are not familiar with Rococo, think Marie Antoinette, 1800’s luxury, palace of Versailles...)
I texted Tracey Hugo with a sheepish question... “Would you maybe be able to help me out? I have fabric, gowns, lace, and a vision... but I cannot even thread a needle to save my life, would you mind helping just to stitch some things together”? And with Tracey’s vivacious energetic reply “UM YES!” the planning began. It quickly went from a gown or two into a full storyline. The Synergy Design Team set into full motion with 6 models, several different scenes, props, cakes, bustiers, panniers, custom made shoes/ bows/hair pieces, and visiting many, many stores. For the models in this series, I really wanted to work with people I knew would embrace the joyfulness of the vibe I wanted to achieve. I also did not just want “models”, I wanted people of substance to build the characters on. I was so happy that each one I reached out to gladly stepped in to be a part of this journey.
For our meetings and fittings, we created an entire outdoor studio in our backyard (did you know we are in a Pandemic?) To be Covid safe and compliant we wanted to be fully outside in the open air from start to finish.
Regarding location, my husband Neil and I knew the perfect hidden gem... Blue Lake Park in Fairview. It has
For props, I have my antique dealing grandmother and my love of hoarding to thank! I had quite a few items of my own, but I set out to hit Goodwill, yard sales, thrift shops, local antique shops (Wade Creek Antiques in Estacada is adorable, please visit them!), Amazon, Etsy (Penny River has amazing old-world stockings with silk ribbons that tie them up) and more! It was a labor of love gathering the items to create my vision of a day spent idly lounging by the lake with lavish desserts, croquet, boat rides, tree climbing and more.
Once the gowns started to come together on Tracey’s side, it was time to create hair and makeup looks for the shoot. We were so fortunate to have Antonia Darlene’s skilled hands to create the beautiful hair for our ladies as she has been designing wigs for years and her skills have even taken her to Broadway. She is a master at what she does. It was also fun for our model Amber Nicotra and her lovely mom Carol to get into the action and
create Amber’s regal updo before the shoot and they did AWESOME! It was sophistication personified.
When it came to the makeup, I spent several days just