Football and fashion? But, of course….

We recently received a request from a woman wanting three custom made clutches. The story that came with her request, was a first for us to hear, but a really great story indeed. It proved another one of those times where we get to add stories and dimension into our energies to create our body of work.

Houndstooth and "Alabama" Red!

These three BEAU Bangle Wristlets, in black and white houndstooth are accented with deep red. Gorgeous together, no doubt about it, but they serve a greater purpose to this story.  Our customer ordered a clutch for herself, her sister and her mother to accessorize the upcoming football season! They are avid fans of the University of Alabama’s football team. They never miss a game. The school boasts this bold, rich red as a school color. As for the print, well, the coach never misses a game without his black and white houndstooth hat! Their order was based around supporting their favorite team and looking spectacular while doing what they love!! How fun is that!!

Thanks ladies for including us in the fun!

Another way to include your fashion sense into what you love!

P.S. : We can customize any clutch for any reason! Send us your ideas and we’ll make it come to life for you!!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the beautiful day!

A new season is upon us.

The {SOIRÈE} Clutch.

Oh, Autumn! How you sweep me off of my feet each year!

I’ve always had a sweet spot for Fall and all that comes with it. I love all the imagery that pops up, all of the colors that step forward, and all of the renewed textures that we introduce into our daily lives.

This fall, at {AO3} Designs, we are diving into color and texture. We are proud to push genuine leathers, luxurious silks, and smooth velvet-feel corduroy to the forefront of our body of work. Rich hues of chocolates, oysters, woodbine, corals and deep reds will step forward and grace each design with their presence. The blue of a lagoon will pop with a halo of golden glow. Endive and rose will walk hand in hand. Bold blocks and thick lines of  golds and coppers will accentuate these rich colors.

The {FOXFIRE HOBO}

Visit us at www.ao3designs.com and dive into fall with us. You can customize any item for an additional $10!  Email us with any questions or requests at info@ao3designs.com.

The {SOIRÈE} Cuff {*Available only on our Etsy shop}

*Visit our Etsy shop here.

Let down your veil…

Another lovely specimen for our Something Old to Something New clutch. Using the design of our {ALEXIS} Clutch, with its practical and timeless envelope style, we created three clutches for our bride and her party.

The beginning. Delicate roses of tulle.

Our bride chose to utilize her mother’s veil and incorporate that into her own ceremony. Made of tulle and decorated with cotton daisies and a large silk flower, we began the process of extracting these pieces and creating new arrangements and completely new pieces. The large silk flower was disassembled and recreated into three smaller calla lilies. The daisies were split up and dispersed between the three clutches. The tulle was carefully cut into smaller pieces and meticulously wrapped into darling little roses. All then were arranged onto each {ALEXIS} Clutch. The bride chose our rich ivory silk to display these flowers upon. Lined with delicately weaved ivory and gold silk, the interior boasts an intricate design that evokes visions of glorious cathedral architectural lines or perhaps our imaginings of french royalty dress. Finished with ivory satin ribbon, wrapped around and tied into a pretty bow. Success. The outcome is enthralling, we are always so excited to go through this process over and over. So many different materials to transform, so many ideas to choose from in our creation of Something New.

Rich with gold and ivory lines, the interior has a delicately elegant look.

Our {ALEXIS} Clutch is perfect for displaying the details. Once a beautiful veil worn atop a young bride’s crown, now gorgeous reminders of the past and present love are the focal point of this piece, held in the hand of the next generation.

The {ALEXIS} Clutch, transformed into the present, using the past.

The Baguette, with love.

Once again, we’ve had the honor to design a Something Old, Something New clutch for two beautiful brides. Both ladies requested the {BAGUETTE}, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to look at the possibilities, side by side. The following examples showcase the versatility and grace of the {BAGUETTE} Clutch. Simplistic in its function, yet the purpose of the specific design of this clutch is to put all those lovely details, all the important beauty, directly in the center.

We begin, with the sleeve...

We begin, with the arrival of the first piece. A sleeve from her mother’s wedding dress. A timeless tone of deep ivory, much like melted vanilla ice cream. Intricate lace dotted with pearls to enhance the lines and curves of the foliage and flowers.

Hand made folds and pleats surround the perfect piece, unrecognizable from its former life. Paired with luxurious and rich ivory silk, they exist together as though they have always been intertwined.

The Result.

The Result in Detail.

The second bride, whom also requested the {BAGUETTE}, sent us a piece of her mother’s dress, this time a detailed piece from the collar. Inches and inches of delicate and gorgeous beadwork lay out in front of us. Due to its intricate nature, we were in a position to decide how best to use this piece to its fullest. The result was this beautiful flower, catching the light at every slight movement. Surrounded by snow white silk, this piece stands forward, unmissable and certainly unforgettable.

The Result.

The Result in Detail.

Our clutches featured….

We were featured on the IMONI Website

…..on a fantastic site!

Many thanks to Jen, at IMONI Events, for featuring three of our bridesmaids collections. She chose a very nice array of our clutches to showcase, like the {FLEUR} Clutch, the {FRENCH} Clutch and the {ALEXIS} Clutch. See the feature {here} and look through the rest of her site. She has lots of exceptional resources for events and, specific to the  link to us, weddings.

Have a wonderful day!!

The {POINK} is here! And we want to give it to you!!

Luxurious leather meets vintage prints in this little wonder!

We are hosting a giveaway! One of these little {POINK}s could be yours! Our newest addition for fall, the {POINK} is made of luxurious, genuine, italian lambskin and found vintage fabrics. It boasts a key clip, a pocket that’s perfect for cards, and a roomy interior for cash or coin.

To enter our giveaway, go to www.ao3designs.com and look around. Pick your favorite design and send it in an email to info@ao3designs.com! Then you will be entered into our giveaway!! The winner will be notified via email on July 31st, 2010.

The beauty of peacock.

A precious piece of woven silk between our fingers often triggers some sort of memory. Perhaps a robe our grandmother wore, or edges of a blanket we used to sleep beneath, or  sitting on our father’s lap and feeling the smoothness of his tie.

The history of silk dates back long before any of my ancestors even existed. It has transcended time because of its beauty and its worth. Some used to travel months and years to obtain the rarest of fabrics. They would trade all they owned for it. Nowadays it is much easier for us to track down, and the selection is broad. A design for every personality.

The beauty of this particular silk lies within the weave of the blues with the golds, the teals with the silver, to create the peacock feathers. A regal creature in its own right, this quality adds to the preciousness of the silk.

We feature this weave because of its versatility and of the different faces it takes on as it fits into each of our designs. It truly can exist anywhere in our body of work.

The {ALEXIS} Clutch in peacock feather silk.

A simplistic looking envelope, this {ALEXIS} Clutch becomes completely glorious dressed in silk.

The Bangle {BAQUETTE} in peacock feather silk.

Beautiful folds of peacock silk surround the centerpiece of  genuine black leather on this {BAGUETTE} Clutch.

The {BANGLE} Wristlet in peacock feather silk.

An easy to wear piece, it slides on your wrist and off you go. Accented with teal satin ribbon and a hand assembled ruffle bow.

Perfect for this bridesmaids collection, the {COQUETTE} Clutch in peacock feather silk.

The {COQUETTE} Clutch really allows the peacock silk to show off. It relaxes into the shape of the {COQUETTE}, letting us see all of its feathers at once. Lovely silver bangles accented with satin ribbons really brings it all together.

This peacock silk is as original and impressive as the bird!

New! The {ARIEL} Kiss Clasp Clutch

We are so proud to present to you our newest addition to the {AO3} Designs family!

The {ARIEL} Kiss Clasp Clutch

This new clutch is such a labor of love.  Something we can really wrap our fingers around. Carefully folded corners edge the bottom to give the {ARIEL} a flattering shape.

This edition of the {ARIEL} is made of  a lovely brocade design with navy, aqua, green, red,  gold and fuchsia feathers. Adorned with hand wrapped bows, fans, roses, and more; all pieced together one at a time, thoughtfully by hand and made of luxurious silk. We sought out vintage pieces, such as brooches,  to center each group of silk. There are even bits of lovely silver leather adding some sparkle to the piece.

Although this clutch can be made over and over, no two will ever be alike. Such individualized care and style goes into each moment of creation, that it would be impossible to make any of them identical. You can hold it in hand, or use detachable chain to sling it over your shoulder or as a crossbody clutch. This is a long overdue creation and we are so happy to be able to indulge in this creative process. We hope that you will love every stitch and every swirl, fan, and bow that we’ve made.

A bridesmaid collection draped in silver

This recent bridesmaids collection is so classic and elegant to us. The colors together are crisp and forward and we love the bride’s selection.

She chose her clutch, The {ALEXIS} Ruffle Clutch, in white ribbon rose swirl. Edged with hand ruffled navy silk and tied up with a navy satin bow. Very classy, very lovely and delicate seeming.

For her seven bridesmaid’s she chose a luxurious silver silk exterior which we lined in a rich navy cotton. Perfect for the wedding, and classic enough to re-wear while out on the town. All the while remembering that incredible day, no matter where they are, the memory lies in hand.

Completed and Gorgeous

Congratulations to our Bride. We know you’ll look stunning!

Something Old, Something New, Something You

In our work, we are fortunate enough to be a part of one of the most important days in a woman’s life, her wedding day. Some days, we match swatches of color, comparing and searching. Somedays, it’s a matter of pulling the right color ribbon. And some days, we are bestowed with a large envelope in the mail. We open it to find, expectedly, part of a wedding gown.

The Dress, The Beginning

Some brides choose to honor the tradition of “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” A tradition that is thought to have begun during the Victorian Era in England, and has been passed down and continues forward. We can create a piece to satisfy, in this case, something old, something new. There is something so beautiful about being allowed to create a piece for such an occasion out of someone else’s dear memories. We take those memories that belonged to a loving someone and we cut it and fold it and layer it and sew it, and wrap all those memories into a new piece of  life. Fabrics that bring us together, that bind us. A brush of a forefinger across the lace, just like the woman who wore it before you.

Embroidered monogram tag and the outer lace from the original dress

We have the privilege of adding to your day. Taking a piece of importance in your history, and making it anew, to complement you and your style. While allowing you to hold the past in your hand, of those who went before you. It starts and ends with fabric.

Something Old, Something New Clutch

Back.

Open.

Inside.

A lovely envelope that fits comfortably in hand. The {ALEXIS} Clutch is perfect for such an occasion, to carry along those little extras you’ll need throughout your day. Atop the inner lace slip pocket, we have added the monogrammed tag with your wedding date. A piece that documents your special day.

Details.

Thank you for the honor of including us to be a minute part of your wedding day.