~ Silently and Very Fast ~ Kambriel gown for Cat Valente

I've been keeping the photos of the custom gown created in celebration of Catherynne M. Valente's multiple Hugo award nominations, including one for "Silently and Very Fast" (a novella that "explores artificial intelligence through the lens of folklore and twisted family, following an entity from its first moments through a swath of human history and beyond.") under wraps so she could premiere it the night of the awards, but now that Cat's tweeted some photos from the event *happening now* in Chicago, I can finally share! :)





The inspiration was a Space Princess ~ fittingly inspired by her book, combining both Italian & Japanese elements. In these photos, the gown appears to be all black and silver, but actually the glittery Italian scrollwork velvet used in two tiers of the skirt ruffles is filled with an Aurora Borealis iridescence of rainbow hues which reflect the light as it moves in person.


This photo's blurry, but is best for showing more of the velvet's shimmering multi-hued Aurora effect:


Kimono-esque, dramatically flared sleeves made from sheer metallic Japanese mesh:


Like starlight in a blackened sky:


And best of all ~ Cat in the gown tonight, looking absolutely radiant tonight at the 2012 Hugos. Good luck Cat!


Edit: ~ And she won w/SF Squeecast! So did this lovely gent named Neil for "The Doctor's Wife"... :)
You can see a complete list of all of the talented Hugo nominees & winners here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/announcing-the-2012-hugo-award-winners
Thank you for capturing the moment Dmitri!


~ Kambriel

[Kambriel.com ~ Etsy ~ Bluesky]