Queen Megan Feringa reigned over the 2018 Achaeans Ball in her custom RDH gown. The design was inspired by the gown worn by her Great-Grandmother, Barbara Bouden, as Queen of Carnival in 1935. After a visit to the Louisiana State Museum’s collection to examine Barbara’s gown, we let the ideas flow and got to work! Playing off of, and modernizing, the beading motif we hit the jackpot when we found a gorgeous lace on our annual sourcing trip to NYC. The lace featured dimensional flowers which, after being embellished with Swarovski crystals and silver cording, were appliquéd to the skirt. The shape of the flower petal was also the inspiration for the custom beaded petal shapes on the bodice and the skirt flounce. The shape of the flounces mimic the shape of her great-grandmother’s glorious train.

It's always a fun challenge to have a theme to incorporate into a design! For the Phantom Host Ball (in Montgomery, Alabama) in 2017 the theme was "Versailles," and we narrowed our inspiration to the gates and gardens located at the Parisian palace. Queen Liza Hunter stunned in this fully hand-beaded golden gown which combined 2 different laces and beaded fringe!

Her Majesty, Miss Beth Carter, descended the stairs for her debut as Queen of Caliphs of Cairo 2018 in a gown by Royal Design House! For Beth we designed a subtle gold gown which we appliquéd with a white cameo lace that we found in New York City. We embellished it with thousands of gold bugle and seed beads, Swarovski crystals, and dyed-to-match rhinestone trim.

Queen Callee Rome, Caliphs of Cairo 2016, wore a custom gown which was inspired by her passion for marine biology. We went for an organic and flowing design, much like seaweed dancing in the sea. Each tendril was individually placed, appliqued, and then hand beaded, in the creation of this gown.

The second set of photos shown here are of a gown we created for Callee to wear for her presentation as a Debutante in the 2016 Rex ball.

It was all smiles from the Queen of Mystery 2018, Miss Julie Charbonnet! When she first came to us we knew she wasn’t the floral type, yet she had a softness about her that we wanted to portray in her gown. The moment we spotted this lace we knew it was perfect for her. The delicately beaded lines portray strength in their repetition and the scroll work embroidery adds a gentle elegance.

Not only do we always work hard to ensure a perfect fit when making a custom gown, but we also strive to create one-of-a-kind pieces that compliment each woman’s tastes and personality.

In the top photos you are seeing Rex Maid, Ellen Feringa, in her custom RDH suit and her mother, Kara Feringa, ready to view the Rex parade from Gallier Hall on Mardi Gras Day, 2018.

The third and fourth photos are of the gown we designed and created for Ellen for her presentation as a Maid at the Rex Ball that night. In fabric shopping for this gown we encountered one of those magical moments where we found the perfect fabric to make our vision come to life! The finished gown was completed by the fully beaded bow at the back, which made quite the statement as she made her approach to the King and Queen of Carnival at the Ball.

In the last couple of pictures you will see a gown we redesigned and reconstructed for Ellen for her Achaeans debut. She came to us with her grandmother’s homecoming gown from the 1950s and an inspiration picture. We were able to breathe new life into this beautiful vintage gown by creating a more modern bodice and reviving the skirt with some careful work with the steamer. It was a perfect match for Ellen’s romantic style and a special moment for the Feringa sisters to both be wearing gowns with family ties as Megan reigned over the Achaeans Ball.

When Kelly Ellis found out her daughter, Emily, had been chosen to be the Queen of Achaeans for 2017, she wanted to wear something special for the night, too. In the course of our design meeting we could see she was drawn to dramatic vintage details, and from the very beginning was intrigued by doing something in a bold tangerine. Once we found this amazing, vivid, ribbed silk in New York City the rest of the details fell into place. It features a Sabrina neckline, princess cut bodice, and flounces on the sleeves and skirt.

When the 2018 King of Hermes and his wife came for his first design meeting with us he realized that we also make custom gowns. He knew that in the months leading up to his reign his wife was going to be very busy helping him with all of the tasks that go into a King’s year. He thoughtfully wanted to be able to take away the, “What on Earth am I going to wear?!” stress by having a gown made for her, and called us to help make it happen. After bouncing back and forth on design ideas we landed on the final design which featured an inset peplum and custom beadwork. We even ordered a swatch of their youngest daughter’s pink dress to make sure the embroidery work was a perfect compliment!

When the decision was made for RDH to make the new Rex Ball costume for the 2018 season our first stop was the library at the Historic New Orleans Collection to look through their archives for inspiration, followed by lunch at Antoine’s so we could peruse their photographs as well. (We have the best jobs!) With the year's celebration of the New Orleans Tricentennial, we wanted to honor Rex's long and storied history in the city. We were inspired by elements from various items such as 1971 Queen Pauline McIlhenny Simmons’ dress, a motif from the 1911 royal mantles, and the ducal from 1886. With this imagery in mind we came up with a wonderful new design for the appliqués and rhinestones that incorporated these ideas and played off the idea of the symmetry of the Rex butterfly as well.

We searched high and low, from New York to Los Angeles, for the perfect shade of gold fabric and eventually ended up custom dyeing a piece of metallic gold lame for the costume’s base. In the end the new King’s costume is adorned with approximately 26,000 Swarovski crystal rhinestones and over 50 yards of golden metallic cording, all hand-sewn in our New Orleans studio. Hail Rex!

Wanting to freshen up his Parade and Ball looks, the Captain of Hermes had us design and create two new costumes for him in 2017. The first three pictures are of the new Ball costume with inspiration coming from various points of Hermes’ history and using a beading technique seen in vintage costumes where the crystals are sewn directly to the fabric. The last three pictures show the new Parade costume which pulls inspiration from iconic imagery of past Hermes balls such as the backdrop from the 1957 ball.

In 2018 it was time to get the Captain of Proteus into a new parade costume. Referred to as, “the most artful parade,” Proteus is known for its use of shell imagery in many of its designs from floats to invitations. The shell appliqué we designed for this new costume was inspired by a mixture of past shell motifs and the filigree on the current King’s crown. We were thrilled to incorporate the sea blue rhinestones which are also a part of the King’s and Queen’s jewels.

We not only make Queens' gowns, we also make their elaborate Medici collars! Each Club owns their own, unique, collar for the Queen to wear at the ball, and we make new ones as needed. In addition to the ones owned by the Clubs, we’re always up for making a Queen her very own custom collar to better coordinate with her dress! The collars are made, starting with the wirework and finishing with the last rhinestone, in our shop so every detail is customizable.