Woodville artisan brings fantasy to life
Meaghan Fuller ships exquisite clothing as far away as Australia, Scotland
Meaghan Fuller’s client list mirrors no other: a New York woman being the latest to retain the Woodville clothing designer, asking her to create the perfect replica of a dress worn by Winona Ryder in the 1992 film Dracula.
Meaghan Fuller’s client list mirrors no other: a New York City area woman being the latest to retain the Woodville clothing designer, asking her to create — from scratch, mind you — the perfect replica of a scarlet dress worn by Winona Ryder in the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola film Dracula.
Figuring the movie won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design this is no simple task.
“I wish to God there was a pattern that existed for this,” says Fuller, pausing for an interview in her working studio a few steps behind the home she shares with her husband and three young daughters.
“She [the client] had to have it, and it’s all silk,” the artisan explains. “This first skirt alone — and there’s going to be two skirts — has 18 yards of silk pleated into it. And it will have a bustle. An overdress then drapes around the front. Just this one skirt took me about three weeks. I was literally going three-at-the-most pleats at a time to get it to lay flat and then I have to sew it underneath to get the pleats to line up.
“So I was literally going three quarters of an inch at a time,” she continues. “When all is said and done [the finished dress] will contain 26 to 28 yards of silk.”
Fuller was a young teenager when she discovered her love of sewing, creating — sans pattern templates — playful costumes for friends, which later grew into mystical designs popular at renaissance festivals. Soon, Strike Daekins Designs was born — historically inspired fantasy gear to exquisite wedding designs, customized in Rappahannock County for customers around the world.
“California. Australia. I just shipped two to Canada,” she rattles off. “I shipped recently to Ireland, France. I can ship anywhere. I have pictures of a wedding in Glasgow that somebody sent back to me. I’ve done several Scottish weddings.”
Fuller’s maiden name is Deakins, one of the spelling variations coined more than 10 centuries ago by the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of the British Isles, thus the company name Strike Daekins Designs.
“It was a ‘rallying cry’ that the family used, and is on our family crest,” she explains. “I just always liked the sound
of it. My logo and signage have lions and a star, based off of the coat of arms/crest.”
It’s easy to see why the designer’s daughters see their mom’s studio as a whimsical playhouse, adorned as it is with spools of thread in every imaginable color, straw baskets and hats ringed with colorful feathers and ribbons, horned headpieces and floral crowns, mannequins and skeletal hands, not to mention two antique dollhouses being brought back to life.
“The studio is a fantasy world to them. They love coming in here and seeing this,” she says. “My oldest is appreciative of art in general. She’s wild, always running around, but then she will suddenly stop and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so beautiful!’”
So how does one take yards of fabric and thread and customize a dress worthy of royalty?
“It’s kind of strange, before I go to sleep at night I’m visualizing how this is going to work, and for some reason that’s how I get the best ideas. It’s like I’ll get stumped and I’m literally going to sleep on this,” Fuller says. “And I wake up the next morning and say I can fix that!”
She has on display an embroidered blue Victorian day dress she made for herself to wear to one worthy period event.
“And I did a Game of Thrones costume for myself last year that turned out really awesome, I did armor and everything. That was pretty fun to wear I have to say,” she recalls with a smile. “The more elaborate the more I love working on it.”
Fuller similarly adorns her children in myriad period outfits and costumes, including new miniature 18th century gowns the girls will model during an upcoming photo shoot in Williamsburg.
She also keeps busy conducting handfasting ceremony classes, teaching the ancient Celtic custom that was common in the British Isles through the mid 1700s, when two people declare themselves engaged or married for one year and one day. It’s where the expression “tying the knot” originated, as a couple’s wrists are actually tied together during the ceremony. On the 366th day the couple can either declare their marriage permanent, renew their living arrangement for another year and a day, or else give each other a kiss goodbye and go their separate ways.
“It is based on old Celtic traditions,” Fuller educates. “I have taken liberties with designs and broadened the appeal to many different walks of life and different religions, or non-religious. Couples have appreciated them. They seem to have become really popular in the past 10 years.”
The Woodville designer is easily found online and along the Rappahannock Artisan Trail, and similarly appears at regional festivals, fairs and other events, including the annual Christmas in Little Washington celebration and more recently Sperryfest. She will also have a booth at the 2019 Virginia Scottish Games, held in The Plains the weekend of Aug. 31-Sept. 1.
Or perhaps you’ll catch her out and about in Woodville. “People ask me to hem their pants,” she laughs, “and I’m like, ‘Ugh, I can, but I’d rather be doing something else.’”
“Before I go to sleep at night I’m visualizing how this is going to work, and for some reason that’s how I get the best ideas. It’s like I’ll get stumped and I’m literally going to sleep on this. And I wake up the next morning and say I can fix that!”