Valerie's native language is French but her English is excellent compared to my French. She described the image and fashion to me and gave me permission to reword her description. The part in quotes are her words.
Valerie obtained the embroidered tulle with irridescent beads and mother of pearl sequins from her Indian textile supplier. She wanted something transparent and light even though the fabric is quite heavy due to the beading. Once she had the fabric the style of the dress came easily.
The idea behind the image's mood is "inspired by the magic of Christmas. Salvation is the concept that other higher power, as part of Divine Providence, saves Humanity from spiritual death or eternal damnation by providing for them an eternal life."
Post processing was done in Photoshop through the use of multiple layers and lots of skill!
You can see more of La Pierle's work at Etsy and Flickr.
Congratulations, Valerie, on the Picture of the Week Award.