The Bridal Time Machine
Throughout my years of sewing, I have stitched countless
custom gowns for brides to wear on their big day, including my own. I always
feel incredibly honored to be the person trusted with creating the dress that
is so central to the moment that two people are united as one. In situations
where I have the freedom to create a gown that has a historical slant, I am in
total bliss. I adore historical costuming, and I think weddings that borrow
style from times gone by have the perfect combination of flair and elegance.
Here are two of my favorite bridal projects, created for two of my favorite
people!
My friend Stephanie has always had that vibe that she's actually from another
era. She's also cute as pie, so I have used her as a 1:1 scale doll on several
occasions throughout the 14 years we have known each other. She's an incredibly
good sport.
Back when Stephanie and her now
husband began dating, I was flipping through a book of historical garments on
display at The Kyoto Costume Institute, and I came across a photo of an
incredible beaded gown from 1911. Stephanie and I were working together at the
time, and I walked to her desk and said, "If you and Josh ever get
married, I found your wedding gown." When I showed her the picture, she
loved it and asked, "But where am I gonna get that dress?" "I
will make it!" I replied.
I'll admit: at the time, I thought
Josh was a rebound boyfriend. Little did I know, I'd have to make good on my
offer! (I was thrilled to do it, though.) The dress was made using a silk
charmeuse under slip and an overlay of english net, which I spent the next five
months beading. Seeing her descend the grand staircase in the venue where she
was married was worth every moment spent hunched over all those hundreds of
thousands of teensy beads. Every inch of the dress was covered - some areas
with clear, slightly opalescent seed beads to give it a bit of soft sparkle,
others with more obvious pearls and silver beads to replicate the design we so
loved on the original garment. She wore the dress beautifully, and it meant the
world to me to have contributed to her wonderfully unique big day.
Carrie
is another dear, darling friend, and when she first got engaged, I immediately
wanted to talk about her dress. She and her husband are film buffs, so I began
instantly trying to think of fun ways to borrow from classic movies to find the perfect gown for her. We even talked, at one point, of subtly referencing Elsa
Lanchester's gown from Bride of Frankenstein.
Carrie
wanted something unique, but she also wanted to please the members of her
family who had envisioned something slightly more traditional. We talked about
iconic movie gowns for a looong time. I have always thought Carrie would look
divine in a Victorian bustle gown, and thankfully, I had
a flash of inspiration and Carrie loved the idea. We decided to use Mina's red
gown from Braham Stoker's Dracula as our inspiration, but we chose a subtle
shell tone of dupioni
silk instead of the red fabric used in the film. I altered some of the
details to suit Carrie's taste and make it more wearable for a full night of
eating, dancing and celebrating.
The
best moment of that wedding? Carrie's adorable mother Polly telling me I had
created the perfect dress for her little girl. We had so wanted to please the
fantastic Mother of the Bride, and we had. Mission accomplished!
Don't forget to check out our entire collection of Special Occasion Fabrics when you're tackling your next formal wear project!
Your blog was wonderful - making your own wedding dress makes it all the more special - I was married in a outside hippie ceremony 38 years ago and made my own dress - It was the typical granny dress of the era made out of white dotted cotton. I finished hemming it the day of my wedding (talk about last minute rush!) It cost a grand total of $10 - $15 dollars. Combined with a crown of white daisies it was perfect.