An Un-Recognizable Vintage Re-Make

 

When Jessica brought me her mother's 1970 something vintage wedding gown, and told me what she wanted to do with it, part of me was appalled! But, another part of me was very intrigued!

This gown was one of those very dated wedding gowns - lots of wide lace at the high neck, big sleeves, you catch my drift, right?

 

 

The fabric had aged to a wonderful candlelight pantina - just beautiful! I was in love with the lace at the neckline, cuffs and hem. Absolutley gorgeous!

 

 

But it was hardly a modern girls dream dress. Jessica had actually already purchased her wedding gown, and wanted this vintage gown of her mothers' made into her rehearsal dinner dress. She wanted to use the lace and the original fabric to create a completley new dress.

So....

I removed the bodice lace. Removed the sleeves. Removed the skirt. Basically took it apart and started from scratch. Re-made the bodice into a strapless; cut and re-shaped the skirt into a fitted mini; added that gorgeous lace around the bodice neckline. We decided it needed thin straps for support, as well as the additional foundation I added (it amazes me that these vintage gowns have NO foundation , let alone a lining to most of them!). Some tweaking here, some adjustment there, and

 YA-LAW!!!

 

 

Amost completley un-recognizable! Jessica is a very tiny girl, so the final dress does not fit on my dress form, and I didn't think to get a final photo of it on her :(

 

The lace is still gorgeous, the fabric is still that lovely candlelight color. But the dress is so completley different! Just goes to show what you can do with a little creativity!

 



Beading, beading, and more beading . . .

It's been a while since I've posted here, only because, well, I've been a bit busy. It is high season for Bridal alterations, and though I am learning to pace myself better than years past, my days are still very full.

Embellishments seem to be the thing this year, and at the top of the list is beading. Lots of beading. I have done several dresses that have bodices covered in beading. Covered. As in, no fabric to show through. Lots of work, but even when you are finished taking in  a heavily beaded gown, it really looks no different from the original.

This dress was different. 

The bride chose a lovely gown from
 Essence of Australia, with a fully beaded                   
bodice and straps, cumberbund waist, and
 full, pleated taffeta skirt.










The back, though cut low, also had the beaded
straps for coverage. 







The back of the bodice fit quite well, but the front of the bodice was about an inch too wide across the breast width. Pulling it in in the center
seemed to fix the problem, so (and bless beading for it's forgive-ness!)
I took about an inch wide dart right down the center front, from the top of the bodice to the waist.

She also wanted to get rid of the straps completely.

4 hours of alteration work, and 6 hours of bead work later, and this is how it now looks!

                                                         

Front of bodice

Back of Bodice

It's fun to do a dress where you can actually see the difference a few hours of work can make!