The first beautiful bride I showered in silk and beads was in second year of uni. She was a graduating student with a very limited budget for her dress. She felt very inspired by the wedding dress worn by the main character’s sister in the movie 27 dresses. I designed, pattern cut and constructed the dress over two months alongside my course. The major issue we had was the distance we lived apart and could only see each other three times over the course of this time. This taught me how to do fittings well and ensured that I collected all the information I needed to get it to the right stage for the next fitting. I found the most perfect crisp silk white taffeta in a fabric shop in washington called Dainty’s that sold fabric at a very reasonable price. The beads used at the middle were clear swarovski crystals. The only item that was bought was the petticoat and as a total cost the dress came to about £130 including the petticoat. Now if you don’t mind me saying myself, thats a bargain! And she looked incredible!
My second achievement was my own wedding dress. As a creative artist I inevitably was incredibly indecisive on the design. Thankfully my sister had got married the year before and so the huge stack of bridal magazines that she inherited were passed on to me. I literally scoured the magazines for any elements that could contribute to my unique design....and then had to choose what not only looked good but also reflected me well. My husband-to-be told me that he liked, and I quote, ‘The duvet style dresses’...say what? I had to somehow interpret what that meant and add that into the big concoction of silk, frills and tulle. The absolute no brainer was to have a big,white dress. Only planning to get married once and was willing to go all out for it! I definitely wanted to embrace being a bride.
In the end I settled on two really different styles and fabric choices which eventually dissolved down into one. What a relief that was. I love the Bohemian hippy styles and for years had dreamed of getting married outside barefoot with flowers in my hair. I didn’t quite get that far but went with that style. As a mini lady myself leaning on dwarfish measurements I knew that it was either an empire line or low bohemian waistline that would compliment my figure the best- not going for the average waistline for me. The low waistline really accentuated my upper body figure and made me look taller. I wanted something really fitted as loose dresses just drown my petite figure. I used the panel cut reinforced with corset bones to create a very structured top. The top was then topped with a gorgeous, heavily beaded lace that I absolutely fell in love with bought from London’s Mucculloch and Wallace. The lace extended up and I made wide really delicate, decorative straps. I attached a ruffled piece lower than the waistline to fit round the hips and then to flow out into a big semi-full circle skirt. I also made the petticoat to be fitted under it. My husband gave me a teary-eyed smile as I walked down the isle towards him- so in short I count that, a success!
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