Brittany- in reworked vintage, mother's dress

Brittany's mom, Jennifer, walked down the aisle in this dress in all its original, 1993 glory. The short puffed sleeves, a bodice of lace, beads and sequin detailed the v-neck, and a flowing cathedral train were the epitome of the era's wedding fashion. Jennifer preserved this quality dress and about 29 years later it fit her engaged daughter, Brittany.

Brittany really liked the idea of wearing her mothers dress, but had been trying on other wedding dresses and was leaning towards a different silhouette. That's where I come in and use my Wild Blue magic to merge the two feelings of nostalgia and modern trends.

Brittany showed me some photos of the contemporary dresses she had tried on and liked. They had common details like deep V-necks, lace straps with transparent backgrounds, and full A-line skirts with. Overall her mom's dress fit her pretty well and it had a lot of similar elements to her dream silhouette, I just had to refine them. 

The first couple steps were the simple updates of removing the sleeves and the sequins. The beads still look glamorous but sequins tend to discolor over time. There is actually a lot of fabric in those sleeves, and don't worry, they didn't go to waste! More on that later...

Next I lowered the V-neck line, artfully working with the existing lace pattern. Flowing with the lace pattern the V line ended up being slightly lower than Britany wanted, so I came back in with a little more transparent lace to fill in the bottom of the V but still leaving it really sexy. 

She wanted as much transparent lace as possible on the shoulder straps. Luckily this dress was pretty easy to remove the satin from behind the lace on the side bodice and create a low V-back as well. The center back zipper was dropped a few inches so that it ended a few inches lower to help create the openness in the back. I also ended up taking the side seams in a little and shaping the bust as well.   

Luckily the length was perfect for Brittany and she liked the length of the cathedral train. That was great because it already had a beautiful lace trim and transparent appliques. So that leaves one of the last steps of thinning out the volume in the skirt and eliminating the V-shaped detail on the lower torso. We decided the best, and least disruptive to the lace pattern, way of doing this was by taking the extra fabric out of the center front. In this process we lost one skirt applique and added a center front seam, but it's not very noticeable, and for the overall silhouette it was well worth it! I also added a couple darts on the back of the skirt to thin out the volume. Then made sure the bustle was still connecting up the right way and she was ready to go!  

All this gorgeousness came together one morning in July, 2022. Brittany, her fiance, close friends and family made an early hike to catch the sunrise from a lookout over Donner Lake. This is where Brittany wore the dress that represented her past and her future in the beautiful ceremony that begin the rest of their lives. 

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to re-worked Jennifer's family heirloom dress for Brittany. Especially because Jennifer, and other friends and family, got to come to all the fittings throughout the process. I feel like this is so special, and a fun way for bonding and connections. Also, this process created very little waste, all materials used were pre-loved, and it supported (my :) small business. A bonus for our environment and local economy!

Thanks for stopping by!! XOX!!