Tuesday, October 11, 2011

my wedding dress >> before and after

my wedding dress: before and after

Well before Robbie proposed, I knew that someday, I wanted to incorporate my mother's beautiful 1960's mod style wedding dress on my wedding day.  I wasn't sure if that meant designing a dress from scratch and just using some of the fabric, or wearing the actual dress and modifying it.  I just knew I wanted to find a way to bring it back to life.

Once I got engaged, my friends kept asking me what my dress looked like.  They were usually somewhat shocked when my response was "I don't know" - up until just a couple of weeks before the wedding.  Instead of deciding on a dress first and foremost like most brides do, I focused on designing the invitations and decor, the food, the flowers, and the music.  I assured myself repeatedly that because I design clothing for a living, that vintage gown on the dress form in the corner of the room was the least of my concerns.  Looking back, I know that my dress procrastination was more realistically a result of good old-fashioned fear.  This dress was so special, and I was scared to change it. My mom had it custom made when she married my dad, from silk that my grandmother had brought her from China. I just couldn't bring myself to take a pair of scissors to something so important until I knew exactly what I was going to do.

As it turned out, that "ah ha!" moment where I was to have a brilliant epiphany about what to do with the dress never came.  I sketched and sketched.  I thought about it in the middle of the night on a regular basis.  But my fear of destroying something so sacred prevented me from getting started.  Eventually, a little over two weeks before the big day, I gave up on making that decision.  Instead, I just sat down and started cutting.  I had no plan. I just cut, tucked, folded and pinned.

And in the end, it was exactly what I wanted - even if I didn't know what that was until it happened.  I ended up basically taking the entire dress and lining apart and starting over, knowing only that I wanted the overall style to remain, but with an entirely different design.  I removed the collar and cut several inches off the hem to make a facing for a new boatneck-style neckline. I created a more modern, fitted design by repositioning the darts in the bust and taking in the side seams at the bust and waist.  I removed the buttons and pleating from the sleeves, shortened them, and took in the arms.  I raised the hem, and removed a couple of buttons.  I tried it on over and over along the way, and took baby steps tweaking until it was just right.


I didn't let my mom see the dress until the wedding day.  She got tears in her eyes the second she saw me.  Robbie had seen the dress as I worked on it, but he teared up too.

I worked on it literally until just a few minutes before we had to leave for the venue, and it was a lot more work than I'd anticipated.  But it was perfect.  And now, as it hangs in the back of my closet, I daydream about giving the same incredible gift to my nieces or future daughter that my mom gave to me: a chance to redesign and wear the most important dress of my life.




Photo credits, from top: Bliss Studio, my grandmother/me, Ray Williams/Bliss Studio, Bliss Studio, Ray Williams


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24 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea, I think it's great for a wedding to renovate something rather than spend hundred of pounds on something commercial and so un-inspiring.

    This is unique and absolutely stunning, you looked great in it :)

    Niki @ LQM&M
    xo

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  2. with all the love, & sentiment in every stitch, it turned out beautifully! it looks wonderful on you. i like the 1960's inspiration. does everyone tell when i 1st saw the photo of your mom in her wedding dress, i thought it was you. what a special dress!
    http://honeybeelane.blogspot.com/

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  3. melissa, you did an outstanding job. you look sooooo beautiful, just as your mother did. i love how its the same dress in two different eras. so very special. i can only imagine the pride your mother has for you. sweet sweet daughter. love this.

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  4. That is such a beautiful dress, with a wonderfully sweet story behind it! I am amazed at the transformation, though both styles are gorgeous! You're right, that is definitely a dress to hold onto for future little ones!

    My aunt and I were laughing this weekend about what she wore for her wedding. she said she wore lime green bell-bottoms and a flowy floral chiffon top- which she then of course offered to let me borrow for my wedding, haha :)

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  5. This is absolutely gorgeous! I love what you did with the dress!

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  6. It looks perfect, Melissa! Just your style and I love that you were able to use your mother's dress. The buttons down the front and the collar are so cute. Also, gorgeous wedding photos! xo, Mary

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  7. So sweet and you look beautiful!

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  8. Stunning! You did a great job. It's still your mom's dress, but it is most definitely your style.

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  9. Amazing transformation and so special!! One of the loveliest wedding dresses I've ever seen. Magical!!

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  10. That is so beautiful and so incredibly special. You looked amazing on your special day! I would have loved to have the sewing skills and my mother's dress to redesign for my big day, but alas- she wore a suit. :D

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  11. I love that you used her dress! Both dresses are beautiful, but you did a great job transforming it.

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  12. Such good tailoring, dude. Those are serious design skillz.

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  13. That was an amazing story, Melissa. Carrying on the tradition but tweaking it and making it modern and yet keeping the overall spirit... you are a true artist! And have I told you you look as a copy of your mother? Especially as brides :)) You are beautiful!

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  14. That is so awesome you were able to use her dress. And you are so talented to be able to do all that yourself. You looked beautiful!

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  15. Thanks so much for the kind words everyone!

    xo,
    m

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  16. That is so great that you were able to use something so meaningful. As far as "destroying" it, you really just gave it new life. It is now more modern, but also you got to wear it rather than it sitting in a closet somewhere. Not a lot of dresses get to see 2 weddings. Your mom looks a lot like you in that pic, had to read to realize who it was.

    Congratulations!!

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  17. That dress is absolutely amazing! I love that it also belonged to your mom!

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  18. You did an amazing job! I love that you kept the same feel of the original design, but were able to bring it into 2011.

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  19. It's beautiful! And that picture of your mom could totally be a picture of you. :)

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  20. this dress is beautiful! and YOU are absolutely stunning!

    I enjoy your blog :) and I'm glad you enjoyed Australia when you visited!

    I'll be visiting the USA (with quite the stint in Chicago!) next year! I'm very much looking forward to it :) any tips would be greatly appreciated :)

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  21. I will be doing this with my own mother's wedding dress. I love the idea of it, and it is nice to see an example of it :)

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  22. OMG! this dress looks perfect! I have a wedding soon and thought I found a simple perfection for me but your dress is way better. totally stands out and doesn't look like 'cake' (I have a weird feeling looking at typical wedding dresses that those women are wearing a wedding cake instead of dress)

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  23. You did a great job and looked stunning, the headband just makes it perfect. I really hate it when people wear the same generic corset and puffy bottom dress. I went for something long sleeved and lacy myself and a bit sixties too! So glad I found this blog, really enjoying reading through all the posts!

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