Christina

It's hard to keep quiet and hold tight after I've finished a gown till the wedding, but it's been my habit not to show or talk about the gown (with anyone but the family - I have to talk to them!!!), before the wedding so that the bride gets to make a "wow" entrance.  This is not my normal way - I'm usually so excited about the gown it's hard to keep shut - and then after they've done down the isle - I get to show them!!!

And nothing is more fun than the heirloom bridal gown. This gown was the bride's maternal grandmother-in-law's bridal gown, probably from the 40's. Knowing the design (see my blog about pre WWII blog about the use of fabric), it was more like after the war.  Dresses of this period had intricate detail and beautiful beading.

The upper bodice was a cut out net, backed with an organza with the cut-out design trimmed in pearls. There were buttons on the sleeves that fit tightly around the wrist and lower arms.  As is common in these designs there is a puff in the sleeve even if it is small.  The sleeve also has a lot of ease in the elbow. These are the kinds of design fitting techniques that were common before the era of stretch. The gown also had a front inset piece that was the length of the dress, which meant that the length had to be fit from top to bottom - no waist line to fit or use as an alteration. Brides today require a close fit as most of the girls are used to knits, spandex, lycra and all the stretch that is available in fashion today.

This dress was not fit that way. Back in the 50's there were very few stretch fabrics - mostly knits - and designers actually fit "real" women's bodies. (The film "The Women"  was a testament to the different shapes of women's bodies that were fit all beautifully and all by Edith Head).

Understanding what the designer had originally intended and knowing what the girls like today, it was fairly easy to see where this bride wanted to go with this dress as she walks down the isle. The main thing to remember when altering heirloom gowns is that they are not only delicate due to the age of the fabric and threads, but the client usually likes the basic design and fit.  Some structural alterations that didn't destroy the design of the dress as well as a few fitting darts, made this a perfect gown for this bride.

It was a lot of fun to work with this lovely bride and this heirloom gown.