An Elegant Art Deco Dress, Made From Grandma’s Vintage Lace

When Lucy first contacted me, she was suffering from dress blindness. She had tried so many, and been confundled by so many, that she couldn’t determine exactly what it was that she did want!

At first Lucy requested a fairly simple, plain, drop-waisted satin dress - but once her Grandma’s vintage lace cupboard was discovered, there was no stopping us!
Amongst the goodies were a top which had embellished paisley lace all over it which we used for shoulder details and on the hips. A delicate lace collar which I manipulated into a waistband, and an antique nightdress (pictured), which was snipped of all of it’s detail and re-appliqued to the tulle over-skirt in a new design, with excess pearl beads and sequins hand-worked onto the lace to bring all of the details together.

The key to Lucy’s dress was to have a relaxed, draped feel, but to maintain Lucy’s slender silhouette. Lucy wore a slim-fitting satin under-dress, with flowing circular skirts, to which the embroidered silk tulle draped over the top.

Lucy is a stunning girl, I’m absolutely thrilled with the images she had shared with me!
She is a painter and all-round creative, all of the quirky details of her wedding day came together beautifully, from her flapper-style bridesmaids (who look just delicious!) to her hand-decorated marquee. I’m so happy to have created her dress for her!

Lucy wrote a little more about her dress for the Mr and Mrs Unique Blog;

http://www.mrandmrsuniqueweddingblog.co.uk/2014/01/29/a-hove-beach-hut-bridal-shoot/

‘My dress was designed and created by Charlotte at Wilden Bride. When Rob and I got engaged, I threw myself into dress hunting with a vengeance, I tried on so many gowns, and our house was knee deep in wedding magazines. However I quickly became disheartened, nothing seemed very different or personal, I think I went a bit dress blind! Luckily I found Charlotte at Wilden Bride.’

‘We set up a meeting and discussed what I liked and what I felt comfortable in. Quickly the ideas started to flow, and we decided on a 1920’s style dress with a dropped waist and low cut back, from there Charlotte produced some beautiful sketches and a voile.”Originally I had wanted a vintage dress but found they were all much too tiny, luckily Granny let me raid her fabric box and I found some amazing antique lace nightgowns. Over the next few months Charlotte set to work, I’m sure that I drove her round the bend with a constant stream of ‘quick ideas’ but she was always very good at steering me back on course.’

‘The end result is a dress I will always treasure, it is so personal to me and I have the happy memories of the whole design process, which I just loved.’

Photographs by Binky Nixon