BEX’S BESPOKE WEDDING DRESS STORY

Bex’s design came together quite easily as we were talking through the various requirements for her dress last year. The only question was which variation of unusual back design she might want, so I sketched up  a few options and sent them over to her. When she’d her design we could make a start on the patterna nd the toile (the mock up version of the dress).

For the fabric, Bex knew that she wanted something with a bit of a sparkle and that she didn’t want anything floral. Beyond that she wasn’t particularly clear. After showing her some samples in the studio there was a sequined, beaded, geometric shaped fabric that she really loved and thought that she wanted to use for the top half and so the goal became to find a different fabric for the skirt that tied into the design, while not completely matching.

It seemed like the best thing to do was to take her fabric shopping so she could see, feel and consider the various options without being limited to small fabric swatches. We headed to Soho, first stop a lace agent with the office tucked into an upstairs office behind Oxford Street. We riffled and rummaged through hundreds of sample hangers and pulled out the ones that caught Bex’s eye. We narrowed it down until she had her favourite from the pile. But she wasn’t completely sure about it and it was then that she told me that she’d done a bit of her own research and had seen a fabric in a fabric shop nearby, The Silk Society, that she wanted to have a look at. It turned out that the beading and sequins on it matched the first one perfectly, but in a cascading design that worked perfectly for the effect we were trying to achieve. Once that fabric was bought it was up to us to get on with making the dress.

The making process went really smoothly and  we put a hold on it until a month before the wedding as Bex was loosing a little weight. When we reconvened it became apparent that Bex had lost a lot of weight and that it wasn’t a simple matter of nipping it in a little at the sides. In the end we remade the whole of the bodice to make sure the fit was perfect and had it ready just in time for the wedding.