Vintage Shirt-dress Wedding Gown

I love listening to the ideas that brides have for their wedding dresses. I had previously designedMarin’s friend Laura’s dress and when she contacted me to say that Marina needed a dress also. She has amazing taste too. A vintage vibe, that crosses from 1940’s to 1960’s, if that’s possible!?

The first toile I made for Marina was actually based on an entirely different design, which just didn’t suit once we tried it on, so I ripped it apart and made the dress around Marina on the day of the first fitting.

Marina’s dress was based on a shirt dress, we had this little image in our minds of quite a casual bride, who just wakes up, grabs a dress from her wardrobe and heads off to the chapel! Of course it had to be a bit more glam than that, and it has a nod to 1940’s styling with a princess cut bodice, and puff shoulder sleeves, but that it quite voluminous in the skirt.
We used a beautiful silk wool, and embroidered lace from a vintage collar in a new design around the neckline, and winding down and in between the buttons. I found a lovely piece of ribbon to use as a belt, and I had the most amazing find - a Miriam Haskell gold buckle!

I love that this dress has a definite vintage appeal, but it isn’t tied to one particular era.

Photography by McKinley-Rodger (now in Australia).