There I was at the Goodwill outlet digging through bins, which is a past time of mine, and I pull up this old ivory silk wedding gown. I know what you are thinking, this girl is crazy, and what in the world is an old vintage gown doing balled up with the curtains? It's still a mystery. I really thought it was a curtain at first since it had a huge train. I thought to myself, what if I could do something with this dress? So I bought it. For two dollars.
I called up my client Mrs. Donna, who used to make wedding gowns, and to my surprise after seeing it said she would work on it and that it was even possible to restore it to a new life. I was pretty excited about the transformation it was about to take. It was in amazing shape with literally no damage, which makes me wonder if it was ever worn. It had no labels so someone custom made it a long time ago. All original fabric covered buttons still in tact, puffy sleeves still going strong, long train, working zipper. The before still cracks me up.
After several fittings it really became a dream dress. The length was perfect so we didn't have to change the hem at all. ( Which is a miracle because I'm 5'11 ). She gave it a sweetheart neckline and added some sparkle trim to the top. She did all new lining and boning since the structure inside had to be made several sizes smaller. Then I put together the sash using a grey ribbon and lace and hot glued fabric flowers and a beaded appliqué I had. It was so easy to make a bridal sash. Those things can cost a fortune! It turned out great and brought it all together! I loved having a unique dress that had history to it. It makes it fun to have turned something that most brides spend thousands on be a special one of a kind find.
Don't laugh too hard at the before! ;)
Your dress is really beautiful!
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