8 Steps to Re-Design A Vintage Wedding Dress

So you’ve received the heirloom wedding dress from your mother and have thought about wearing it.  But wait.. it doesn’t fit!  Or perhaps the style is just a bit out-of-date for your liking? Don’t completely turn down the dress yet – you might still be able to wear it, and make it your own!

Many brides these days are turning to vintage wedding dresses from their mother or grandmother.  It’s become a big trend over the last few years, and only continues to increase!  Think about it – wearing a special gown that embodies the strength, wisdom, and compassion of the women in your family down the aisle on one of the biggest days of your life.  But where do you even start if this is something you just *might* be thinking about?

We’ve put together 8 Simple Steps to Redesigning Your Mother’s Vintage Dress to give you a better idea of what the process looks like!  The entire process can vary in the time it will take to fully complete your dress, and really depends on the number of changes you are wanting to make, but it’s a good idea to start around 9-12 months out.

1. Is There a Possibility?

The first step is to bring the vintage gown to us so that we can determine whether there is even a possibility for you to redesign and wear it!  We’ll examine the fabric, beading, lace, examine any stains, and how it has been handled and preserved through the years (ie, was it placed in a box, or in a pile on the floor of a closet?). Depending on the gown’s age, we may need to work with our vintage restoration department to clean and restore it before working with it.  Sometimes the entire gown can be worn, other times, only parts of the gown or certain fabrics are able to be used for your gown.

2. Let Our Designer Get to Know YOU!

Darcy, our Wedding Gown Designer, would love to learn more about you, your likes, dislikes, things you are drawn to so that she can get a better idea of what you might like.  This step usually includes sending Darcy pictures of other dresses you like – whether it’s parts of a dress (ie. the neckline, or a certain type of beading).  It can also help to share a Pinterest board with Darcy and some of your overall ideas for the wedding, pictures of architecture or places, or any beautiful images that you really feel drawn to!  Darcy is then able to draw a few sketches and come up with some ideas for transforming the gown into something you would love.

3. Meeting #1 – Talk Design and Take Measurements

Next, you’ll set up a second meeting with Darcy to see what she has come up with.  She’ll usually have a few ideas and options for how she thinks you would love the gown to look.  You can then edit the designs from there and talk more about your preferences.  During this meeting, Darcy will take your measurements as well.

4. Show Actual Changes on the Vintage Dress

Once the final design is agreed upon, Darcy will use your measurements to mark up the vintage dress to show where changes will be made.  This could include safety pins, bits of fabric, or ribbon to show the changes.  At this time, the dress will be altered a little to fit your earlier measurements – this could mean the dress might get cut in certain areas, but not always.

5. Meeting #2 – First Fitting

You’ll set up another meeting with Darcy to come in and see the dress as it is marked up.  You will try on the dress to make sure the measurements are accurate and that everything is lined up in the correct locations.  This is the moment when you can begin to really visualize and see the dress becoming YOUR dress!

6. Sewing

This is where Darcy begins to sew your gown – to place lace or fabric in different places and to fit the dress perfectly for you.  Throughout this period, she may be in contact with you for minor tweaks or other measurements.  This is your dress, and you want it to be fabulous!

7. Final Fitting

At your final meeting with Darcy, you get to see the final result!  You are able to try on your dress, make sure it fits, and to show it off to all your best girlfriends!  If there are any minor tweaks to be made, we make sure to leave a little time to complete them.

8. It’s Wedding Time!

Once your gown is complete, we press it to perfection, and give it to you for your big day!  You are going to look beautiful!

0

Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses

Looking to sell your used Wedding Dress?  Perhaps you found a different dress before the wedding that you liked better – now what should you do with the old one?

We realize that not every bride wants to preserve their wedding dress – in fact, a growing number of brides are reselling their wedding dresses in hopes to share their beloved dress with another bride.  This also benefits soon-to-be brides looking for the perfect wedding dress, at a better value.

So where to sell your used dress?  Where to buy a pre-owned dress?  Visit preownedweddingdresses.com –  and explore the possibilities!

As a seller: we recommend cleaning your dress after the wedding and before selling it – you can achieve a better resale value.

As a buyer: we recommend trying it on, and working with a seamstress to alter the gown to truly fit you.  It’s pretty amazing how good alterations can really make the gown your own.

0

Experts Restore & Redesign Vintage Wedding Gown from 1854

Located in the trendy art district of the Loring Park Neighborhood of Minneapolis is a new, vintage-inspired bridal salon that has been growing rapidly through word-of-mouth.  Their latest project? A vintage wedding gown from Scotland in 1854 that has been worn in 3 weddings, and was re-designed to fit a different body type each time!  They were given the task of re-creating the original dress’ form – from a single image!

The gown was originally created around Glasgow, Scotland and first worn in 1854 by Janet Turnbull when she married Matthew Bogle near Shettleson, a suburb of Glasgow.  It is a cream-colored silk gown with a deep royal blue floral pattern (the tradition of solid white wedding gowns wouldn’t catch on until much later).  It was then worn again in 1937 by Christina Bogle on her wedding day. At that time the dress was already at least 83 years old!  There were a few small additions to the gown and a few pieces of fabric were added to the dress and hand-sewn lace was attached to the cuffs and collar.  It was then worn again in the 1970’s, and was cut apart and altered to fit the style of the time.  Our TGR Specialists were able to look at the first image of the dress (in black and white) and re-create the original sizing, pattern, and embellishments!  The dress was first cleaned and restored by  Duane in Stillwater, MN.

The gown has recently been prepared for inspection by the family, and they are looking forward to seeing the gown and witnessing a small bit of their own history.  The family will be inspecting the gown at Treasured Garment Restoration’s location in Stillwater on July 15th at 10am before it is wrapped and preserved for generations to come!

Photos below are of the gown as worn by Christina J Bogle in the early 1900’s, and of the gown cleaned, restored, and finally altered.

Christine J Bogle and Her Father (early 1900s)

Christine J Bogle and Her Father (early 1900s)

Wedding of Curt A. Olson & Christina J Bogle (c 1937)

Wedding of Curt A. Olson & Christina J Bogle (c 1937)

CJBogleJTBullWed (1)

Christina J Bogle wearing the gown in early 1900s

Turnbull Bogle Wed Gwn (2)

The vintage wedding gown after it’s restoration.

Turnbull Bogle Wed Gwn

1854 Vintage Wedding Gown after Restoration and Alterations

0

10 Things to Do After You’ve Found “The One” Dress

10 things to do after buying Wedding Dress

Just because you’ve found “the one” doesn’t mean that your gown-shopping extravaganza is complete. Make sure you cross these items off your to-do list before you head down the aisle.

 

1. Order Your Bridesmaid Dresses

Now that you know the style of your gown, you can begin researching bridesmaid dresses, decide on one you love and place an order. You don’t have to mimic your dress completely, but match fabrics or design details for a bridal party (and pictures) that looks pulled together.

2. Decide on Your “Something Blue”

Whether you plan to pin a piece of blue ribbon to the inside of your dress like Kate Middleton did, or you’d rather slip into a pair of blue peep toes and accessorize with sapphire gems, don’t let this lucky charm become a source of stress by waiting until the last minute to pick it out.

Read more on The Knot.com: 10 Things to Do After You’ve Purchased Your Wedding Dress

0

Professional Photo Session

These are some of our beautiful vintage wedding gown photos taken at our store location in Minneapolis by the talented Jenifer Eligh. We’d love to thank our amazing models for a wonderful day!

0

Wedding Gown Fun Facts

It’s difficult to teach the importance of cleaning and preserving your wedding gown after wearing it on your special day – and we see many gowns stop in months – even years! – after the wedding.  So why is it important to bring your gown to us RIGHT after the wedding?  We can get stains out before they have a chance to set, and we can give your gown it’s best chance to survive for many years to come.  Perhaps for a daughter one day?

Check out the info-graphic below for fun facts and tips about wedding gown preservation.  Don’t make it an after-thought, plan for it in your budget!

infographic - wedding gowns

0

Vintage Bridal Photo Shoot

Last Thursday we had an exciting photo shoot at our location!  We invited a few lucky brides to wear their own wedding gowns, get their makeup and hair done and to pose for the camera!  We’d like to give a special thanks to Jenifer Eligh for her brilliant photography, and Nicole Werner for her beautiful hair and makeup!  Check out some photos from the day:

0

Photo Gallery is now LIVE!

1956 Wedding Gown

1956 Wedding Gown

Check out our NEW Photo Gallery!

This is a small start to the hundreds of photos we have collected from the past few years of preserving wedding gowns! We are excited to share these before and after photos with you – and to really show everyone the endless possibilities that are out there for wedding gowns!

It really is possible to turn that yellowed wedding gown back into it’s beautiful white color!

See the photo gallery here.

0