Help! My daughter doesn't like my wedding dress.
If there’s one thing I love even more than wedding dresses, it’s seeing a bride wearing her mother’s wedding gown. I love this for two reasons. First, I’m sentimental and it makes the day even more special for mom and dad. Second, it’s a great sustainable option for brides who are waste and fast-fashion conscious.
But not everyone loves their mom’s dress. I’ve seen my fair share of 80’s puff-nightmares (if you love that puff sleeve, more power to ya- I just can’t do it) and would definitely not say “yes” to that dress.
So how do we include these (sometimes) gorgeous vintage dresses that have been cleaned and lovingly stuffed in a closet, taking up precious space, just waiting for the day till the some-day daughter says “I do”? I’m so glad you asked!
Remaking The Dress
Sometimes, at first glance, bride-to-be’s can’t envision the possibilities of a vintage wedding gown and this is where a talented bridal seamstress can step in and be of help. I usually begin by asking the bride “what detail of the dress do you find most beautiful?” This usually tells me if the fabric, lace, beading, bodice, silhouette, train, neckline, sleeves, etc. will be the inspiration and focus of the new dress design.
I recently created a custom bridal piece where the bride was not interested in remaking the dress to wear during the wedding celebration. In respecting that choice, we talked through some other options to repurpose the dress, let’s walk through them.
Wedding Garter
This trend has been around quite a long time, chances are your grandma had a wedding garter too! This is an easy custom item to ask your seamstress to make for you. A little goes a long way with garters, you don’t need that much fabric from the dress. You can also harvest little details like lace, beading and ribbon to really identify it as being from your mom’s wedding gown.
Hair Piece+ Custom veil
Many vintage wedding gowns have beautiful lace appliqués that can be peeled off the gown and made into gorgeous toppers for hair or veil combs. The lace can also be applied onto any veil style you choose. Even if the lace has yellowed a bit over time, it can be brightened up by soaking in special detergents and laid out in the sun!
custom Handkerchief
Add some of mom’s lace to a handkerchief for all the happy tears! You could even embroider bride & groom’s initials and date, and leave room for your children’s weddings as well. An heirloom handkerchief!
Detachables and Separates
Detachables are trending now: bridal anklets, bridal cuffs, detachable sleeves, detachable trains and wedding skirts…
Don’t forget the flower girls!
Just because the bride might not want to wear it, doesn’t mean someone else can’t! Flowergirls pull off all kinds of styles that we might not wear ourselves. Try making the flowergirl’s skirts out of mom’s dress or custom hair bows!
Wedding Decor
Try incorporating parts of the dress into this list of decor items!
- Ring bearer pillow
- Picture frames for “those who are watching from heaven”
- Bouquet and boutonniere wraps
- Memory patch inside your wedding dress
the “getting ready” robe
And last but not least, what will you wear while getting ready?!
This is one of my favorites to make for brides because there are many options of styles to choose from, regardless of what mom’s dress looks like. The only restriction is the type of fabric and how much there is to work with. My most recent client chose this option and we were able to make a kimono-style knee-length robe with lace cuffs, hem and trim down the front. See the process below!
Custom Bridal Process
Let me walk you through this process. This dress was made of the most beautiful silk chiffon and had some really elegant details in the bodice and back. The lace was also gorgeous and in great shape so I knew we had to highlight it.
I started by choosing a pattern that would fit a range of sizes, since the mom wanted this to be an heirloom item that could be passed down to her two daughters and granddaughters. We chose a kimono-style wrap around robe for this reason.
I then cut out the body and sleeve patterns, conserving as much fabric as possible. This is essential when working with mom’s gowns because you never know who may want to use the remaining fabric that is left for other items, a baptismal gown, in this case.
Time to remove the lace from the train to use for the hem, trim and sleeve cuffs of the dressing gown. It was a little yellowed so I soaked it in a bit of oxiclean and hot water and hung it out in the sun to brighten the whites.
In assembling the pieces, I took care in using fine pins so I didn’t damage the vintage fabric. Then I thought, this must have pockets! So I added those last-minute as well.
After harvesting the fabric I needed for the dressing gown, we still had the entire bodice left untouched, and enough of the skirt to make the baptismal gown! The finishing touch was a bit of embroidery on the inside. The design was made so many generations of women in the family could wear this gown and adding more hearts and their initials and wedding date!
In the end, the daughter was more than pleased to wear this special garment as part of her celebration and mom was overjoyed that her gown will experience many weddings to come!
Book a consultation
Hope this gave you some ideas of how to give your mom’s gown an invite to the party! If you would like to work together on the reimagining of a mom’s gown, click below to schedule a consultation.
