So, after a day of dresses either heinous or the price of a car, Mama Mouse and I were pretty frustrated. We were searching for something simple: lace, texture, not-strapless, sheath, floor-length. I wanted to spend no more than $2,000, but, as Meg notes, cheap lace looks and feels like cheap lace. And in the $0-$2,000 range, we began to encounter horrific dresses. (Boning. Standing Up By Themselves. Sparkly shit. Yards and yards of polyester. Dresses for princesses. Ugh.)Obviously we needed a change of tack. I considered looking for my favorite dresses (1, 2, 3) used. First, though, we got online to see what it would cost to have a lace dress custom made. (Answer: at Dame Couture, the best custom place in Chicago, around $8,000. Yikes.)
And then we noticed something down towards the bottom of the Dame Couture Website: they can "restyle (a) mother’s or grandmother’s dress to make it work for a new generation."
"YAAAAAAH!" exclaimed my mother and I, simultaneously.
Because we hadn't thought of restyling. Back in the seventies, when she married my dad, it was a justice of the peace wearing purple kind of wedding. But she also married my stepdad in the nineties, and that was a lavish wedding. With tuxes. And brunch. The dress she wore to that wedding was a Cavalli she found on sale at Nordstrom, a designer dress that happened to be white rather than a wedding dress. It features lace with sort of squashed, Marimekko-esque abstract flowers, embellished with seed pearls. We ran upstairs (taking the steps two at a time) and I tried it on.
You guys, the bottom doesn't even need any alterations. The only reason we hadn't thought of it is because the top is a turtleneck and cap sleeves. I even remember reading P's discovery of an heirloom dress and thinking, glumly, "sigh, I wish I had a hand-me-down dress to wear." I love the symbolism of it, the idea that the beautiful and passionate parts of my mother and stepdad's marriage might pass to me and He-Mouse.So I'm going to restyle the neck,* and possibly add some lace to soften the lines--or a long, lacy veil--and it will be MY DRESS!
Remember, all this dress shopping happened in a day. Since then, my mother and I have been turning to each other at intervals to wonder why we didn't think of this dress before.
* Probably in double v's like this dress. Thoughts?
16 comments:
Mouse, this is freaking brilliant!! How funny to think the answer was in your mom's closet all along :-) I can't wait to hear about the finished project, you're going to look gorgeous.
I'm hoping to do the same thing - my mom gave me her dress to see if I can do something with it. It was made for her 1969 wedding. Amazingly it fits, but will need to be altered slightly to accommodate my hips (mom was 20ish lbs lighter than I am now) and to make it a bit more modern. :) Can't wait to see how yours turns out!
Wow, that is so awesome! That dress with a v-neck is going to be just lovely, and you are going to look stunning.
Perfect! How very very perfect.
yes, perfect! my best friend is a costume designer and vintage buyer. she did the same exact thing with her grandmother's wedding dress from the 40s and it looked so unique and AMAZING. it ended up being a modern dress with vintage details... nice!
I triple the "perfect" comment! This is PERFECT! And how wonderful to be able to use an heirloom! You're going to look gorgeous. And I love your idea for the neckline. In a way it's a nice tribute to your stepdad too. :o)
Yay! Such a sweet solution. And it must be a relief to be able to be finished with the bridal salons.
Yay! You and your mom did good. Real good. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.
I cannot wait to see the finished dress. What a stroke of brilliance to alter your mom's dress. What is the pattern on it made from? Embroidery?
PC: WHEE!
Gal: Oooh. Email me photos sometime, please!
And thanks, everyone! xo
I'm so happy for you. What a striking (and budget friendly) choice.
that is so fantastic!!!! sometimes things just work out the way they should. i can't wait to see what it looks like!
Hooray my dear!
My moms/grandmas wedding dress is so teeny tiny that my twig-like sister tried it on (when she was 14 or 15)
and it was TOO SMALL. WTF?!? So, that was out for me. (anyways it's coral pink, so it was for the best)
Yay!!!!
amazing! if i hadn't worn my mothers gauzy tea length number dyed purple years ago for a school dance, I'd be striding down the aisle in it too!
that is the perfect solution! that's exactly what i want to do when i get married someday - wear my mom's dress but alter it to be more modern. i really hope it fits!
I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to chime in with another resounding YAY! The lace is so unique, and the sentiment is so lovely, and it's the perfect length already, and I just know the restyling will be amazing. Yay all around.
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