The vintage look has been around for while now and weddings have been no exception. For many brides a vintage wedding dress is the perfect accessory to a vintage themed wedding. However, there are a few things you need to be aware of when buying a vintage dress for your wedding.
The most popular eras for vintage wedding dresses are the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. The 1930’s and 40’s saw a the wedding dress industry fall into decline mainly due to the depression and the second world war when silk was in great demand for the manufacture of military parachutes. For many brides during these two decades, the luxury of a wedding dress was a distant dream and most would marry in their Sunday best or party clothes. However there were a few who were lucky enough to find bridal fabric and have a wedding dress made. My grandmother for instance was one of the lucky ones as the silk for her wedding dress was imported from the USA to the UK. She still has her wedding dress, wrapped up in a suitcase
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The 1950’s saw a return to the luxury, extravagant weddings not seen since before the war. This was also an age where celebrity weddings such as that of Grace Kelly to the Prince of Monaco and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier - better known as Jackie O, to the future president JFK. Many brides of this era sought to emulate the fabulous and stunning wedding dresses these celebrity brides wore and consequently there are many beautiful examples of 1950’s wedding dresses available today.
What you need to bear in mind with vintage wedding dresses is that the women they were originally made for were likely to be much smaller than women are today. My grandmother for instance had a 16″ waist when she married and that was on top of the 14 petticoats she wore underneath Women were also shorter back then so length will also be an issue. However, finding a vintage dress that will fit you will not be impossible
There are various places to search for vintage wedding dresses with the best being the internet as there are many worldwide sites dedicated to the collection and sale of vintage clothing. You may also find some specialist shops but you may have to travel some distance to reach them. Ebay is another site where vintage wedding dresses often come up for sale, however you need to be careful about what you are buying and make sure you are satisfied the seller is trustworthy.
Vintage wedding dresses were predominantly made from silk which, unfortunately, does degrade over time. Well preserved dresses will stand the test of time better than those that are not well looked after. Constant handling will damage the silk also as the acid found naturally on our hands will quite literally ‘eat’ the fibers. There is also the chance of some discoloration or ‘foxing’ to the fabric which may be removable with specialist cleaning. Tears, splits and holes are not so easy to fix, unless the dress has vast amounts of fabric and the damage can be cut away and patched over - find a brilliant seamstress to do this for you as they can often make such repairs look invisible.
If you cannot find a truly vintage dress that fits you or that you like, then you still have options open to you. Recently many of the pattern companies such as Vogue released a range of their vintage patterns amongst which are wedding and evening dress patterns. This makes it easy to have your own vintage wedding dress made from a vintage pattern. There are also several websites which sell vintage sewing patterns, although again, dress size may be an issue.
Finally many of the bridal wear designers have designed wedding dress with a vintage feel which means you can have a vintage inspired gown made to order. Failing that choose a wedding dress that is a close to a vintage style as you can manage and accessorize it with some vintage jewelry, hair pieces and bag.
Author Resource:-
Georgina Clatworthy is a dedicated full time writer who composes informative articles related to wedding favors and wedding. She is connected with 1WeddingSource, today’s leading wedding social networking planning site.
