Edwardian lace wedding dresses: two rare original beauties

Dear Reader

As I mentioned last week in my post on Edwardian flower crowns, I've just photographed these wonderful Edwardian dresses which are new to my collection. You are the first to see them!

Edwardian wedding dress 1.

Edwardian wedding dress 2.

I was thrilled to find these dresses, as original Edwardian gowns are now very rare, particularly in such fine condition. These gowns are each 100 years old! They've lasted so well as both are made from cotton - a lovely strong fibre that has many years of life left in it. And with the popularity of Downton Abbey, Edwardian wedding dresses are very much back in fashion. 

EDWARDIAN DRESS 1

Edwardian Wedding Dress 1 (with 1930s under slip), price £1350

Dress 1, pictured here, is a wonderful old-fashioned deep cream colour which used to be known by the French name 'ecru'. It is made in a charming mix of lace styles, all hand-dyed using natural dyes - most probably tea.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 1 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1350

In Edwardian times, the dress would have been worn with a whale bone corset, a bodice and petticoat underneath. Here, I have matched it with an original 1930s satin petticoat - a beautiful garment in its own right.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 1 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1350

The Edwardian bride it was made for had a 23 or 24 inch waist. But my clever seamstresses have invisibly adapted it to fit a modern 26in waist.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 1 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1350

This lovely dress is currently available from my West London studio, priced at £1350 (inclusive of 1930s satin slip).

EDWARDIAN DRESS 2

Edwardian Wedding Dress 2 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1250

Dress 2 is a similarly classic Edwardian style, again using a variety of cotton lace styles. The colour this time is a purer white.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 2 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1250

Again, the dress would originally be worn with more complicated undergarments, but I have teamed it with a simple and elegant 1930s satin slip, which gives a lovely warm hint of shine under the lace dress. The white lace is perfectly complemented by a delicate ballet pink silk ribbon tie.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 2 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1250

This dress also was originally made with a 23 or 24 inch waist and has been cleverly and invisibly adapted to fit a 26 inch waist.

Edwardian Wedding Dress 2 (with 1930s satin slip), price £1250

Dress 2 is available now in my West London studio, priced at £1250 including the lovely original 1930s slip. Just email or call to book an appointment if you'd like to see these or any others from my extensive collection of around seventy original vintage wedding dresses. (Some of my original dresses can be found here on the blog.)

As I mentioned in my post last week, I've complemented the dresses with an original Edwardian flower circlet - brought to life by the addition of fresh greenery. I hope you agree that the dresses, and circlet, are each so delicate and beautiful.

A big thank you to Robert Lawler Photography for the images. And - as always - thank you for dropping by today! Hope to see you again soon.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

All photographs c. 
Robert Lawler Photography

www.robertlawler.co.uk

Ali, in her beautiful 1950s vintage wedding dress

Dear Reader

Today's real vintage bride is Ali, who chose this beautiful 1950s dress for her wedding.

Like so many of the best 1950s and 1960s wedding dresses, this chic and simple gown was inspired by Grace Kelly's 1956 wedding dress. (Many wonderful photos of that iconic wedding can be seen here.)

With its very fitted bodice, elegant lace sleeves and boat neckline, the dress suited Ali's lovely neat figure so perfectly. And in Ali's own words,

"I adored the dress. I felt amazing in it, and my husband loved it!"

I have two or three beautiful examples of this style in my collection of original vintage wedding dresses at my West London studio. Do contact me if you'd like to come and visit.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

Accessorising vintage wedding dresses: Edwardian flower circlets.

Dear Reader

For each of my vintage wedding dresses, I love to picture the whole outfit and imagine what accessories will work best. Today on my vintage wedding blog, I'm writing about the current fashion for fresh flowers in the hair, and the origins of this lovely trend.

Model Evelyn Nesbit, photo 1903

Traditionally, a country bride wore a wreath made of local wildflowers. Depending on the season, she might include branches of leaves and wheat, wrapping them with twine to create a natural flower crown or circlet. 

In contrast, wealthy and Royal brides typically wore tiaras. Until, in a break with tradition, Queen Victoria rejected the usual diamonds and chose a romantic orange blossom head-dress for her 1840 wedding. 

Queen Victoria's orange blossom bridal crown, 1840

Her husband Albert even commissioned a whole set of jewellery in the same style, as an anniversary gift. Victoria was thrilled and wrote in her journal, 

"My beloved one gave me such an unexpected present, a wreath. It is entirely his own design and beautifully carried out. The leaves are of frosted gold, the orange blossoms of white porcelain and four little green enamel oranges are meant to represent our four children."

Queen Victoria's gold and porcelain 'orange blossom' jewellery

The custom of brides wearing orange blossom had originated in ancient China where this flower symbolised purity, chastity and innocence. Following the Crusades, the idea spread from the East slowly across Europe, becoming popular in England by the early 1800s. At one time, the phrase 'to gather orange blossoms' became synonymous with 'to seek a wife'.

If orange blossom was not available, wax replicas were made in the form of tiny flowers and buds. These became very fashionable in Edwardian times and continued through the 1920s and 1930s. 

1910 bride in delicate Edwardian flower circlet

1925 bride in floral crown

And these delicate wreaths have now been reinterpreted as contemporary 'hair vines'. But many of the original antique ones are still very wearable, and are so beautiful.

This week I photographed two lovely models in original Edwardian wedding dresses. To complement the gowns, I twisted fresh foliage around an antique Edwardian circlet. The new leaves completely brought it to life - do check back next week to see the pictures. 

Model Evelyn Nesbit, photo 1903

It's surprisingly easy to add greenery to a headpiece. Many types of foliage last very well out of water. And if they are already flexible, they don't need any special wiring. Ivy, for example, is lovely just twisted around an original circlet. 

Model Evelyn Nesbit, photo 1903

I hope some of these wonderful original images have inspired you to think again about natural flower crowns and antique wax flower circlets. 

Thanks so much for dropping by today. And please do check back next week to see my original Edwardian wedding dresses. 

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

Inweddingdress Review #32

Hi there,
I decided to bite the bullet and order online and based on the reviews decided to go for inweddingdress.com.
The dress I ordered was this one:
http://www.inweddingdress.com/style-de226.html
It arrived after only 15 days (over Christmas and New Years too!) and arrived as the other dresses have in a small pillow(ish) packet and inside out.
The quality of the dress is remarkable, and I love how it turned out.
I had it custom made to my size, but it is still a little big across my bust and stomach, but when I was measured I erred on the side of caution and added half an inch to my measurements which could account for this.
The lace feels lovely, and the inside material is very soft.
I added a corset lace up back which I think suits the dress. I'm very happy with how the back looks, and think it only needs taking in a little at the front.
I would definitely recommend inweddingdress to others. I was impressed by their service and the emails went back and forth until everything was settled. They wouldn't start until they were sure I was sure!
Good luck to everyone else ordering online!

 M.C.

Kappbridal Review #1 and Orangebridal Review #1

Update: 4/8/2014
Kappabridal.com changed their domain to
http://www.orangebridal.com/

I did a lot of research before buying my dress online and ended up ordering it from kapprabridal.com 

I was really picky about the style of my wedding dress. I found the perfect one on KappraBridal and just went for it. 

I was extremely pleased with my dress!

This is a link of the dress I order:

http://www.kapprabridal.com/pronovias-italico-wedding-dresses-p-1959.html

I ordered it on 6/13/2013 and it arrived in California on 7/15/2013. 

The staff are very friendly and prompt with replying. 

The material and detail were high quality. 

I lost some weight by the time of the wedding so I wish I would have taken tighter measurements (since the arms were a little big).

I chose the whitest color for my dress (there are off-white and ivory color options)

There are over 13,000 dresses to choose from. Just let them know your measurements, fabric color and special instructions. 

I highly recommend ordering from KappraBridal.com

V.K