dingwedding: August 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Real bride Lucie, in glamorous 1940s lace wedding dress

Dear Reader,
I'm definitely having a 1940s moment. So here, as promised, are some delightful pictures of Lucie in her gorgeous 1940s lace wedding dress.

From the darling flower girls in their delicate hair wreaths, to the beautiful bride herself, everything about Lucie's wedding is so pretty...

Lucie first looked at simpler styles of gowns, but with a little encouragement she chose this stunning full-length 1940s lace wedding dress. With its high neck, fluted sleeves and long, long train, the dress was movie-star glamorous. (It was originally made in New York by a store that Marilyn Monroe frequented!)

And as you can see, Lucie carries it off perfectly...

Lucie teamed the dress with elegant gold peep-toe pumps from Nine West sourced from Shoeaholics (adding the original vintage 1920s shoe clips herself), and beautiful bright blooms.

We've already heard Lucie's own words about the day (see the link to my earlier post, below). So now I'll let the photos of this amazing event speak for themselves...

Thanks to Mark Tattersall for the photos. If you'd like to see more, there's a full feature on Lucie's day on Love My Dress.

Thanks, reader, for dropping by today. And most of all, thanks and huge congratulations to our happy couple... Cheers Lucie and Joe!

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you liked this post, please try

Lucie talks about choosing her 1940s vintage wedding dress

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Inweddingdress Review #35

I ordered from InWeddingDress back in early April with custom measurements and received the dress within the proper time frame. I had lost several dress sizes within that month and knew the dress would not fit however when I did get it it was cut nothing like the advertisement and alterations were impossible. While the dress was obviously baggy the top of the empire waist line rode up too high and the straps were far too short. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and figured maybe my measurements were off and my weight loss could have been an issue. I went back to the site and re-measured and ordered the same dress in a standard size 4 and another one I liked in a 4 as well. I paid for a rush order for both. 2 days after the dresses should have shipped based on their "rush" processing time I had to e-mail them and remind them they had $100 extra of my money and that these dresses were now late.

A week prior to their shipment I changed the shipping address to my home. I received a confirmation e-mail of the change but nothing in my account online had changed. Upon my complaint that the dresses were late being shipped I was sent a tracking number as a reply to only one order number. No other information. Just the DHL link and a tracking number. I e-mailed again to confirm that both orders were under that tracking number. I received another confirmation e-mail that both dresses were in the same package but the shipping information listed in the e-mail was the old location. I e-mailed back AGAIN confirming that the shipping information was also correct and got a snotty e-mail back assuring me of their customer service, stating that the e-mail had my original order information in it and essentially telling me to track the package with DHL with the implied attitude that I was annoying them. I did however receive both dresses within the rush time frame. Yesterday actually.

They crammed BOTH dresses into one of their soft bags instead of supplying a carry bag for each. That was when I first started to think something might be wrong here. I was excited to finally have this part of the wedding done but my excitement faded as I tried on the smaller version of the original dress I ordered. As you can see in the comparison photos the only alterations made to the dress were the size of the cups sewn into it and the size of the waist. The straps were still far too short, the entire torso of the dress hiked up far too high and the amount of material over the breasts was not altered in proportion to the size changes. It's as if the entire bust and middle of the torso is too short and they think they can just add length to the hem to change the dress size. My boobs look like they have on chiffon battle armor. The second dress went much the same as the first. Waist too high. Cups too high. Strap/sleeves too short. I was constantly yanking it down in the front. It's supposed to be a sexy dress with cleavage and top boob showing. There's neither.

So now I'm 0 and 3 with this company and now I'm reading reviews saying how they're impossible to deal with for returns. I've also seen that apparently they like to post their own positive reviews to boost their feedback and over the years and have changed their name, as well as that they tend to swipe photos of designer dresses and photoshop other heads onto the pictures. The actual craftsmanship of the dresses isn't bad and neither are the materials but beware that you're taking a gamble. Chances are the patterns that the dresses in their photos were made from are not the one yours will be made from.

M.K.

Real bride Lisa, lovely in 1940s-style 'Bette' wedding dress

Dear Reader,
Some lovely photos today of real bride Lisa, in her 1940s inspired wedding dress...

Lisa married in Summer and looks so elegant and poised in the dress. She really wears it beautifully. You may recognise the gown as 'Bette' from my Heavenly Collection.

I'm always happy to personalise a dress for an individual client, by adding different finishes. For Lisa, we decided on an original vintage trim of silver bugle beads for the neckline. And we added a belt with the same vintage beads. We were all delighted with the result and in Lisa's words,

"Many thanks again for creating such a beautiful dress, I had so many wonderful comments on the day."

These beautiful original trims are becoming very rare now, and I spend a great deal of time sourcing them for our vintage-inspired wedding dresses. So it's a delight when they add the perfect finishing touch to a perfect bride! Our thanks to Lisa, for sharing her gorgeous pictures.

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you like this post, do look at my other Real Brides

Or try my feature on Bette, the perfectly glamorous 1940s-style dress

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Farewell Lauren Bacall, Vintage Icon and Queen of Cool...

Dear Reader
Sad news today that the fabulous Lauren Bacall has passed away at the grand old age of 89. Let's take a minute to remember how utterly glamorous she was...

Lauren's publicity photo for HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, 1953

From the 1940s and right through the 50s, 60s and 70s, Lauren was always super-stylish - a vintage icon with a very modern style.

Harpers Bazaar, March 1943

Her career was launched after a chance meeting with legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland at the age of 16. As Lauren recalls,

"Vreeland put a suit on me, told me which makeup to use—but very little. 'Betty, I don't want to change your look.' When all was done she put a scarf round my neck—knew just how to tie it, a little off-center—and I was ready for my first sitting with Harper's Bazaar."

The March 1943 Harpers Bazaar cover that resulted from this shoot grabbed Hollywood's attention, gaining Lauren her first screen test, a name change, and ultimately a host of amazing movies and awards.

With future husband Humphrey Bogart in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

Lauren kept a lifelong interest in fashion, and was muse to Yves St Laurent and friends with many other designers including Pierre Cardin and Jean Paul Gaultier. She's even name-checked as a style icon by Madonna in the hit song, 'Vogue'. Here's a few of her great looks, through the vintage decades...