Non-Traditional Wedding Dress-- where do I go?

Hiya,

This might do more than raise a few eyebrows, at this forum as well as on the Day, but I would like to wear a vintage or vintage-style dress... in red...

The bridesmaids will also choose their own outfits, and I'd like to give them free rein within a vintage theme.

Anyone got any ideas? I want a great dress that I can wear again, but without spending thousands and thousands of pounds. Is that unrealistic? Anyway,  I live in Central London, so if anyone has any ideas, that would be great!

Thanks!

Flaurena xx

One word - eBay!

I'm sure this is obvious, but you'd have a better time of it trying to find a white/ivory vintage dress and dying it red.   

Peedal-- I am roaring with laughter! Really? Gosh, I must take a look

Thanks!

Lolabola,

Thanks for your reply-- that could work... have you tried anything like that? Uh-oh, might have too many options now!

xx

Lolabola,

Thanks for your reply-- that could work... have you tried anything like that? Uh-oh, might have too many options now!

xx

I haven't dyed a wedding dress, but I have dyed other garments...or had them dyed.  If it were a wedding dress, I'd definitely take it to a professional to be done!   

Keep an eye out for white/ivory/red bridesmaid's dresses, too.  Many of them look just like simple, elegant wedding dresses, but for a fraction of the cost!  One of the dresses I considered when I was looking was a BM dress, and it was only $199, whereas a very similar wedding dress from the same designer was $800!   

I second the ebay vote!!!

Do you sew or know anybody who sews well?  If so, you could get a pattern and make it.

There are a lot of fantastic period costumes in the pattern books at fabric and sewing shops.  In particular, Simplicity, Butterick and McCalls all have a good selection.

If you can do it yourself, or know somebody, you might be able to find the style you're looking for and pick out the fabric yourself.

Good luck!

there used to be a dressmaker in Camden who made all kinds of gorgeous wedding creations including vintage - of course i cannot remmeber the name of the shop .. it was something or other and daughter - and it was an upstairs shop inside the stables market area - i am not sure if it is still there. if the name comes back to me i'll let you know. sorry that probably isn't much help is it?!

I would definitely go with the eBay option as there is always tons of stuff on there to find.

However, if you're really looking for something vintage, I'll go and take a look on this site that I found when I was looking for dresses and I'll see where the locations are that have vintage bridal shops. I know that most of the one's that I saw were in Nottingham, as that was too far from where my husband lives. I'll see what I can do though about getting that for you.

Dying a dress shouldn't be too much of a problem, however you must be careful of how delicate the material is. I definitely don't suggest you doing it yourself, might want to research some places in your area that would be willing to dye the dress for you.

Good luck hun!! x x x

YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL!! Such fantastic ideas from you all. Thanks so much for giving me lots of options!

I am hopeless at sewing (just about managed name tapes for school) but I'm sure I know someone! Or I could crawl the streets of Camden (round the corner from me) for that shop! Or find a professional dyers! Or look on Ebay!

Thank you all! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Can I just say, I think I may have found something at Monsoon, for only 185 quid!!! Looks like I'll be dyeing  my wedding dress!

Thanks, everyone xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Try Debenhams. You may find a red dress there. Check the designer dresses and evening dresses sections.

Ebay is definitely a place to look, as well as if you find the dress in white, take it to a professional and dye it red.

the other thing you can do is visit some of the more local wedding shops, as in the ones with an actual seamstress.  Or simply find a professional seamstress and have her make it.  So many people forget that route.  And it ends up being what you want, and at a fraction of the cost of getting it at some "vintage" shops and high street stores.

I remember when I did the wedding ceremony for one of my good friends, they got married on October 26th and had a Halloween wedding with costumes, and the bride made her own dress which was a wedding dress, only in a gorgeous blood red with white edging and a white veil with a red ribbon.  And it did not look homemade at all. In fact...only the wedding party knew she'd made it.

Good luck!