Art Deco silk and lace bias cut wedding dress for Katherine

boat neck wedding dress bloused bodice scrunchie tie groom

A contemporary fusion of 1930’s and Victorian fantasy elements went into the design of Katherine’s wedding dress.

Official photography by?Debs Ivelja

The main dress was made of buttermilk coloured silk satin and ivory lace with subtle gold thread running through it. The bustle was made of silk chiffon in five subtle dusty-pastel colours and ivory tulle ornamented with a beaded trim.

I also made the groom’s scrunchy-tie in fabric to match the bride’s dress.

confetti shot art deco bride cream pale gold

The style featured a bloused bodice with boat neckline and beaded shoulder detail. The main dress was cut low at the back and filled with beautiful lace, with scalloped edging on the neckline and a button and loop closure.

An extra long sash wrapped around Katherine’s waist more than once and tied to one side with waterfall ends, trimmed with metallic beaded lace. The skirt was bias-cut and had a little puddle train behind. The main dress fastened with a concealed zip and decorative buttons in an Art Deco style, square with a little diamante sparkle to each.

low back wedding dress with Chantilly lace

The back of Katherine’s dress was inspired by quite a different style to the front. The low lace back balances the dramatic bustle made in layers of ethereal tulle, lace and chiffon

Katherine wrote:
Thank you so much again for all of your fantastic work everyone just loved the dresses and kept commenting on how unusual mine was!!!
Take care
Katherine. Xxx

beaded lace applique detail mixed metallic

Detail of metallic beaded lace trim, used at shoulder, on sash and top of bustle train.

art deco church wedding bespoke dressbloused wedding top bodice with veilbride and bridesmaid in church wedding bias cutvictorian bustle inspired wedding dress

The bustle back was made of tulle, delicate lace and torn chiffon. It buttoned onto the back of the main dress so it was removable for later in the day.

bias cut art deco wedding dress

vintage wedding dress and carbride and bridesmaids art deco wedding

I also made Katherine’s bridesmaids’ dresses, click here?to see more pictures.

cathedral veil bride with train 1930'smade to measure wedding dress sleeveless satinlifting the hem pale gold wedding bespoke dress

silk satin and lace wedding dress with waterfall sash

The wide satin sash wrapped twice around Katherine’s waist before draping in a waterfall to one side. The edges were weighted with exquisite metallic lace appliqu?.

tulle and silk chiffon train bustletulle and silk georgette bustle wedding dress

The amazing bustle train was removable, though in then end Katherine loved it too much to take it off on the day! She could have unfastened the buttons and loops hidden under the sash leaving just the dress beneath to have a simpler look. The bustle was made to look like ‘something found in grandma’s attic’ – clouds of ivory tulle with waterfalls of torn-edge silk chiffon in palest pink, cream, grey and mint. Lace left over from making the back bodice was tucked in and brought the bustle together with the rest of the dress, despite disparate design inspirations! More of the metallic beaded edging trimmed the top of the bustle, on the two ‘bow loops’ padded out to be really ‘bustley’ for the luxurious look Katherine craved.

ceilidh wedding dress dance groovy bride

Never let it be said a dress has to get in the way of dancing!

bride dancing in satin and low back dressbride and bridesmaids dancing train hookup

Making Katherine’s Dress

original design sketch by Felicity Westmacott

Original design sketch

calico fitting picture toile practice run

Pictures from the toile (practice run) fitting.

bias cut wedding dress fitting picture made to measureAn intermediate fitting in a partly made dress

tulle bustle wedding dress torn edge chiffonFittings with the tulle bustle, before and after adding the torn silk chiffon layers.

fitting picture tulle bustle sash and trimDetail of the bustle with lace applique pinned on

Detail of the beaded lace trim to the shoulder and art deco button fastening in the delicate chantilly lace.

shoulder applique detail bespoke wedding dressart deco button and loop detail

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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Since 1753, when the Marriage Act first came into existence, UK marriage law has come a long way. Some things have taken much longer than they should have (I'm looking at you, 1991 and 2013, 2023). But there's still more than can be done. The association of @independentcelebrants is campaigning for the UK government to follow the recommendations of the 2022 wedding law reform report.

"At least 10,000 wedding ceremonies a year in England and Wales are led by independent celebrants. These ceremonies are perfectly legal to hold, but as it stands a celebrant cannot perform a legally binding marriage – that part must be done separately, meaning added inconvenience and cost for couples."

I'm all about supporting couples to have the wedding day of their dream, and that rarely includes having to find time and money to go to the registry office.

If you want to help with this, then you can spread awareness! Share this post, or make your own. Talk about it with friends and family. And once you've done that, you can always get in touch with your local MP. The Independent Celebrants website has a PDF guide to help you with how to go about doing that.

Is this an issue you're aware of? Is there anything I've missed out?

#ChangeWeddingLaw #SpeakUpForCelebrants #LegaliseCelebrantWeddings
I created this Regency-inspired wedding dress for a Bridgerton themed wedding shoot. I used modern fabrics like tulle, beaded lace and shantung, but with period accurate details like the empire line waist, square neckline and boned stays (corset). ⁠
⁠
I love to work with versality when it comes to my creations, so the dress was designed with multiple layers; the main dress has an embroidered tulle bodice and asymmetric beaded lace skirt. A lilac and pink dip-dyed tulle skirt can be added over the floral train of the main dress for some dreamy ombre magic. A lilac silk dupion 'spencer jacket' with hand appliqued beaded lace completes the ensemble. ⁠

 All these options make it possible to have lots of different looks throughout your wedding day. ⁠

Which Bridgerton character can you imagine wearing this outfit?

~
#regencyweddingdress #bridgerton #historicalweddingdress #periodwedding #colouredweddingdress #dipdyeweddingdress #surreydressmaker #londondressmaker #vintagebride #romanticbride #weddingveil #purpleweddingdress #bespokeweddingdress #fantasyballgown
Now and again I'll take one of the wedding dresses I've made, and break down some of the elements. So, if there's something you love about a dress, but you don't know the 'proper words' to reference them, hopefully this will help you out.⁠
⁠
This beautiful 1950’s style wedding dress with delicate cream lace over golden-orange silk has lots of really scrummy details:⁠
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🧡 the opening at the back of the dress is called a keyhole (or you could call this a slit opening). This one is closed at the top with three covered buttons.⁠
⁠
🧡 the base dress is made of a beautiful russet orange silk dupion, with dark ivory lace layered on top.⁠
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🧡 the base dress is essentially a halter neck, with a turn over collar at the front, with the ivory layer providing semi-sheer, full length sleeves.⁠
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🧡 the edges of the ivory layer are cut along the floral pattern of the lace, making a pretty scalloped edge.⁠
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🧡 this length of skirt is called 'ballet' or 'ballerina'.⁠
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🧡 the front of the dress has a line of false buttons (buttons that are just there for decoration), that match the buttons at the back.⁠
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Those are just some of the details of this dress. If you have any questions about anything else, just leave a comment. I could talk dress making all day!⁠
On my birthday, 43 years ago, I was gifted a beautiful name...does it suit me?

Felicity means "happiness", from the Latin word meaning "good luck" or "fortune". Shortening to Fliss is good, but never Flick!

What about your name? Does it have a meaning?
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in