Bespoke Bias cut wedding dress with embroidery

bespoke bias cut wedding dress in the garden

Safiya commissioned a bespoke bias cut wedding dress made up in white silk satin. The skirt was bias cut and cut slim to the hips but with more fullness at the hem and a medium length train. The backless bodice featured cross-over straps with chain embroidery.

Official Wedding pictures by Indigo Images

custom wedding dress in silk satin by Felicity Westmacott
bias cut wedding dress design Felicity Westmacott

Original design sketch

thank you letter

Safiya wrote: The biggest of Thank you’s 2 u. You didn’t let me down. I’m soooo grateful. Bann xx…Thought I’d send you a card to thank you once again. Hopefully then you’ll know how grateful I am for everything you did…

bespoke wedding dress confetti shot
bridal gown dancing

The train of Safiya’s dress hooked up for the evening so she could dance unhindered.

Making the bespoke bias cut wedding dress

close up bullion embroidery silver and gold chain

Detail of metallic embroidered chain. The bullion embroidery was carried out by the specialists at ‘Hand and Lock’

open sides wedding dress with umbrella

The chain embroidery was carried out by ‘Hand and Lock

The cut away back for this bespoke bias cut wedding dress was tricky to perfect, allowing enough support for the front while revealing as much skin as Safiya was keen to have on display. The cross over detail of the straps needed all their angles just so to lie perfectly on Safiya’s body.

We created the pattern for Safiya’s dress and made up a practice run to check fit. The paper pattern pieces for the embroidered panels were then sent, along with the silk fabric to Hand and Lock to be embellished. This is how they looked on their return.

custom embroidery for wedding dress from hand and lock
bespoke fitting picture with open back

Pictures from the final fitting showing front, back and back with train hooked up (plus veil).

If you’d like to see another bias cut wedding dress head over to Katherine’s Art Deco dress in pale gold satin . And if you’d like to talk to me about having your wedding dress made you can use my contact page to be in touch.

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felicity westmacott wearing a hat

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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This wedding dress took the most paint I've ever used for one of my dip-dye creations. 

Victoria's wedding dress is beautiful in part because it's so full, and that fullness comes from layers. So before I could even get to the main event, I had two underlayers to spray, both with long trains.

When it comes to spraying, the best setup is one where you're away from everything else, with good ventilation. Where better than outside? That does mean dressing to keep warm, and in clothes you don't mind getting a bit painty.

But all that effort was so worth it. Victoria chose such a gorgeously unusual colour palette - deepening from lilac, through purple, into black. It's regal, gothic, and has a real fantasy feel. And I think dyeing the full-length lace sleeves to match really finishes off the look.

What do you think of this colour combination?
A bustle this pretty deserves a pretty name 🌸

If your wedding dress is floor length or longer, a bustle is not only a really practical feature to add, it can also transform your gown.

For Emily I did an overbustle with five points. These kinds of bustle usually go up to the waistline, but we brought it down, so if you want a 'proper' term, it would be a low five-point overbustle (or American bustle). 

But I like to simply call it a petal bustle - a much prettier name, and it's what it looks like.

You can tell it's going to move amazingly on the dancefloor 🪩 ✨ 

if you'd like to find out more about what's possible with your dress, the link to book a consultation is in my bio.
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