old gold and blue silk dupion coat and dress for Irene, Mother of the Bride

mother of the groom silk dupion natural thai coat and dress old gold and blue
Irene had very firm ideas about what she wanted to wear to her daughter’s wedding. The dress and coat ensemble was designed to take her from a cold January daytime to the black-tie evening party. The dress was made from old gold silk dupion, lined with silk satin. The boned bodice has a v-neckline front and back with hand beaded detail over the ruching at the shoulder. The dress was cut princess-line with a slim shape fitted down to the hip and then the skirt was a slight a-line. Splits from the hem up the seams revealed shot silk chiffon panels to flick out as Irene walked. The splits were graduated in height, higher at the back than front with hand beaded detail highlighting the top of each one.

The coat was made from thicker silk dupion woven in gold and blue and lined in silk satin. The coat was also cut princess-line and slim fitting with box pleats at the back to kick out as Irene walked and echo the dress below. A deep plunge v-neckline revealed a little of the dress beneath while the stand-up collar was elegant and kept out the cold. The long sleeves were gathered to the shoulder and finished with wide cuffs in old-gold silk with contrast buttons. The coat fastened with concealed hooks and eyes with ruched panels drawing the eye to the vintage brooch I sourced to complete the look.

mother of the bride custom made to measure dress gold silk
Mother of the bride dress and coat by felicity westmacott: blue and gold silk dupion with hand beaded highlights, design sketch

Original design sketch for the dress

Mother of the bride dress and coat by felicity westmacott: blue and gold silk dupion with hand beaded highlights, design sketch

Original design sketch for the coat

To begin with Irene wanted the front hem of the coat to curve up and reveal the dress beneath. During the fitting process she changed her mind and the coat was eventually made with a straight hem.

ruched detail on dress coat with cuffs and brooch fasteningIrene asked me to source her a brooch to complete the look of her dress. We found this vintage one on etsy.com for £60 which is faux pearl and lapis lazuli.

bespoke hand embroidery embellishment occasionwear seed beadThere was hand embellishment to the shoulders of the dress with ribbons of torn silk chiffon and tiny seed bead all nestled into the ruching to add texture and sparkle

delicate torn chiffon and hand beading embellishment by Felicity Westmacott
The hand beading at the top of each split was created to echo that on the shoulder. Each element became more ornate as the splits got longer around the sides and back of the dress.

thank you letter testimonial recommendation of Felicity Westmacott Bespoke dressmaker

Irene Wrote

Dear Felicity, Thank you so very much for making my dress perfect. I’m thrilled to bits. Also thank you for managing to fit me into your busy schedule, it’s very much appreciated. I hope we meet again in the future, and have fun with that adorable kitten.

Silk bow ties for the groom and groomsmen by felicity Westmacott

Irene also had accessories made in matching fabrics for her husband and various members of the bridal party.

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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). ⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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🧡 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