Santorini Blue Dipdye Wedding Dress

Santorini greek grecian sky sea bright cerulean Blue Dipdye Wedding Dress

Lisa wanted an elegant Santorini blue dipdye wedding dress, with hints of Grecian style for her destination wedding in Greece.

After a lot of trial and error, I managed to create what I think is the most perfect, vibrant sky blue. I love how this dress turned out, from the peek-a-boo shoulders, to the floaty skirt. And I love how dramatic these photos are! It was a windy day in Greece courtesy of storm Daniel⁠, but that made for some amazing shots.

Keep scrolling for more photos, as well a little look into how I went about creating the vibrant blue ombre for this wedding dress.

Photography – Photocreations

Hair – Hair Spa Mary
Hair accessory – Glorious by Heidi
Belt – Vintage Adornments

Making A Santorini Blue Dipdye Wedding Dress

As usual, I started with the toile, making sure the fit, shape and overall look was approved by the bride before cutting into the real fabric. The toile might look quite different from the finished dress, but it’s an essential part of the process.

During this fitting, Lisa realised that the original ‘cowl’ part of the design around the neckline felt too bulky, so we changed it to a more simple, sweetheart neckline instead.

The Dyeing Process

The dyeing process for this Santorini blue dipdye wedding dress was quite involved, and was definitely a bit of a learning curve for me. I usually dipdye my dresses and overskirts with spray dye, but due to the limitations of the fabric of this dress, I decided to use wet immersion dyes. This is a very different method to spraying and as a result, things didn’t initially go to plan.

Dyes are made of lots of different pigments mixed together, and on top of that, I mixed various dyes together to make the most perfect cerulean blue. However, the capillary action of dye meant that multiple dyes and pigments spread up the fabric at different rates. This lead to the colours splitting. Does anyone remember that science experiment at school? Whilst most of the fabric was going a beautiful shade of blue, some components of the dye crept up the silk above the blue, creating a yellowish tea stain. It wasn’t very obvious but it wasn’t ideal. I hold myself to a high standard, so it was important to me to solve this issue.

I thought I was burning the fabric to start with, since the yellow looked a bit like singed material. Once I realised what it was, I started from scratch and eventually found a solution I was happy with. It may have taken time, but it was worth it to make sure that the bride was happy.

Beautiful Details

Another thing we added, that wasn’t part of the original design, was a jewelled belt. I actually made it from a vintage hair accessory that I had in my stock. We repurposed it into a pretty belt and sewed it on with gold cord.

I also added some blue glass droplet beads at the ends of sleeves. This gave them a little bit of weight, and echoed the blue in the rest of the dress. It’s little details like this that I love to include, and that make my bespoke dresses completely unique.

The Finished Santorini Blue Dipdye Wedding Dress

Final result was this elegant Santorini blue dipdye wedding made in layered white silk-satin and textured chiffon. I made the dress with a lightly boned bodice, with seams from the wide sweetheart neckline to the waist. The back neckline was a V-shape, with the sheer chiffon extending up to a round neckline with a keyhole opening.

The skirt was layered with satin and chiffon and hung in an A-line silhouette in soft folds, extending into a medium train behind. The waterfall sleeves were attached only at the underarm, allowing the bride’s shoulders to peak through, but still covering her upper arms. Finally, I lined the dress with luxurious silk satin and put a concealed zip at the back.

Looking for More Inspiration?

Do you love the idea of adding some colour to your dress, but you’re more of a ‘fiery’ colour person? Have a look at this sunset dipdye wedding dress. Or head to my dedicated blog post about all my dipdye brides.

If you feel ready to take the next step towards having a wedding dress that’s made to fit your body, your personality and your style, then why not book in a no-obligation consultation with me?

Add a comment...

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

Felicity Westmacott

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

Recent Portfolio entries

Read More
follow me on instagram@felicitywestmacott

It’s the night before you’re wedding day. You have your dream bridal outfit ready to go for the morning. But there are a few things you should do before you go to sleep, to make sure your wedding dress is looking its best for the big day.

First up, make sure to hang your dress up high. A curtain rail or a wardrobe door are good choices. And make sure to hang it in a pet and fiancé secure room.

When unzipping the bag, put your finger behind the zip to stop it catching on any delicate fabric.

Your main priority is to get the train out, so it has time to flatten out overnight. Hang the dress in the bag so it’s facing inwards. Leave the shoulders of the bag on the dress to keep protecting the dress from dust.

You’ll want to lay a clean towel or sheet on the floor to protect the train when you pull it out.

Check to make sure the dress is hanging from its dress loops, not straps or sleeves. This prevents any delicate fabrics being stretched out by the weight of the dress. As you can see from the one I’ve chosen, that’s a lot of (heavy) dress!

On the wedding day, your dress can be taken completely out of the bag. To prep it for the photographer, turn it round so it’s facing the front, and pop any straps or sleeves, back onto the hanger so it looks its best..

And that’s about it. It isn’t very much, but it can make all the difference, and avoids any unwanted wrinkles, especially on your dress’ train.

Let me know if you have any other tips and tricks!

(Shout out to @engaged_bridal_studio for inspiring this post 🙌🏻)

#wedding dress #customwedding dress #weddingdressinspiration #bespokeweddingdress #bridalboutique #surreywedding #sussexwedding #londonwedding #weddingdaytips #weddingdresstips #bridaltips
This wedding dress is inspired by the same era that Titanic and Downton Abbey (well, some of it) are based on; the Edwardian Period.

The corseted bodice fits close to the body, and is made of panels of silk chiffon over luxurious duchess satin. Trimmed with satin ribbon and embellished with hand sewn lace appliqué and tiny glass beads. 

I love the tiered skirt so much. With three layers of gathered chiffon and trimmed with more intricate lace, giving it a perfect vintage feel.

There is something so timeless and elegant about this wedding dress, don’t you think? If you love this design, you can either head to my Etsy shop, or drop me a message if you'd like it made entirely to your measurements and preferences.

#weddingdress #edwardianfashion #edwardianbride #edwardianweddingdress #periodweddingdress #vintageweddingdress #seamstress #bespokeweddingdress #customweddingdress
If you're curious about what I get up to in my breaks at the shop...now you know!

Inspired by @theadhdpersonaltrainer 🥰

#handstand #handstandpractice #upsidedown #handstandprogress #handstandshapes #feetuptrainer
With spring finally appearing, it was time to update my bridal shop display window.
(If you're curious what it was last month, you can look at my previous post...if you're a fan of dip dye, I think you'll really like it)

I wanted to create something that was full of verdant texture. I feel really strongly about single use plastics, so I always try to either re-use elements from previous window displays, or gather things from nature. This time I used a floral garland by @muscariwhites and added dried flowers from the hydrangea bush in my garden, as well as ivy, and anything else I found that I thought would look pretty.

For this display, I featured two dresses. Usually it's three, but when one of them takes up so much space, I had to make sacrifices! I chose the sumptuous pink Evil Queen dress, as well as the lilac dip dye Bridgeton dress. Both of them are historically inspired (the former by Elizabethan fashion and the latter by Regency), but also have fantasy elements to them. Completely my style as a wedding dress designer.

Which dress in this display is your favourite?
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