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Desperate bride-to-be requires wedding dress help - Apply within... please!

79 replies

Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 20:39

Im to get hitched next year and I REALLY want a 50's vintage inspired tea / ankle length style wedding dress. I'd like it to have a lace overlay at the top with 3/4 length sleeves (to hide a hideous tattoo, regrettably acquired during a daft rebellious phase in my teens Blush)

The only problem is I've scoured that t'internet til my eyes bleed! I can only find really expensive ones or very cheap ones that have to be ordered abroad from such places as China. I don't think Im brave enough to have it made abroad, which will also probably be stitched in subsiding crumbling factories by hungry children barely out of the womb(!), so I'd rather a British based shop/designer please.

I particularly love designs by Brighton based dressmaker Joanne Fleming, her collection is absolutely out of this world! But shes grown in popularity in recent years, and her dresses have shot up in price, averaging at around £1500. I particularly LOVE the designs based on her 'Annie' dress (pics attached)

I really want to find something similar in style but a tad cheaper, preferably under the £1k mark. Can anyone help....Im so desperate Im considering just turning up in a Primarni number!

Thanks xxx

Desperate bride-to-be requires wedding dress help - Apply within... please!
Desperate bride-to-be requires wedding dress help - Apply within... please!
Desperate bride-to-be requires wedding dress help - Apply within... please!
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SunnyL · 11/05/2014 20:43

I don't know any designers but have you thought of approaching a dress maker. There are a few patterns out there that sound like what you are asking for and a good dress maker would be able to adapt them to what you want. I'm in Edinburgh and know of a few dress makers who advertise their services for making dresses. Would be far cheaper than £1000 and would be totally unique.

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Blueuggboots · 11/05/2014 20:45
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MrsMaturin · 11/05/2014 20:47

Given that you know EXACTLY what you want I think a dressmaker is the way to go.

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Blueuggboots · 11/05/2014 20:48

Bit of a long way from Edinburgh, sorry!!

Also might be worth a look on here?

www.20thcenturyfoxy.com/en/index/a1

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Blueuggboots · 11/05/2014 20:49

Oh, sorry that was another P in Edinburgh, not the OP!! GrinGrin

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SorrelForbes · 11/05/2014 20:54

Have you tried Dolly Couture? They're US based but ship to the UK.

I ordered one of their off the peg dresses for my wedding and it was stunning (unfortunately it didn't arrive in time but this was my fault entirely for ordering a week before the big day and giving an incorrect address!).

I didn't dare try it on when it did arrive as I would have wanted to keep it, but I did have a peek in the box and it was absolutely beautiful.

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Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 20:57

Thanks Blueuggboots, just had a look at the link you provided but it states at the bottom of the page "...wedding dresses start at £1000. Plus I live in Maidstone in Kent so Birmingham is a bit far to be fitted for a bespoke dress. Thanks so much though, as it still has lots of inspiration for vintage styling!

Hi SunnyL, yes I've considered dressmakers, Joanne Fleming is one such dressmaker. Each dress she makes can be based on ones she has already designed, and then tweaked to your own requirments, or totally designed from scratch...which is why she charges so much as each brides dress is unique. But I think this is a still good suggestion - I think I'll continue to look into dressmakers in my area...

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Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 21:02

Yeah I've looked at Dolly Couture - some absolutely fab dresses on here, particularly like this one:

dollycouture.com/collection/off-the-rack/off-rack-walnutcreek-dolly-couture-gown-sale-3792b.html

But still just not quite sure. Although I have book-marked it and will be considering it for a back-up if I have to

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gingerroots · 11/05/2014 21:10

I had a Lou Lou bridal 50s style dress louloubridal.co.uk I loved it & felt amazing.mine was exdisplay but think it was £800/900 full price.good luck with your search Smile

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emsyj · 11/05/2014 21:14

I had a Joanne Fleming back in the days before she was popular - I am 'Emma' of the 'Emma' dress fame! Grin

My friend's mother in law has a dress shop that you might be interested in - she's in Heswall on the Wirral, it's called Look Darling and you can try on some of the Dolly couture styles plus lots of others. I started it up to cater for other brides looking for 50s style wedding dresses after having my own made for me back in 2008 (because I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere). I sold it on to Elaine when I was pregnant with DD2 but I still feel very connected to the 50s dress style!

Having seen many brides myself, I would say please go and try some on - you may be surprised that what you like on a screen is very different from what you like when it's on your body. Out of maybe 70 brides I met, only 2 of them ended up ordering the dress they had liked on the website (and one of those flat refused to try anything else on at all, she was so in love with one specific style). Many many many of them were surprised that what they liked when trying on was totally different from what they had expected to want.

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Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 21:16

Yep LouLou is on my list too lol. Beautiful dresses. But I found that LouLou don't have their own shop/website, you just have to scour and trawl through the list of hundreds of stockists - which I've started to do but still haven't found a stockist in the south east who have a loulou dress that quite hits the spot for me... yet! Will keep looking though, thanks x

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NoArmaniNoPunani · 11/05/2014 21:18

I got my 50's style dress from here for £800

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tinkerbellvspredator · 11/05/2014 21:19

If you find one you like with short sleeves you could get a (good) makeup artist to cover up your tattoo is it's small and do your make up for the day as well.

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Creatureofthenight · 11/05/2014 21:21

Have you looked at //www.KittyandDulcie.com they are very reasonable. //www.Fairygothmother.co.uk have some lovely ones. Or check somewhere like //www.preloved.com for designers like Candy Anthony, though these can still be quite pricy even second-hand.

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emsyj · 11/05/2014 21:22

Sorry I assumed from your user name that you were in the north - if you're in the SE have you looked at visiting Cutting Edge Brides? They specialise in 50s style tea length dresses and are based near London.

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emsyj · 11/05/2014 21:23

I've seen the Kitty & Dulcie dresses in person at a photo shoot and they are very nice quality for the money IMO.

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Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 21:25

Ooooh thanks emsyj, have just checked out the website and really love some of these styles! Loving 'Shirley' and 'Audrey' - although Audrey has short sleeves which wouldn't disguise my embarrassing and ugly tattoo - I hate myself for that bloody tattoo cos Im really limited with my dress now Sad

Its just a shame your on the Wirral, its rather far for me to go as Im in the south east, otherwise I'd be there in a shot...

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Dukketeater · 11/05/2014 21:27

There is a really cool new dress shop in Caterham (about 30 mins from Maidstone) junc 6 of M25 - try them

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emsyj · 11/05/2014 21:27

You can get your tattoo covered for the day as a previous poster has said - a makeup artist would be able to do this for you using waterproof and transfer-proof products. Just a thought if you did find a dress you love that shows the tattoo.

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McFox · 11/05/2014 21:29

This is my dress www.google.co.uk/search?q=ian+stuart+cadillac&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#facrc=_&imgrc=GGwU0mAapVzI-M%3A;undefined;http%3A%2F%2Fcdn1.ianstuart-bride.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F12%2FCadillac1.jpg;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ianstuart-bride.com%2Fdress%2Fcadillac%2F;600;800 and I was told that I could have it with sleeves if I wanted to. I LOVED it, perfect 50s style. It might be worth having a look to see if there's something similar for sale nearby that can then be adapted - mine is for sale but I'm also in edinburgh.

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FarToGo · 11/05/2014 21:37

The Candy Anthony shop is on the South bank in London. It's an appointment only deal.
They have the most amazing dresses.
A friend of mine had hers made, "inspired" by a dress from there.
Lovely.

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Y0rkshirePudding · 11/05/2014 21:39

tinkerbellvspredator - can you get make-up to cover tattoo's? That would be great! It is only smallish so may look into this... I'd still love the style of dress I've mentioned but may consider shorter sleeves if the tattoo can be covered with make-up...hmmm

Creatureofthenight - I have tried sites such as eBay and Preloved etc for a second-hand number, as I really don't mind if its been preowned providing its clean and in vgc, but not come across anything I like yet. I've book-marked thefairygothmother but still nothing that screams out at me at the moment. Not tried Kitty&Dulcie but have just had a quick gander and think could be a very good site! Will be checking this one out in more detail - thank you x

NoArmaniNoPunani - Have also looked at Ocean Bridal who have some and really like 'Eve' in their T-Length collection if it had longer sleeves...but may bookmark it now that someone has made mee aware of tattoo-cover makeup!

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eurochick · 11/05/2014 21:43

Candy Anthony dresses are amazing. I'm not sure they would be cheap enough though.

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emsyj · 11/05/2014 21:44

You would need to counteract the blue colour with a red and then cover with your skin tone - I would personally pay someone to do it rather than doing it yourself, there is a skill to it and it will take time to make it look perfect. Dermablend do a cover up product that would work, but you would need to practice if you want to do it yourself. tutorial

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