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

[Y0rkshirePudding]

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 )

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

Aaaaall the sleeves... www.cuttingedgebrides.com/tea-length-wedding-dresses-c22/sleeves-t100

Amaxapax that dress is beayooooooooooootiful... I love Blue Bridalwear -their fabrics are gorgeous and they get the ballerina length and skirt fullness just right.

Sorry ladies, I sloped off last night to watch Fargo (I love this series!)…

Tethersend – just have to say a big thank you, your tireless efforts are so appreciated, you’re an absolute ANGEL! You’ve found some real beauties that I’ll be looking into today [BIG HUG]

Dukketeater – Thanks for the name of the shop in Caterham, will be looking into this, thank you!

TheHouseatWhoCorner – The Romantica dresses are beautiful, and I have considered them, possibly purchasing one then having it taken up to tea length as there is a stockist of Romantica in Maidstone where I live.

McFox – when you say the Ian Stuart dress is on sale for less than half that price now, do you mean in a shop/online somewhere or do you mean your own? Im happy to consider pre-owned if you’re selling yours???

KeithTheCat – wow that Alfred angelo dress is magnificent! Im far too petite for a dress like that, I’d look a prat in it lol. But I am seriously considering the dressmaker/seamstress option to make alterations, providing it all comes under £1k

Amaxapax – Wow that is an absolutely beautiful dress. However for a 2nd hand dress that would require alterations (you are a 12 and I am a 6-8 and only Im only a short-arse at 5’2” so would need altering to fit my small frame), I would only want to pay no more than £500 as I’d have to consider the cost of alterations too. I wouldn’t insult you with that offer because you could easily sell that stunning dress to someone of a size 12 for the price you want… Im gutted though its gooooorgeous! It fits you like a dream hun.

CurlsLDN – yes you’re right, the photography online for Cutting Edge is awful, it really did put me off. It makes the dresses look like cheap tat imported from China, especially as there also a lot of them! I did dismiss Cutting Edge if Im honest. But on your recommendation I think Im gonna drag my mother-in-law up there and take a proper look in their showroom – thank you for that reassurance.

I will look at stockists of Blue Bridalwear, BUT on their website it does say their HQ studio in Cardiff stock dresses STARTING at £1600 – eek!

This is on Ebay, size 10 / 12 finishes in 7 hours.

LumpySpacedPrincess - I know, I just searched for LouLou dresses on eBay and saw it too! Only prob is I don't have £499 to spend right now to buy it as that's her starting price! . Gonna put a watch on it though as she might relist it if it doesn't sell...
It is a size 10 - can dresses be altered down to an 8? She also says she it is a 32" bust, Im a 34B so could it be altered to fit me? I have absolutely NO IDEA when it comes to dressmaking!

No worries! I'm sure you'll find something gorgeous. I know that Blue Bridalwear did have a sample sale recently, but I think most of them are around a 10 or 12. Still, worth looking at. I really fell in love with my dress and don't regret it at all, but it was more than I planned to spend. You're wise to look for something more sensibly priced!

Yeah I've looked into lots of sample sales, but as the average woman is a size 10/12 they are the only sizes sold in sample sales...humph!

Oh! Also! I have a tattoo on my right shoulder which I didn't want to show. Dermablend make up is kind of the standard for covering tattoos. I bought a sample pack of several shades from Amazon. Actual tubes of Dermablend is very expensive, but this little pack was just a fiver or something. My make up artist just gradually applied several layers and covered it with powder. It stayed on all day, you couldn't see it at all and it was a very economical solution. There are lots of tutorials online about it.

And thank you, emsyj. I feel very lucky to have been able to wear such a gorgeous dress. I felt amazing on the day.

I use dermablend foundations to cover my old acne scars and blemishes, I never realised they did tattoo covering makeup too! This is now opening up a bigger selection of dresses for me - Im so pleased! ... so glad I posted this, you're all a massive help xxx

I did mean that I'm selling mine, sadly you are half my size!!

Oh Sew Vintage ? she takes commissions.

Op sorry i havent completly read the thread, im ill flu. Cutting edge brides in Bexley just off the A2 do exactly what you want and are not too expensive either. Go and have a look as its not far!

OP, the lady who sold me my frock said that dresses can usually be altered up to two dress sizes down. Any more than that will not feel properly fitted as the scale will be wrong. Hope that helps.

cutting edge bride have spme end of line dresses on their ebay shop that may fit what u are looking for, I tried one on and was impressed with the quality, they are £150 so are a real bargain, I have bought my dress from modcloth.com, but I would suggest looking at unique vintage and trashy diva.com as they all do that 1950s style, I also bought a dress from lindy bop vintage whoch was decent quality just not for me x

unfortunately you are also a long way from the second-hand dress shop run by a member of my family. But she can't run the only one in the UK - is there one near you?

there's never a need to spend a bomb on the wedding frock. Let somebody else do that and buy it second-hand!

m.ebay.co.uk/itm/281333737826

McFox - gutted, that dress is stunning

TheHouseatWhoCorner - that really does help, now I know if I end up getting a second hand dress I know what maximum size I should buy. Thanks

cocoblu - I checked out your link for modcloth, but they don't really have wedding dresses and are in the US. I don't fancy ordering from abroad, too risky. I've searched under www.diva.com and it just takes me to a strange search engine. Lindy Bop doesn't seem to have wedding dresses, but its a good one for my guests to look at as Im also asking guests to try and find something vintage 50's inspired too - thanks

specialsubject - Im really happy to buy second hand if I find the right dress, its just finding it that's the prob. The charity shops round here don't seem to stock wedding dresses (think they're all cherry-picked for the bigger London stores!). And ebay/preloved etc have all proved fruitless so far. But Im gonna keep checking!

cosysocks - that is a rather lovely dress! Just a tad too lacey for me I think but its definitely the gist. May have to trawl through ebay a bit more. Just worried it'll turn up and look crap cos I can't try it on first, then I've gotta faff about sending it back, getting a refund and starting all over again. But Im definitely not ruling it out...

And I'm gutted that I'm not your size! Its worth keeping your eyes peeled for one in your size though :)

I have an appointment at Fairy Goth Mother boutique in East London today! So excited (although they sounded really quite snotty on the phone, so feel a bit anxious. Im originally from Yorkshire and have an obvious Northern accent...posh Southerners tend to recoil in horror when I speak lol. I keep imagining 'pretty woman' like scenario's of snooty upturned noses and being shown the door,)

And then an appointment at Cutting Edge Brides in Bexley on Saturday. The lady on the phone sounded very down to earth, chatty and friendly so have to say Im looking forward to this appointment a bit more...

Oh and you'll never guess what I found on eBay...

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271440451033?_trksid=p2055120.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-New-V-neck-Knee-Length-White-Ivory-Lace-Wedding-Dress-Custom-All-Size/271462860884?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22312%26meid%3D6889285048002200429%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D9701%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D271440451033&rt=nc

I wonder if Jo Fleming knows that the Chinese are copying her designs and selling them for £89! (they claim to be British but turns out these dresses end up coming from China)

How was today? Did you have fun?

Yeah it was rather fun actually. Luckily the lady wasn't snooty at all and was really very lovely and let me try loadsa dresses on.

I loved all of them but one was the real bee's knees, to the extent it had my MIL in tears! But it turned out to be a House of Mooshki design and the most bloody expensive one on the rack... just shy of £1500

Id previously looked at Mooshki but decided they were too expensive and to not torture myself by looking any further. But the lady at Fairy Goth Mother just asked me to pick out all the dresses I liked and try them on. THEN dropped the price tag bombshell when I'd fallen in love with the most expensive one.... grrr

Hi I have a lovely sincerity 3730 wedding dress for sale. It's a full length dress with diamanté and lace and a tulle lace at the top with a chiffon cummerbund. If you are interested send me your email address it really is beautiful and reasonably priced.

I know it's probably mad suggesting it but she might to ready to wear stuff. a friend had the most beautiful tea length dress made by a girl called Mary Rose mcgrath and it was well under £1000, only thing is she's in Belfast. her website is under construction but if you Google her name you would get a link to her Facebook page, she has an album full of her dresses.

It may be too far to travel, but this designer in Birmingham was lovely the couture company. She makes them all in her workshop and will pretty much make what you want.