Oh my - I need to get married so I can wear this!

[Tocsin]

It’s so gorgeous:

https://cawleystudio.com/collections/bridal-2/products/heidi-dress-porcelain-silk-taffeta?variant=52954038468874

For the reception I haven’t decided, but possibly a dress from here:

https://www.magdabutrym.com/gb-en

Ho hum - I’ll have to hit the apps. 😄

(Very sorry, I don’t have a question.)

That skirt sounds fabulous! I understand your mourning ...

It has reminded me of being asked by a friend, about 20 years ago, to help her shop for a wedding outfit. She was not remotely "girly" & was horrified by the typical wedding dresses available. She had short dark hair & pale skin, & (after insisting that she was firstly measured for a new bra, which transformed her shape & posture) we found an amazing deep crimson silk floor-length full skirt with a longer train-like back that she absolutely loved! And she was persuaded to follow Sharon Stone's example in pairing it with a beautifully cut fitted white shirt with long cuffs. It was a fabulously theatrical-meets-minimal outfit & suited her to a tee!

Which two outfits? I'm curious! (And hoping I didn't post either of them ... 😬)

Does anyone know anything about @ihaveneverlivedinthecastle - I used to enjoy her posts on threads like this but don’t seem to have seen anything from her for a long time.

Was it like this? https://www.1stdibs.com/fashion/clothing/skirts/dries-van-noten-bustle-back-maxi-skirt/id-v_3837183/

For anyone who liked this dress https://cawleystudio.com/products/bells-dress-1

I thought that this dressmaking pattern bore a distinct resemblance?

https://www.roberts-wood.com/infinity-ruffle-dress

They really do want to bring back those dreadful mutton sleeves from the '80s

But it looks so cheap and you'd also look like a Barman villan.

Now I deeply disagree with this. The Cawley dresses are very structured - all that taffeta! - which can be really striking on someone tall & narrow. It can also work on someone petite & narrow as long as the hemline isn’t too long/overwhelming on them.

I am tall and broad through the the shoulders, so I AM the structure. My clothes can drape around me!

If there’s going to be a thread on film / TV outfitting then this must be included (quote from a previous S&B thread):

Helen McCrory as Kathryn in 'MotherFatherSon'. Not sure I've seen such astonishing care taken over a contemporary woman's wardrobe in a TV series before. I think I gasped every time she appeared on screen - but there's a golden dress she wears to a wedding ... The character has become a weird style icon for me - if ever I'm unsure about a purchase I think “Would Kathryn wear this?”

Plus:

My TV style icons - Kathryn, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Nessa Stein in 'The Honourable Woman', Rebecca Hall as Sylvia Tietjens in 'Parade's End'

Good to be reminded of Renli Su. Since the effective demise of YBD there are loads of designers I just don’t stumble over regularly any more.

You’re behind the times! Older models are riding high at the moment. Design houses aren’t daft - they know where the money is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/style/age-women-fashion.html?unlockedarticlecode=1.j1A.qxrK.d33PlMiG5N-C&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Photo of article heading:

I think the outfit is an absolute delight. It's a breath of fresh air. It's the outfit for a woman who knows exactly who she is. I'd wear that. I'm learning how to be a difficult woman. Lean in.

I thought you were taking the piss OP. Nothing about that is nice at all IMO and the hatchet faced model doesn’t show it at its best either. And wtf has she got on her head?

This made me LOL.

You know, I think it was! In bright red - but, yes! I bought it at Koh Samui in Covent Garden in … it must have been 1999. And I remember the assistants fluttering around anxiously because they’d only had one other - and that had been lent to Vogue for a shoot.

(BTW - I obviously don’t disagree that people choose clothes that make them look good. I don’t deliberately go out of my way to wear clothes that make me look hideous or stupid - that would be weird.)

I like the Magda Butrym dresses. My wedding ‘dress’ was a skirt and top and the skirt was very much like this with a blue corset top

https://www.magdabutrym.com/gb-en/product/ss26-skirt-01-cream

I can recommend this walking skirt pattern - I made it in light wool suiting in a heathery check and wore it all winter. It trails down steps in a very satisfying way...

Next on my list, this ravishing travelling suit.

(Edit - for @Floisme and her Edwardian itch!)

Oh wow - the jacket from that travelling suit is glorious, @Chamb.The little buttoned pockets at the waist … And it’s so clearly a garment that would need to be tailored exactly to fit the wearer.

Don’t know about @Floisme - I’m thinking it would be a lovely project for my alterations service, who also make to order. The price of suitable fabric would be terrifying - but I’d enjoy the quest. (I’m not a dressmaker but used to love fabric browsing with my mother, who was.) And if I started soon I’d have the jacket ready to wear with trousers or jeans or a skirt come autumn.

Yes, exactly - I'm on the hunt for the perfect fabric, and then plan to make it in the autumn ready for winter excursions. I bet your alterations people would be all over it if you asked them!

Have you sewn any of these? I love the bow patchwork dress, but the construction looks quite take-it-or-leave-it when it comes to fit.

I like that skirt.

Wow this thread has been busy, good to see! Thanks for those patterns @Chamb - they look fab. Love the way the skirt is just gathered at the back.

I do sew a bit but I'm very much a 'That'll do' kind of dressmaker - I might just about get away with the skirt if no-one looked too closely but I think I'd have to outsource the jacket. Unfortunately the tailor I used to entrust with the tricky stuff - he once altered a Margaret Howell coat for me - has retired while the woman I go to for more basic tasks wouldn't be interested and, to be honest, I wouldn't choose her anyway. I need to find another tailor / seamstress. But going back to Droopy and Browns, I have one of their jackets that's not a million miles from this one, except it's collarless, which is quite contemporary at the moment but I can't wear it without thinking of Princess Diana when the Royal Family were dressing her.

How on earth did you find that? I sew and have never seen anything like it.

My first thought was ‘I could never manage that’ - but really, anyone who could make a patchwork quilt could make that, and I know which I’d rather do.

On my wedding day, I am aiming for happy woman, not miserable, creepy doll.