A bridal round-up and some residue fever

A fair warning: this is a long post and most definitely not for the faint hearted.

Proceed only if white organza and ivory guipure have the power to set your heart aflutter.

Best avoid if ..

you know what, I take that back

why avoid? 

I too have no intention of getting married any time soon, but love a nice dress and a party as much as the next 'dress and party lover'. 

So here goes.. some words and photos from weddings I was lucky enough to work on in the past year but found little or no time to discuss in full once the dresses left the building .. ah! the joys of retrospective blogging!

Anne-Marie's crisp white and lavender scented December wedding 

credit: valentina lupo photography

This is, I admit, a favourite. This dress is everything I dreamt it would be from top to bottom, bringing together some recurring obsessions and more current design interests such as the spartan and monastic cuts of 1950s Balenciaga married with the detailed floral motifs of vintage Lanvin, Poiret's theatrical peplums and Vionnet's bias flow. I had made dresses for Anne Marie before and we'd come to realise that we did appreciate very similar traits and qualities in dresses (that kind of context and prep is always a plus) but a gown as special as a wedding gown, presents an exciting blank slate and so over the course of one year and following several sketching sessions, the initial idea for a cocktail length puff-ball bridal dress turned into a longer, slender and somewhat sleeker silhouette. At this point, I dreamt up around ten options (yeah I was on a roll, sketching-fever if you will) and lo and behold Anne Marie chose my absolute favourite from the lot. We then shopped for the right shade of crisp white satin and matching organza (fast becoming my favourite material) .. we discussed and sketched every little detail in advance: from the head-dress and veil combo to the size of the floral wreath and the size/shape/colour of the beading. Thankfully we seemed to be on the same style-page from the outset even though the first source of inspiration (ie. Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby which I still hate :p) behind the design-process remained a bone of contention till the very end. In any case, I remain most grateful for the opportunity to create a personal and humble interpretation of a DECO bridal gown just as it appeared in my dreams .. I now know that such opportunities are extremely hard to come by.

some sketches, the organza over-dress sitting patiently on its dummy before
the first fitting and a matching ring-cushion 

one last shot of the bridal veil and beading on the sleeves during the last fitting.

a spray of pearl and glass beads .. looks like lemonade fizz, takes much much longer to pour;
sewing by hand gives you the control to create and adapt as you go along but it is
back-breaking work which truly tests your love for the craft.

Every flower created individually, by hand, with circle upon circle of crisp organza, satin, crepe-satin and chiffon.
The green ones were created for the bridesmaids' dresses, thus bringing the floral leitmotif
full circle (closeups to follow).

... hours and hours ...

... upon hours of careful hand-stitching and beading + several cups of coffee later!

And the decidedly marine-inspired fan head-piece with pearl and crystal spray beading to match the sleeves -
similarly time-consuming work and equally as satisfying a result.

Here are two shots of all the dresses in action ..
can't wait for more detailed snaps from the big day!

Lal's balmy June wedding and a dress re-visited 

Back in June 2012 I replied to a facebook message from a person I had never met before asking me whether I could possibly have a look at a beaded and embroidered 60s wedding dress which needed some tlc before it made it down the aisle the following year. So I said yes (because 'yes' is the only answer to such a propsal) and I drove with driving instructor in tow (didn't have my license back then) to said person's house, walked up a steep hill on a typical August mid-day and finally I made it to the breezy and shady front garden of the house at the top of the hill and the person behind the message turned out to be Caroline or rather 'Lal' - Lal of the two dresses/countries not one, Lal whose circle of friends in Malta overlapped with mine and yet somehow we had never met, Lal who ultimately went for the most precious and sentimentally-charged gown I ever laid eyes on. Because you see, when I entered the room where the said 60s dress (a stunning and absolutely precious dress in its own right) was laid out on a bed, I couldn't help being distracted by the other dress Lal had brought out for me to see. Her mother's wedding dress, a long vintage guipure shift dress with detachable train (satin bows and all) by a local and much revered (yet sadly now defunct) couture house  Mme Manfre. This was to be her wedding dress. Months later, following the unfortunate passing of the bride's mother, the choice of dress started to resonate on so many other levels and the pressure to do the dress justice sky-rocketed. I was to cut open the 3/4 length sleeves and use the individual guipure motifs to lengthen the dress by a couple of inches, create a new neckline with a V-dip at the back, replace the old zippers and permanently attach the stately oval train to the dress. The dress was to then travel across the continent to qualified dry-cleaners and fly back to Malta for it's second wedding ceremony. Some people don't live and travel half as much as this dress has! In conclusion, I admit I have very fond thoughts attached to this dress-saga .. and to this day I consider myself very grateful for being allowed to participate in such a wonderful tale!

credit: Suzey Ingold

As low at the back as one's allowed to go without raising a priest's eyebrow or two

*dreamy (and slightly panic-inducing) label* ... anxiety of influence much?!

This is a shot of my after-hours working table - cutting and trimming down of the individual guipure leaves in preparation for the morrow's list of alterations - with time, only the fondest of memories remain.
Somehow thankless tasks like these take on a magical aura of bliss!
#time_is_indeed_a_healer

Following all the alterations executed entirely by hand, we were both crossing fingers that
the maverick chemists/drycleaners would deliver the goods as promised.

credit: Tamsin Valentino and Sophie von Trapp
... on the day!

 

I was also entrusted both the flower girls' dresses - simple, summery and full skirted raw-silk dresses with a bow at the back  and the two bridesmaids' haircombs in matching raw silk, organza and pearls. The zesty and floral colour scheme was just perfect for the season!

And some beautiful shots of the bride seen here in front of a framed photo of her mother in the same dress .. x
credit: Matthew Mirabelli

... with the cutest two ...
 credit: Matthew Mirabelli

... and ultimately, with the chosen one
credit: Matthew Mirabelli

Becky's classy October wedding troupe and party dress

credit: Stephen Lynch photography

I couldn't help wondering, as I sat down to hem all three of these matching bridesmaid dresses in ivory chiffon - how can one village spew forth so much beauty! ;)

This Siggiewi wedding troupe made up of sisters, cousins and the best of childhood friends opted for the right degree of Hollywood glam and decided to keep it classy from beginning to end - I respect that you see, so I couldn't help mentioning it. It would have been dreadful to have to work, for so long, on something that is overdone or god-forbid on the gaudy side of glam - so, yes, I'm basically of the opinion that we should applaud 'good glam' because it'll save humanity a lot of pain in the long run! The young and effervescent (yes, after deliberation, that is the perfect adjective) bride wanted classic one-shoulder and off-shoulder dresses in breezy ivory to match her own wedding dress for her glamorously tanned and polished entourage - no fuss, no excessive bling, just slender and classy. So I took a leaf from Madame Gres' goddess-worthy draping and kept it simple. 

red-carpet material, in my humble humble opinion 

a retrospective sketch
following a wedding it usually takes me a couple of days to get it out of my system and start
creating anew so I sometimes sit down and sketch the dresses afresh.
It gives me something practical to do as well as an excuse for some much-needed introspection.

The bride also wanted a second surprise dress for the wedding reception .. a figure hugging, bias-cut and backless crepe-satin dress in icy white with a beaded trim all around the neckline.
Ever so typical of me, before handing the dresses over to the bride I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece so I guess you'll just have to take my words for it..
it fit her like a glove, attracted the expected level of surprise from the groom, and allowed Becky enough freedom to dance the night away as per plan!

last words: love them or hate them (and secretly still love them) weddings are powerful rituals.. they present the perfect backdrop for happy memories between families and friends, have the power to make or break existing social ties whilst cementing newer and stronger ones .. but overall, taken in one's stride and with the required pinch of salt, even the most stressful of run-ups to the big day will, in time, turn into the fondest of memories. 

That said, I still insist I do not want the experience for myself. Having the ability to sew the dress of my dreams has only turned me into the pest-friend who keeps dropping hints to close friends (and some random and very surprised acquaintances) to get married and throw a damn party .. because love is good and parties are just GREAT!

so here endeth the bridal-saga post
x