For the Bride Who’d Rather Not Freeze Her Bustle Off
By Christa TerryAs the weather grows ever colder here in Massachusetts my thoughts turn to those brides who chose wedding dates in late fall, the dead of winter, and early springtime. When one considers the continuing popularity of strapless wedding gowns — at least in the minds of the wedding gown designers — it seems less than surprising that weddings in May, June, July, and August are popular here in the northern hemisphere. So I tip my hat to the bride participating in a winter wedding who must make do with itty-bitty wraps, shrug herself into a bridal cloak, or cover her lovely gown with a bridal coat to avoid Jack Frost’s nip.
Unless, that is, she can find a wedding gown with sleeves. As Twistie and I have lamented in many a post, there’s certainly not a glut of sleeved wedding dresses out there. Oh, there are some, especially if the bride doesn’t mind shopping in the modest section of the bridal salon and making do with a sleeved wedding dress that looks as if it started life as a strapless wedding dress before getting whatever one might call the opposite of a sleevectomy. But there just aren’t that many lovely sleeved wedding gowns out there, particularly if you don’t count the ones with sleeves made of fabrics that do nothing at all to insulate the arms.
May I recommend that wintertime brides skip a whole bushel of frustration and simply have a dress made by a skilled seamstress or couture dressmaker? Doing so is frequently a whole lot less expensive than it sounds, and the results are often stunning. In my search for sleeved inspiration, the wedding dress with sleeves that I liked best was crafted by bridal designer Joan Shum.
Isn’t the White Dahlia wedding dress just divine? Made entirely of Dupioni silk (or any other material you’d like), it’s glamorous and vintage chic and offers a bit of coverage for the bride who’d rather not have to choose between wearing a bolero jacket for half the night and having visible upper arm goosebumps in all of her wedding photographs. The only flaw, as I see it, is the steep price tag — at $6,500, I’m guessing a lot of winter brides who might otherwise fall head over heels for this particular sleeved wedding dress will have no choice but to brave frostbitten shoulders… or to use this gown as inspiration when they make an appointment with their seamstresses.
Related note: I did what I could to make it easy...
December 11th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Love it! I searched high and low 8 years ago for a glamorous wedding dress with sleeves. Finally found a wedding day coat by Jessica McClintock (of all the sources – the same as my 8th grade prom dress!) for less than $400. Simple ivory satin with buttons down the front and a notched collar. I had the sleeves taken up to 3/4, added some buttons and viola!
December 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I LOVE the design, but as a sometime corset maker I’m less then sanguine with the construction.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I think if I went for a winter wedding, I would have to go with a Narnia-esque fur cape. In point of fact, the lack of (faux) fur cape-ness is one of the only things that makes me sad about the prospect of a summer wedding.
Still, though: sleeves are wonderful. And that dress is lovely, although I would have to sell a kidney to afford it.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Also: silk long johns. I’m just sayin’, it’s probably going to be a long dress, and long johns are toasty.
December 12th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
@Autumn Right on! I would never have thought to check out Jessica McClintock, but I always advise brides with whom I am acquainted that they should check non-traditional sources for their wedding dresses and bridal accessories.
@sterlingspider What in particular is bothering you with regard to the construction? I’m very curious to hear comments from someone I know is an expert.
@Kristin Silk long johns FTW! Who’s going to know, after all, unless one is having a garter toss. And even then, in a climate where people are accustomed to wearing long johns, I imagine it would be a source of much humor.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Thank you for suggesting a custom gown for the bride! There are many highly skilled dressmakers and custom clothiers who not only need the work, but can give you a beautiful – and original – garment for a special occasion!
For referrals, try the American Sewing Guild
http://www.asg.org
Or the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals
http://www.paccprofessionals.org
December 15th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
And by the way, I agree with sterlingspider – the seams are all puckery on that dress!
December 16th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I’d like to take a moment to point out that it is not easy to produce a boned silk dress which is under significant pressure that has NO puckers; silk doesn’t steam out the way that wool does (water spot damage alert!), and it does take a knowledgeable dressmaker to deal with that kind of construction. It helps if there is sufficient interlining to take the stress on the seams (not to be confused with the lining in the dress); I have found that it also helps, in a princess-seam construction, if strongly-curved seams are lapped. I’d also point out that one of the leading problems in the puckering of the front seams in this particular dress is that the outside seam (“front side bodice”) is eased to fit the front bodice pieces. This is a construction which is generally seen on patterns for the home sewing market – or on patterns produced by the designer himself/herself, when s/he has NOT been trained as a professional pattern maker. The difference between the types of patterns is STAGGERING. The seams on professionally-drafted patterns (as opposed to home sewing patterns, or patterns produced by most designers) are designed to fit together and be assembled quickly and easily by people who may not even speak English; princess seams do not rely on “easing” for fit. They rely on FITTING TOGETHER PROPERLY for fit. Anyone who has assembled a front bodice and fitted a dart at the waist until it met the bust dart at the armhole will know that a princess bodice does not HAVE to have “ease” for it to fit the wearer – and professionally-produced patterns don’t.
It’s still a beautiful design, and would make many a bride in want of sleeves very happy – but at that price, I’d be hoping for a professionally-produced pattern. In fact, I’d be insisting on it. I made my SIL’s wedding dress, and neither the boned princess seams in her satin bodice, nor the boned princess seams in her crystal organza trained jacket, had puckers, so it IS possible.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Princess seaming at the bust aside entirely, that dress is CLEARLY built on a Victorian corset, and if I bought a custom corset that had the puckering which that corset has I’d demand my money back and recommend against buying from the maker in a public forum.
The boning channels are badly pressed and pulling, the lining is clearly a different size from the shell fabric, and they didn’t even have the decency to cover the busk (yes, I know some people like the look, but this is being sold as a *wedding gown*, not a fetish corset. Anyone who is going for this specifically for the corset aspect of the look will likely know that this part can be easily changed).
If this is what the dressmaker considers good enough work to be used as their chosen advertisement I would be deeply wary of their “typical” offerings.
Puckers are fine if you’re a hobbyist, or trying out a pattern for the first time, but if you’re charging the kind of money a “bridal designer” is going to demand you’d best know your way around an iron and some basting thread.
There are SCADS of corset makers out there who can and do regularly use far more difficult fabrics in considerably more intricate arrangements for flawless and beautiful pieces of corsetry engineered precisely to the wearer’s measurements. And all without the price tag bloat associated with the word “bridal”.
December 19th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I found a similar wedding gown on etsy.com,so I’m putting the link up here. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23362071 .It’s a custom made to order silk taffeta wedding dress with jacket and petticoat,for the price of $950.It takes four months to make,and she will send you samples of the fabric.Her shop is http://www.btrousseau.etsy.com,and her ratings are good.I will be putting up links on my new blog,jennysweddingdresses.blogspot.com,of handmade and vintage wedding dresses that I find with sleeves.I have found some nice ones with sleeves popping up on etsy lately.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I love this, I lover her makeup, hair, and dress! Never thought of using tight sleeves.