Bronwen’s ‘Silver Screen’ wedding dress

One of the first things I noticed about Bronwen was her slender tall figure. She had decided upon having a bias cut flowing dress reminiscent of the dresses of the silver screen which was perfect for her body-type.

The first stage of the process was to sketch out some idea’s with alternate ways of wrapping and gathering detail so that Bronwen could choose which designs she liked best. The colour, fabric and finishes that would work best for her design were also discussed and Bronwen decided upon a beautiful white silver silk and chiffon .

At our next appointment I measured her and began pattern cutting for the under-structure and the toille of the dress. The under bodice had to be right before anything else could be done as it would be the foundation for all else that would follow.  Once finished and boned it was used as the base for the dress mock up, before Bronwen came into the studio for her first fitting. Mock-ups and fittings are vital during the bespoke dressmaking process in order to check how the flat pattern will translate to the figure it represent. They give the dressmaker opportunity to check the flow and proportions of the design and get important feedback from the client. After alterations were done, the mock-up was finalised and we had the finished pattern for the dress.

The next stage in the process was to pin and drape the chiffon on the dummy to get an idea of the fluid lines and gathering details before finally deciding upon their placement.

Once this had been decided the pattern was carefully cut out of the beautiful fabrics that Bronwen had selected, before piecing all the parts together to create the finished dress.

‘Quote here please from Bronwen!’

Chrissie Nicholson Wild
Curve Couture
27-03-09