Help me find a 50s style wedding dress!?

Question

I have an amazing story to how I met my boyfriend. He is a dj playing 50s music and I called in to request a song. It's 2 1/2 years later and we're living together and we're planning the next step and I'd love to surprise him on our wedding day by wearing a 1950s style wedding gown. All my searches have turned up are dressmakers in Britain. Can anyone help me find a dressmaker in the U.S., preferably near the Washington, D.C. area?

Answer 1

Try looking here. I found the perfect place to make my dress on here and it's a great website for everything else bridal!



http://www.brides.com/





If not try this site as well. They have Vintage items here and might have something close to what you are looking for. They do everything here from the 20's to the 70's.



http://www.thevintageweddingdresscompany.com/htmlindex.html



Hope it helps.



Good Luck & Congrats!

Answer 2

I'm always seeing vintage wedding gowns popping up in local thrift stores. I know where I live, there are also a lot of eclectic vintage shops you can check at. Also, if you let the local vintage shops know what you're looking for, they might be able to look at their sources to find more items. Finally, ebay would be a good place to look. I think they also have a section where you can place a classified ad of what you're looking for. Newspaper classifieds could be nice too.



If you do want to get something tailor made, most dressmakers can easily design something to your needs. Check the web for photos of dresses you like and check local fabric stores, they may have patterns that have styles you like. And remember, you can like the top of one and the bottom of the other, and a good seamstress can piece them together into one dress. I know that my high school prom dress was multiple patterns turned into one.

Answer 3

A friend of mine wanted a '50s style wedding dress when she was married. Unfortunately, she had trouble buying one off eBay or from a vintage clothing store because she couldn't find something large enough. Since I'm a fashion major, she asked me to attempt to make one. I bought a vintage pattern for a regular '50s style dress and just bought appropriate fabric for a wedding dress. I bought accessories at the Family Jewels in New York City; they have tons of excellent stuff, a bit expensive, but an excellent selection of all the little details (jewelry, handkerchiefs, gloves, etc..) you could want. I don't know how I did it, but it looked a lot like Audrey Hepburn's wedding dress in Funny Face



You could buy a pattern and give it to a dressmaker in your area to put together. Maybe you won't find a wedding dress, but just select nice fabric and interesting accessories to pull the look together.



You could also buy a new dress that looks like something vintage inspired and splurge on vintage accessories from a store like Family Jewels.

Answer 4

Have you tried looking in a vintage clothing store? You might find the real thing there.



Otherwise, get some pictures of styles popular in the fifties that you like and take them with you to a bridal salon or dressmaker. A quick Google image search should turn up some good images to work with. A glance in the yellow pages should give you the names of at least a couple dressmakers.



Some things to look for: very full skirts, elbow or three-quarter length sleeves, straight sleeves, bateau necklines, lace overlays, small caps with veils, chiffon. All of these were very popular during the fifties.



Best of luck to you! I think your idea sounds lovely and meaningful.

Answer 5

Check out eBay and google vintage wedding dresses for images, there are some websites that specialize in vintage clothing or could actually make a dress for you. You might also try antique stores and believe it or not the Goodwill, Salvation Army, Disable Veterans Stores or even yard sales. Good luck in your search.

Answer 6

well, I would sell ya my mothers, but Im saving it for me.. she was married in 1950. I think.. anyways, it s beautiful. try find one at a thrift store or put an add in the local newspaper in search of an older wedding dress with the size you need.

Answer 7

I'll bet if you went to a bridal store, you would find a retro-style wedding dress. They're actually popular. But if not, click here: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLF,GGLF:1969-53,GGLF:en&q=dressmakers+in+washington+dc

Answer 8

How about locating a sewing pattern for a 50's style dress, I found one that could be adapted:



http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M5001.htm

Answer 9

Check with local thrift shops. If not, find pictures and see if anyone you knows sews or check out your local seamstress stores and show them what style you would like.

Answer 10

http://www.partypop.com/Categories/Wedding_Dresses/Washington.htm

Maybe another idea would be to find a dress you like from that time period and have someone make the dress.

http://home.att.net/~design-house/1950s_1960s_vintage_wedding_gowns.htm





http://home.att.net/~design-house/history/history_1950.htm



Here are a few websites for the dress styles.

Answer 11

Check out ebay!

Answer 12

on any search engine type: vintage wedding gown

Answer 13

Check this out...

http://www.daddyos.com/

Answer 14

I found http://www.wackycats.com/womens%203.htm also try ebay!