made for me...

or i was made for them...custom dresses, that is.

Prom 2000: My mom made me this dress. I wish I had a picture of the back; horizontal strings of pearls held the dress together with my back peeking in between each string. It was amazing!


Here's me and the seamstress, my mom!


My custom wedding gown, made from my mom's wedding gown. Pictured with the bestie.


Me and the seamstress, Janet Brunton.

I guess I'm made for white dresses too. :-)

Mom's/My wedding dress update: Amazingness cont'd

Last night was my 2nd to last meeting with Janet Brunton.

I cried like 102384712835 times. It truly is amazing. And I super love that it's my mom's dress, and it's my dress.

Dee, step away. Don't even try to look!

I can't do it justice without showing you its progress starting from the beginning:

My mom's dress...as she wore it...minus the right sleeve. =|

taken apart and the beginning of redesign.

with the redesigned top (which needs to be reshaped again) and the first 2 tiers.

with new top and all tiers added.

Janet added a train!

she's lookin gorgeous!

and last night:

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Janet attached the rest of Mom's lace to the sweetheart top. Amazing, no?

i'm super happy with how it's coming along!

my top, up close.

up closer...

the 2 styles of scalloped lace we're trying to choose from to use as the trim for the sweetheart top.

went with the smaller scalloped lace...this is how the lace will look on my top.

here's the rounded train.

i'm sorry...I can't get enough of this dress!

how the lace will look in the back.

from far away-ish

from the side.

bustled...amazing, right?

bustle from the side

walking...

and here's one of me crying...yea...she's the one.

what next? Janet will attach the tulle to the dress so that it doesn't pop out in random places as you've seen in the pictures. It'll help as I won't be standing still all night. Janet will attach the lace trim to the top, complete my bustle, and clean up anything else. And we're still trying ways we can incorporate the buttons from my mom's sleeves on the dress. Janet is one of my favorite vendors to work with!!

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the amazing-ness that is my dress!

I had another appointment with my fabulous seasmstress, Ms. Janet Brunton, on Monday.

O. M. G. My dress is amazing!!! I love love love it!!

Dee, please...no looking further!

Let's start from the beginning:

My mom's dress...as she wore it...minus the right sleeve. =|

taken apart and the beginning of redesign.

with the redesigned top (which needs to be reshaped again) and the first 2 tiers.

and this Monday:

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breathe. yes. this is her. my dress. isn't she beautiful? i'm not wearing my shoes right now...hold on.

my new train!

seriously...how gorgeous is it!?!

close-up of the top. Janet reshaped it and added cups. the lace will need to layered over them again. and then the edges will be lined ever so slightly with lace.

and of course, i'll be getting a bustle.

Janet will round out my train.

i love it i love it i love it!

what still needs to be done: attach the lace. adjust the tier lengths. fix the shape of the train. bustle it. take it in a little more.

It's been amazing watching the transformation. Janet is amazing! Seriously...OC Brides...let her know what you need: janetbrunton@gmail.com.

2 more appointments!

Thanks for watching!

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wedding dress update!

okay...so again...here is the inspiration for my gown:

source: Monique Lhuillier

Here is me wearing my mom's dress. Please forgive the side view. My seamstress, Ms. Janet Brunton, had already taken the other sleeve off. Dee...please do not look any further. Thank you! Love you!


We ordered Georgette Silk from Fabric Land in Orange, then got it pleated at Twins Pleating in LA. This was what I got to take back home with me.


Here's me unrolling the pleated Georgette Silk. I was pretty excited. The pleats were 1/4" x 1/8" deep. It very closely matched my mom's original pleats!


Here she is hangin...naked.


The original bodice and the lace taken apart and laid on top of the pleated fabric...holy moly! my mom's dress is in pieces!


Here is a test bodice on the skirt. We're going to perfect the shape of it tonight. So far, so good...it fits like a glove!


Janet adjusted the cups to fit me better.


Janet pinned the original lace to the midriff.


Janet then pinned more of the lace to the cups; we really wanted to see how the scalloped lace was going to look on the cups. It looked great! I started crying right here. I had to sit down and catch my breath. It was such an emotional experience seeing my mom's dress in a different way.


We played around with the pleated tiers. The layering was unintentional, but it didn't look bad at all.


Mom's tiers were originally lined with lace, but there isn't enough of the lace after calculating the size of the 4 separate tiers. I had gone to the Fashion District in LA in search of alternative lace, but it was so overwhelming. We are considering putting tulle under the pleated tiers. The tulle will peek under the tiers...as the alternative to the lace.


We were considering subtracting a tier or adding a tier. I decided I wanted to keep true to my mom's dress and stick with 4 tiers. We're gonna go with this length of the first tier. Janet will also add a train for me! I'm so excited!


It was a good day! My next appointment with Janet is in a month. She will have the bodice completed using the original bodice fabric and lace. She'll also be working on the tiers. I can't wait until then!

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