My wedding dress made in 1979 was made by hand by my aunt whose profession was a dressmaker but of wedding gowns. I live in Australia she in Spain and I sent her my measurements and then went there to pick it up. It needed hardly any adjustments and it was beautifully made.
I miss my mother everyday and night of my life.. when I was a child she did sew on her green sewing machine.. I remember a lot of things about her but I do from time to time remember her sitting at the dining room table with her green sewing machine intently fixing something.. I would use that sewing machine and fix something myself but sadly someone stole it along with many other things from her home.. it happened while she was still alive and it did hurt her.. and me as well... There is something very admirable and respectful in being able to sew...
Sorry about what happened to your mother. I know how you feel. My grandmother used to sew dresses for my sister and me when we were little kids and until our early teen years, back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, She used a 1940s sewing machine. I am older now, but I still think about her, she died in 2006, and my aunt sold the sewing machine as an antique. I tried to learn to sew, but unfortunately, I did not learn, but I learned her good cooking.
I love early dresses (1700’s- early 1800’s) and if I ever get married I hope I can wear a dress that’s somewhat modeled after one of those dresses. I think they are just gorgeous! 👰🏻
Start saving your money as you're going to need it if you're serious about your gown. Sadly, I've never seen one that comes close to the style you're interested in-even Kleinfeld's with their huge inventory. I think your only hope is a custom design to your liking. I agree with your opinion about post-Elizabethan styles, so feminine and modest (unlike some of the atrocities which expose more than they should for a church wedding!). Best of luck and I hope you can make your dream come true.
Diane Ashworth yes they are highly expensive. However, if you know how to sew you might be able to make your own wedding dress. My mother bought a cheap dress and altered it to suit her style, saving herself hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Nothing wrong with making your own wedding dress. I made my own clothes when I was in school. I even used my mother's treadle sewing machine & her more modern one. Loved sewing.
I love sewing too. You can do so much more with a few sewing skills. I made all of my maternity smocks. The ones at the stores never fit right or made you look like a sofa. I had to make most of my daughter's dresses and alter most of her clothes. She was always a size taller than the size she wore.
@@rosencain That is an advantage. I used to have to alter jeans because they would poof out in the back so I had to put darts in. With sewing you can make your clothes fit.
@@Hurricaneintheroom Being able to make alterations has saved a lot of money over the years. I made sure my kids knew how to tack down a hem and sew on a button. Sewing has been a lot of fun as well. My kids were little back when costumes of popular movie characters didn't hit the shelf 5 seconds after the movie was released. Today I can find a "No Ghosts Allowed" patch easily, back then I had to hand stitch one.
My mother and aunt (her sister) both knew how to sew. I wish I had been taught how to sew. My sister was taught cross stitch and I can embroider. Sad no one really does that anymore
@@R.Oates7902 My husbad's sister does the most beautiful crochet, embroidery, knitting, etc. that she learned from their mother. I have "The Lord's Last Supper", the "Virgin Mary" and the "Pieta" (all three are HUGE, and matted and framed), as well as tablecloths, doilies and a king sized crocheted bedspread my mother-in-law made for me before she died. I treasure them. My grandmother was an excellent seamstress and quilt maker, and did gorgeous knitting. She must have made at least a hundred quilts in her lifetime (for six kids and 25 grandchildren, I have no idea how many great grands), and untold amounts of clothing for her kids as they grew up, then for her grandchildren. I saved a baby blanket she made for my daughter, who used it for both of her sons (now ages 15 and 22), and is being saved for their kids one day. My daughter enjoys quilting (as do I), and she does the most amazing cross stich work, as does my twin sister. I just wish more people would appreciate these skills and talents, and learn to do it themselves, too. Heirlooms such as these are literally priceless!
🇬🇧 Queen Victoria was the one who made the White wedding dress popular. Once she wore a white dress for her wedding every bride after wanted to wear white , if they could afford it that is.
Yes, most wedding dresses before then had been practical and darker colors. I personally despise white wedding dresses for me, though I am nowhere near being engaged let alone married. Queen Victoria popularized it, but it had been worn before at royal weddings. Nowadays it is the standard and wedding dresses are never worn again. I personally disagree with this, and my wedding dress will be worn again and again, simple, a plain emerald green, perfect to rewear.
@@653j521 Time has shown that her influence was stronger than you think. Guess the percentage of women in Western countries who get married in a white dress?
@Voracious Reader It was mostly because her subjects adored her and mimicked her dress and behaviour. Photography was still extremely rare in 1840 (the first photo of a human was taken in 1838 by Louis Daguerre) , and certainly wouldn't have resulted in widespread duplication and distribution.
My grandpa was born in 1899 and it’s interesting to see what styles his mother might have worn at that time. It gives me a feeling of connection to her since I never met her. She died a few months before I was born.
I had the very good fortune to see Princess Diana's clothes that were touring after her death. Wow! Not only did she have a gorgeous figure, but the craftsmanship of the clothes were unbelievably beautiful. Truly stunning.
I can imagine the lives and souls and memories inside the tailoring of these old gowns. So many traditions we share performed so long ago by people just like us
So gorgeous! I always thought that the custom of dropping hundreds to thousands of dollars on a dress you're only going to wear once in your life is stupid. My best friend married, for the first and only time, at age 36, and instead of a traditional white wedding dress, she opted for a cream-colored suit. Like the lady who chose to wear purple, my friend didn't think that it was appropriate.
They are lovely!!! So glad I found this. As I'm looking at the dresses, in my mind I'm seeing the ladies wearing them & thinking , someone wore that! And the hands that touched it to create it!
My wedding dress was a genuine Historical 1857 Corded cream silk, plain in style but fringe design on arms and two panels with fringe on the bottom that came down from the back, at the top it had roses of silk this was the back of the crinoline dress, plain in comparison to those show in this video but still very beautiful, now rightly resting in fashion museum, I was truly honoured to be married in such a beautiful historical piece.
Harriet Joyce 1899: " Even though my betrothed Percy has saved me from spinsterhood, I do say the fairest of white does not suit my mature visage of 35. Purple will do just fine. " Modern Woman today: " I'm 35 and it's MY DAY to be a princess, ya'll got anything white and sexy? it's an open bar wedding."
@@SindyKhanyile Well, "Sindy", I am "with it"; probably moreso than many of the people who get corralled into spending far more money they have for an antiquated ceremony. I think marrying is completely unnecessary unless children are involved, and I think the countless thousands spent on weddings is a colossal waste of money. But I was right when I said I had rubbed people the wrong way by pointing out how things have changed. If wearing white wedding dresses pleases people, then far be it from me to care. It's unsurprising with all the social pressure and endless series of "chick flick" white engagement/wedding movies in the past 15 years. So people should go say "YES" to the dress as many times as they like! :)
What I would love would be to see the insides and how they were constructed. Things have changed so much as women have had to be more able to move and work in their clothes plus the advances in how to cut things and the foundation garments for all of this are fascinating.
Thx. For sharing.. I find the idea of antique clothing intriguing.. and to see the wedding dresses was interesting.. there was one particular address that had waves of material on it I wonder how they got it like that.. it was Margaret Scott Lang dress.. something about looking at wedding dresses can cause a woman to want to get married!
I really love the small and introduction I wish you would have had put more dresses and did more showings of all the dresses you had I really love this the history and the dresses and the stories behind it it's great so nice to take a look at the past wonderful I hope you make more videos like this showing more dresses thank you 😁😁😁😁😁😁
"Too old to wear white"..wore purple instead! Not a virgin on her wedding day? Tsk tsk...lol Thanks for sharing, studied the history of costume at Traphagen School of Fashion in NYC before becoming a fashion illustrator. Always fascinating to learn more..thanks~
My favorite fashion era is the Edwardian. Unfortunately, without a squashing corset, I am a tad busty for this style. This visit was fascinating and I would love to visit the museum at some point! Thank you for sharing this!
There's no such thing as "too busty", especially not for an era where padding was such a common practice! I say, if you like it, and you have the means, wear it!
I chose to wear a stylish suit from J.C. Penney, unlike many girls who dreamed of a grand wedding I never gave it a thought. I was a tomboy and preferred to build tree forts and play in the mud rather than dream about getting married.
A fancy white wedding dress was never to signify the bride's virginity & purity. It was to signify that her family was wealthy enough to spend a fortune on a completely impractcal garment that would only be worn once. Most women of lesser means wore a dress that would become their "best dress" once they were married. Pretty, yet practical.
Fascinating! 2:34 You can see that her shoes didn't have a clear distinction between left foot and right foot. I heard that this only began to form in the late 1890s.
Bit disappointed as really was about wedding dresses in lat 1800's, considering the vast stock this museum carries I think it could have carried far more examples.
I have a figure like the Empress Elisabeth from Austria and I could wear such a wedding dress with all what is necessary to put on! I have a lot of corsets, skirts, blouses and other gowns and I love it to wear them all! I know how to make a full Spanish Curtsey with wearing a crinoline and ball gown and to dance a minuet from the 17th century! Everytimes if I visit a castle, I feel me like a princess and I appreciate it very much to wear one of my gowns and walk through the castle's rooms, aisles and ball hall! This is always like a time traveling back to the centuries of the baroque time, rococo time and the time of the majestic Empress Elisabeth of Austria, especially if I visit the Castle of Schönbrunn in the city of Vienna, that's it! Lovely greetings from Sarah and have a wonderful, happy and peaceful day and stay safe out there and take care of you 👍💖🇺🇸👍💖🇺🇸👍💖🇺🇸👍💖🇺🇸👍💖🇺🇸
You could almost say that Empress Elisabeth's obsession with fashion,resulted in her death. At 1:35 p.m. on Saturday 10 September 1898, the 60 year old Elisabeth and Countess Irma Sztáray de Sztára et Nagymihály, her lady-in-waiting, left the hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva on foot to catch the steamship Genève for Montreux. Since the empress despised processions, she insisted that they walk without the other members of her entourage. They were walking along the promenade when the 25-year-old Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni approached them, attempting to peer underneath the empress's parasol According to Sztáray, as the ship's bell announced the departure, Lucheni seemed to stumble and made a movement with his hand as if he wanted to maintain his balance. In reality, in an act of "propaganda of the deed", he had stabbed Elisabeth with a sharpened needle file that was 4 inches (100 mm) long (used to file the eyes of industrial needles) that he had inserted into a wooden handle. Because of the thickness of the Empress clothing (corsets,several layers of petticoats,and the top layer of dress,the Empress didn't feel hurt (only a sharp pain).By the time that a large blood stain appeared on the dress,the Empress was fatally wounded.Not only that,but after seeing the blood stain,it took many minutes to undress her.If this would had been more apparent,and there had been less layers of clothing,the Empress might have survived.
@@653j521 Another bizarre clothing death was that of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.On the day of his assassination in 1914, he ordered his valet(as usual) to sew him into his uniform(to make it look tight and elegant).When the anarchist shot him,it took so long to "unsew" him that he was dead by the time they achieved it. Sadly,his wife Sophie followed her husbands "sewing in" fashion,and perished for the same reason.
Try and replicate these in modern times will cost a fortune. Unless you know a good seemstress that can do it cheaper. The craftsmanship back then was crazy, all done by hand and no machine.
I saw this exhibit at the V & A and I can tell you it was so fascinating. There was the dress Kate Moss wore on her wedding day as well as dresses worn by Dita Von Teese - a beautiful purple number designed by Vivienne Westwood.
I adore Dita's wedding gown! I find white wedding dresses to be boring and cliché. I always figured that, if I were to get married, my gown would be the costume I bought from the Canadian Opera Company, in the early 1990s. It's a circa-1465-style gown, of turqouise/red shot Dupioni silk, with velvet cuffs and girdle (belt). There are yards and yards of silk (and hours and hours of work) in it, but when I bought it, it only cost me $50.
Surely this could have been longer, showing more detail and colour. Very interesting, was but a commercial for what could have been an interesting documentary.
Was that Dita von Teese’s purple gown at the end? Some of the most beautiful ones I wanted to hear about were only shown in passing. They’re all lovely.
The wedding dress that has the fringe in the front has an embellishment of gathered material on the upper arms….I have seen the same treatment inside jewelry cases from Victorian period.
