Anyone going unique/ vintage/ handmade/ 2nd hand for wedding dress? Show them off!

I am making my dress! Just started but it’s a wrap dress with pockets. I’m also incorporating my mother’s original wedding dress as fabric for the belt.

View Quoted Comment That's going to look really pretty! When are you starting to make it? Definitely come back and show me when you're done. I really want to see it.

I made my own dress too!

View Quoted Comment Very renaissance! Love all the tulle! You're very talented. I had considered making my own dress but my sewing machine bottom thread stays loose. Probably for the best. I'm not proficient at making clothes at all. A lot of talent up in here!

View Quoted Comment I’m mocking it up now but I expect to be done with it by November

View Quoted Comment Can't wait to see your process! I hope you come back and show it!

These are so beautiful! I hope more people post!

I did do the ultimate consumer thing and bought a new dress, but I would totally have considered wearing a family dress if we had one. My mother hired her dress (so cool, I wish that was available where I live!) and my grandmother was having a dress made, but then had to get married in a rush as my grandfather got called up (2nd world war), and had to get married in her regular coat, so no family options for us.

View Quoted Comment I think most women don't even consider not buying a new dress because we are made to believe it's the most important part of a wedding and has to be this dream dress that costs thousands. Everything else to do with weddings is marked up 1k percent too lol. I just couldn't make myself do it. No matter what I was going to be on a budget and if I bought 2nd hand I'd be able to get a brand and a dress I would have never been able to afford anyway so it was a no brainer for me. Some people are superstitious though and think it will bring bad luck. Same with the wedding ring and engagement ring. To each their own. I'm not judging lol that was just my thought process personally. I hope more people post too! I love seeing all the unique dresses!

View Quoted Comment

I will say, I really did love the experience of going to a store and having them lug out these giant dresses for us to look at. I would recommend doing that to anyone, even if they plan on buying second-hand, just to get an idea of the sizing for the brand they want to get second-hand since they're so different from street sizes, and also to get a good handle on what silhouettes fits your body!

And if you were able to find the perfect thing for a tenth of the price, how awesome is that?

I feel like I would like the experience of going to a store and trying on dresses but I too am all for buying secondhand. I have been looking at dresses on Stillwhite.com and they have some really beautiful dresses. I am just not sure of their purchase policies (which I plan to look into further). I don't want to spend more than $500 for a dress and honestly, I don't even want to spend that considering I am only going to wear it twice.

View Quoted Comment Their purchase policy is you can return if something was misrepresented or damaged or something. You just can't return if you just don't like it or it doesn't fit. Other than that you can return it. And they go through PayPal on the sellers end so you're fully protected as a buyer. I know because I just sold a dress on stillwhite and one on ebay 2 weeks ago.

View Quoted Comment

Thanks. That is what I am worried about. Having to resell the dress if I don't like it.

View Quoted Comment That's not what I did. I was given dresses and found dresses at goodwill I then sold to pay for my dress. I'm very enterprising lol. The great thing about still white is that most of the dresses have exact measurements so you can at least find out if it will fit. And better than that if you can go dress shopping and find a dress you like and then find a used version for cheaper then you already know you like it. Or at least have tried on a similar style so you can be sure.

Any suggestions on how to look online for 2nd hand? Reputable websites etc

View Quoted Comment Stillwhite is my face. They have the best selection and best prices but nearlynewlywed and preownedweddingdresses are both great sites too. Ebay is ok if you're looking for a specific dress and size. And then if you want to look even further than that poshmark, mercari and Facebook marketplace are great places. (As you can probably tell I spent months and months and so many hours obsessing and looking for the one lol) I got mine on poshmark and I'm in love but stillwhite is the best because of the selection.

My mother and I are working on completely a dress using this pattern as a guide. It has a Jean Harlow/ Classic Old Hollywood vibe.

View Quoted Comment I adore this style! What fabric are your using for the main construction?

View Quoted Comment

Silk Charmuese with a silk lining, the amazing people at Mood Fabrics helped me pick it out. It is also cut on the bias, which was a pain but worth it I hope.

View Quoted Comment Oo it definitely will be just remember to let your dress hang for a few days before you hem it because the bias cut fabric will stretch out with gravity and giving it a few days to hang first will help you get the hem perfectly straight.

View Quoted Comment

Ooo good advice will make sure so that, poor thing as been hanging around since COVID I can't wait to get back to it.