But which dress?

Now, this is a bit of a ball ache isn’t it? Sort of a wonderful and exciting ball ache, but a time consuming and stressful one nonetheless. You suddenly come to to find you’ve spent two hours on google images and there’s a line of spittle hanging out of your mouth. You’ve searched endlessly for that designer gown on Ebay; you’re sure if you just search one more time it will show up. And you seriously think about getting some poor bastard in China to make it for about a fiftieth of the original price – maybe it will be ok?

I fell in love with a dress by… my god! I can’t even remember the designer now! I REALLY wanted it at the time and must have googled it about four hundred times. I looked into having it made by a dressmaker in London, but even that was going to cost about 2k – more than I wanted to spend on something that I didn’t have full assurance would be PERFECT at the end of it. It’s funny how you slowly get over these things, , bit by bit. If someone told you right at the start that there was no way you could have it you’d be devastated.. as time goes on, you care less and less about that particular dress and just want something that looks good. I bought two dresses on two consecutive days in Greenwich. On the first day, I went to Elizabeth Avey Bridal and basically bought the first dress I tried on. It was a stunning 1940s vintage lace dress with a small train, button up back, long sleeves and square neck. It had a sort of Italian glamour to it which I loved. It also had a horrible shower curtain lining which Elizabeth just cut out for me -  she is absolutely amazing, so down to earth and willing to do what needs to be done. The neck also needed to be redone as it was a pleated square neck which I didn’t like. But the lace was so sparkling white and so beautiful, I decided to go for it.

The next day I went back to Greenwich and popped into 360° Vintage in the market. There I found a 60s sort of crinoline number, extremely simple, with a high round neck, long sleeves, and two small bows at waist. It also had an incredible Jackie O style long boxy train. In the end, I wore this one (cost: £120!) to the wedding, as it was simpler and easier to walk around in and felt more appropriate for our casual wedding. The Elizabeth Avey dress was amazing though and I can’t recommend Elizabeth enough, her prices are low and she is a joy: http://www.elizabethavey.com/

https://www.greenwichmarket.london/guide/detail/360-degrees-vintage