Vintage Bridal Skirts

At last I am revealing my new designs: vintage bridal skirts! What a concept right? I love the idea of creating separates for versatility in both size and style. It's easy and makes so much sense. I've designed some photo shoots to show how you can style your own skirt. This lovely ruffled skirt is paired with a simple stretch lace top for a simple but elegant look. As I mention in my book (How to restyle a vintage wedding gown) this is just one design idea that lets you recapture a beautiful piece of a vintage gown and make it your own.

My Victorian inspired fashion show

Vintage 'Reception' dress on Sale now!

I have a few dresses on sale now before I leave for vacation so now's the time to snap them up! They are cute for before the wedding, after the wedding, next day brunch or a summer time garden party!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageBridalDesigns?ref=si_shop

How to Restyle Your Vintage Wedding Gown continued....

This is for all you vintage gals out there looking for a vintage bridal gown for your wedding: I know what a challenge it is to find a dress in good shape as well as one that fits your shape! With my experience in repairing, cleaning, restyling and resizing vintage gowns, I am sharing my tips and ideas to help you with your quest. I hope that you find the book both helpful and inspirational. (pardon the repetitive postings from Blurb - I'm just figuring out the widgets!)

How to Restyle...

by Recapture Designs

By Recapture Designs

Book Preview

How To Restyle Your Vintage Wedding Gown - my book is now available on Blurb.com!

How to Restyle Your Vintage Wedding Gown by Recapture Designs | BlogThis!

Vintage Bridal Fashion Show Sunday April 21st

I have been so crazy busy preparing for this show I almost forgot to mention it! So, here it is. I am showing my Vintage Bridal Fashions this Sunday at the BayAreaWeddingFair  at the Parc55 Hotel in San Francisco- whoo hoo! I'll be part of their "Theme wedding" venue.  This show is tailored for the 'alternative' bride. Come on out and see what I've been designing. Details and reduced ticket prices at www.Bayareaweddingfairs.com. Hope to see you there

A word about size....

It's about time we had this discussion.  To begin with, in our current marketplace a size 2 in one designer's dress can be a totally different size in another designer's dress. So, all sizes are not the same in today's world. When we talk about vintage sizes that's a whole other ballywick. You've got to know that you cannot compare today's size with yesteryear's size. For one thing, in the good 'ole days there was no dress size smaller than an 8. For another, many dresses were homemade, custom made or altered from a store bought dress. Any of you familiar with shopping vintage know by now that clothes were much smaller then and yes, that's because 1. People were smaller then  2. We have grown as a human species (especially in our lung and ribcage area)  3. Many dresses you find were worn by much younger women of the times and 4. Women wore corsets from a young age. 
So here's some tips when buying a vintage dress -especially online!
1. Be sure to measure your ribcage area and ask the seller for this same measurement on the dress as well. This is the most likely place where you just can't get the zipper up. You may have a small waist but the ribcage will get you everytime. 
2. Measure from your shoulder to your waist (and again ask for the same measurement from the seller as well). I've found this to be another area where the dresses are too shortwaisted for us. If there is a  simple strap an alteration can sometimes work by adding into the shoulder seam.
Stay tuned for my upcoming book on more tips and tricks for altering your vintage dress!