The Dress

The details of the intricate lace & carefully shaped silhouette of this dress made it unique for me. Timeliness. The lace frames small intricacies at just the right spots, a detail at the small of your back, a framing of the shoulders, all around the bodice and a frame for the movement from waist to hem. There is a gently structured bodice and a weighted hemline that make it fall just right at the hips and accent the waist. Lace from the hemline comes up almost a foot with eyelash lace. I am not especially curvy, but felt very feminine in all the right places. The back dipped just below my shoulder blades and accented my (not hourglass) waist with a wonderful curve. The weighted hem that makes it feel elegant, swishing a bit with you as you dance. With a long train I felt I had quite the entrance, and I added a french bustle so that the reception entrance and first dance were manageable. The weight of the bustle felt lovely and held clout for the first dance.

(bought from) Bolee bridal: http://boleebridal.com/
(altered at) Novella bridal: http://www.novellabridal.com/
(cleaned/preserved by) Elegance preserved: https://elegancepreserved.com/

Measurement details:
Bust: 36
Waist: 29.5
hips: 37 (mostly because my butt is my strongest feature :) )
Height: with shoes, 5'6", but from waistline (there is a hem there) to floor 42.5 inches

Alterations

I found this dress in a tiny dress shop called BoLee with an owner that bought it from a Victor Harper fashion show, loving the art deco look on the runway. I fell in love with the lace, but the size she had in the shop was much larger than I was.

I had my alterations done by the talented ladies at Novella bridal, who custom refit the lace by removing, altering and hand-stitching back on the lace, from shoulder to hem. A french bustle was added for the train. Size A cups were added, but easily changed (kept in place with two strong stitches). There are two zippers, the first on the inside for the bodice, supporting a great structure, and the second for the lace on top, for a smooth flow. The bottom hem has a weighted edge, making it all fall just right.