The Dress

Ivory strapless mermaid guipure lace gown with silk organza overlay accented with hand pieced Chantilly lace.

A bride dancing all through the night while the band plays on—in Matilda, a real bohemian spirit comes through. Maybe it’s those girly wisps of tissue organza gracefully layered over an organic, rich forest of fern guipure lace, but I find there’s just something so natural and carefree about this dress.

Matilda is really a mermaid gown cleverly disguised as an A-line dress—tissue organza overlay floats over a mermaid silhouette composed of guipure lace. The veiling of that particular lace—very high-definition and graphic—softens it, like a soft mist of rain. I absolutely love the illusion effect the A-line veil creates. It gives it a subtle impression of the body, while adding a little visual mystery. The way the light dances through those different densities—first through the Chantilly lace appliqués on the organza, then the guipure lace—is just so playful. It’s almost as though the dress is sculpting with the light. It’s really quite breathtaking!

This season I also delved into a complex piecing and layering of all different types of lace, from the traditional and feminine to the very modern and geometric. In Matilda, the sweetheart bodice is an intricate, multilayer collage of fern guipure lace with just a shadow of geometric web lace layered on top. It’s most defined at the top of the neckline, where it looks particularly striking against the skin as a lacey modesty piece.

Matilda has such an easy, carefree spirit—I picture it on a California beach, maybe with the drama of a backdrop like Big Sur, where light and air play a role in transforming the dress into an organic confection. The flora of the lace will melt into the natural surroundings!

See more and video here: http://www.verawang.com/veraunveiled/2014/04/behind-the-dress-matilda/

Dress is label size 2 and was taken in to about a size 0.