I often get asked by my lovely brides for my advice regarding accessorising
their vintage wedding dress. With this in mind I have some images to share –
Brides, but the accessories are a mix of old {original vintage} and new.
with a short wedding dress like the first few photographed here, there is
great scope for fabulous statement shoes, which don't have to be ivory or
white. Lots of my Brides wear coloured shoes, red or pink in various shades
being the most popular. Several of my lovely brides have chosen the Melissa
The sweet little 50s tiered lace dress the model above is wearing is
unfortunately sold, but I will be making some copies of it in the Spring in
fabulous French lace – keep an eye on my site for news of my own little
The shoes that my model Patience is wearing below are very modern
but go well with the dresses, they are in a great nude pink colour which
make her legs look super-long.
The lovely knee length dress here is 1960s Tulip style and has a very
elegant, couture look and feel. It is approx a size 10 to small 12 and
priced
at £900, and is currently available to try on at the Heavenly When my clients ask me for shoe ideas, I often suggest a Spanish
designer called Chie Mihara, her designs manage to look both vintage her price start from around £240.
whose dainty little shoes have a very vintage feel. I particularly like the
Ginger style, in gold or silver as seen here. This designer has also just
collaborated on a new range of shoes for dance-wear specialist Freed of
A more cost effective alternative is to have a look at Next wedding shoes. The prices start from £30 and the shoes are really very pretty,
and fantastic value.
Vintage Bling…
I do love a bit of bling, so I often add a vintage brooch to a dress,
the 1940s brooch Patience is wearing goes well as it's the same age
as the dress and adds a bit of subtle sparkle, and the diamante pattern
is quite lacy.
A great place to buy affordable vintage jewellery is the Hammersmith
of great accessories, and petticoats there.
cocktail ring is from
Top Shop and is just added for fun…
In one shot we have the ultimate accessory - the 'handbag-sized' dog….!
In this case JJ, who behaved very well considering she is only a few
months old!
This dress by the way, is in beautiful cotton lace original vintage number,
that was worn by a bride in Richmond back in the
1940s. I love the fact
that I know her name and the year it was worn. The Bride stored it so
carefully with a little mother of pearl Bible and a coin dated
1940. It is
in fantastic condition so it was obviously a treasured possession.
The dress is approximately size 8/10 and priced at £900.
The next dress is a 1950s tulle prom style dress. I have used a dainty
little vintage diamante necklace which belonged to my model Cordelia's
grandmother. I think it's lovely to try and use a family piece of jewellery
- it doesn't need to be a valuable piece, just go through 'Granny's'
jewellery box!
The headdress the model is wearing is made from vintage gold leaves
dress is priced at £850 and is size 8.
The headwear is of course very important an accessory, particularly for
my photoshoots. I have used a range of styles made by Abby and Debbie
to make lovely unique headpieces and bands, and to my delight - great
little hats, which are a recent addition to their range. All the headpieces
The dress here is a
1960s very classic style with a beaded neckline, and
tulip skirt. The headdress made from vintage pearl jewellery was perfect
with it – I needed something very simple in shape, to reflect the simplicity
of the dress and the beaded neckline, and It had just the right kind of
I made it a bit loose, to keep it modern. The dress size is approximately
a size 8.
Hairstyles are of course very important and I feel that they should echo
the period of the dress but with a modern feel. Hair styles of the past
were very fixed and lacquered and these days, girls don't want anything
quite as stiff.
eyelashes, which are great for capturing that vintage feel.
The dress, again modelled by Cordelia is silk organza from the 1950s
with French Lace appliques, priced at £1200, it has a long sweeping
train and a beautiful sash and fits approx a size 8. The little hats are
hand-made on new bases using vintage flowers and textiles, and will
be a feature of Cherished's ready to wear collection, or can be made
bespoke to order.
The dress shown below is again from the
1950s and is beautifully
constructed with many panels forming the skirt. It almost has a corset-like
effect to draw attention to a neat waist. It is approximately a size 8 or
small size 10, and priced at £1100.
The final dress is a cute sparkly tulle and lace
1950s prom dress with
pearls and sequins following the pattern of the lace around the neckline.
I have used a great headpiece which has a sparkly vintage brooch at its
centre, as of course the sparkles on the dress demand a bit more sparkle
in the hair! The dress is a size 8 and priced at £1000.
to meet
Love My Dress brides, so please feel free to contact me to book
in for an appointment sometime to try some on!
My prices range from £350/400 to around £1250 for an
original accessories, but I do have some nice original vintage wedding veils,
and some great cocktail veils – designed by Helena Talbot of
HT Headwear, that compliment my dresses in the most wonderful way.
Helena can also create headpiece designs to match your specific ideas.
I hope you've enjoyed this post. Do check out Annabel's blog,
LoveMyDress.
And please do visit me later this week when I'll be featuring some fabulous 1930s wedding dresses!Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides
And I do wish all my vintage brides-to-be a happy start to 2015 as they plan their weddings. It's a big year for anyone setting off on such an exciting journey!
So to make sure we never have to turn anyone away, I'm developing a small number of stockists who can take appointments to view my Heavenly Collection of reproduction vintage wedding dresses. 
Personal service is hugely important - to me and to my clients. So it will only ever be a very small number of boutiques, carefully selected for their understanding of vintage and their ability to guarantee my brides a relaxed and enjoyable experience. Keep watching, as I announce the first ones in the next few weeks.
.jpg "1940s wedding dress Bette, from the Heavenly Collection, Heavenly Vintage Brides")
.jpg "1940s wedding dress Bette, from the Heavenly Collection, Heavenly Vintage Brides")
.jpg "1940s wedding dress Bette, from the Heavenly Collection, Heavenly Vintage Brides")
.jpg "1940s wedding dress Bette, from the Heavenly Collection, Heavenly Vintage Brides")
.jpg "1940s wedding dress Bette, from the Heavenly Collection, Heavenly Vintage Brides")
