Charlie's original 1950s lace wedding dress, and a vintage-inspired wedding that's a real family affair!

Dear Reader,

Today I'd like to share some pictures from Charlie, one of my lovely real vintage brides.

For her Summer wedding to Liam, Charlie wore a gorgeous 1950s lace vintage wedding dress, with fitted bodice, elegant full-length lace sleeves and scooped neckline. As you can see, she looked fabulous - the dress could have been made for her!

The whole day was a real family affair, with all the family members contributing in unique ways. From the Charlie's grandfather giving Liam his own suit to wear, Liam's grandmother making the ring cushion and Charlie's mum making the cake. Every detail was filled with family love - even the cake topper was from Charlie's parents' own wedding.

To complement the knee-length dress, Charlie wore a shoulder-length veil and a beautiful pearl necklace borrowed from her Mum - a 21st birthday present worn on her Mum's own wedding day. Vivienne Westwood 'Lady Dragon' shoes completed the outfit. Oh, and she also coordinated the dress with wellies for the after-dinner photographs in the nearby field!

When Charlie first came to see me, she had quite clear ideas of what she was looking for. In Charlie's own words:

I’ve always known I wanted a lace 1950s style wedding dress, and I really wanted long lace sleeves. So I first contacted a costume designer from work to see if they could recommend a maker for me. However, a friend and colleague was planning her wedding around the same time as me and had been to see Helena at Heavenly Vintage Brides for her own wedding dress. I decided to visit Helena to sample some 1950s dresses for some ideas. I tried on lots of long and ballerina-length dresses, as this is what I thought I wanted. And then Helena suggested I try on a shorter dress. I was quite reluctant but as soon as I put it on I knew I had to get it!

As you can see, the dress was perfect! And - though Charlie had bought a white umbrella just in case - so was the whole day! There's lots of lovely pictures below, and more on vintage wedding blog,  Whimsical Wonderful Weddings.

If you love this dress, do take a look at more of my original 1950s vintage wedding dresses here, or at my 1950s-inspired Heavenly Collection dresses here. And don't hesitate to contact me to arrange an appointment.

Thanks Charlie for sharing your wonderful day! 

Love 

Helena 

Heavenly Vintage Brides

Shoes, Vivienne Westwood

Hair Accessories, John Lewis

Venue, The Royal Chace Hotel

Photographs, Tracey Christina
Charlie's post on Whimsical Wonderful Weddings

Read more

Hairstyles for 1950s and 1960s vintage wedding dresses

Dear Reader, 

I confess I have a special interest in hair: I spent 20 years as a hairdresser specialising in designer fashion shows and fashion shoots. And I always loved creating wedding hairstyles, as it's an opportunity to do something really special. 

What an icon! Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, 1961

In my last post, I looked at hairstyles that suit 1930s and 1940s vintage wedding dresses. Today, I'm going to suggest a few styles that rock with 1950s and 1960s vintage wedding dresses. 

1950s

In the 50s, hair was still worn wavy - but often shorter and more layered than in earlier decades. It would still be set with rollers, but now the curls would be slightly looser.

And the ultimate 1950s icon, Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe is the perfect example. This classic style can still work wonderfully today, as in Katherine Heigl's glamorous red carpet look. 

Katherine Heigl wearing 1950s Marilyn waves

Marilyn Monroe, 1950s platinum blonde

Scarlett Johansson, the modern blonde bombshell

Another instantly recognisable 1950s movie icon is Grace Kelly. In contrast, Grace Kelly's more sleek look represented immaculately groomed young ladies everywhere - a picture of elegance and modesty.

Grace Kelly, a more restrained 1950s glamour

Grace Kelly, always elegant

But the 50s was a decade of huge change. And for the other extreme, just look at Brigitte Bardot in 'And God Created Woman' (check out the fabulous trailer below!) Bardot's tumbling sexy curls hold a promise of the wilder decade to follow!

Brigitte Bardot, Ooh-la-la!

1960s

The 60s was all about volume and backcombing, and is typified for me by two stars, Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s from 1961, and the tousled blonde curls and high up-dos of Brigitte Bardot.

I recommend taking from each decade what suits you and making it your own. So if you love 1960s style, you don’t have to go for huge amounts of volume to get the look. I also love Tippi Hedren’s ultra-groomed hair in the wonderful Hitchcock film 'The Birds'.

Ice blonde Tippi Hedren in THE BIRDS

This is a look that is often worn on the red carpet today. I've included lots of examples of contemporary versions below, for inspiration.

Angelina Jolie in sophisticated 60s style

Brigitte Bardot's tousled appeal

Bardot-inspired messy chignon with backcombing

Bardot!

Bardot with tousled backcombing

Bardot!

Kelly Brook with sleek 1960s inspired updo

Sophie Ellis Bextor with pretty 1960s-style backcombing

Penelope Cruz

Gwyneth Paltrow does 1960s chic 

Sexy 60s styles: Rachel McAdam, Sarah Jessica Parker & Scarlett Johansson

I hope you've enjoyed this little trip around the world of vintage-inspired wedding hair! Next time, I'll suggest hairstyles for 1970s vintage wedding dresses, and I'll show you some divine styles for short wedding hair. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

Read more

Not a vintage wedding dress in sight... but I love this fun guide to tricky fashion names!

Dear Reader

I know, I know... I'm supposed to be blogging about all-things-vintage-wedding-fashion. But I loved this new video about how to pronounce awkward designer names.

Indulge me this once, I think you'll enjoy it!



Admit it. You loved it too, right? Back to vintage weddding dresses later this week...

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

Read more

Vintage wedding dresses, and vintage-inspired jewellery

Dear Reader

You may remember a sneak preview of this photo-shoot from a few weeks ago...?

Jeweller Judith Brown recently used some of my vintage wedding dresses to help launch her latest collection of pretty vintage-inspired bridal accessories. 

'Violette' 1930s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

'Butterfly' 1930s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

Model wears Heavenly Vintage Brides original 1950s wedding dress

'Butterfly' 1930s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Three of my dresses are featured here: BUTTERFLY and VIOLETTE from my Heavenly Collection of vintage-inspired dresses, and an original vintage 1950s wedding dress with fitted lace bodice, sweetheart neckline, cap sleeves and tiered tulle skirt. All the lovely delicate jewellery is of course from Judith's collection.

'Butterfly' 1930s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

'Violette' 1930s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Thanks to Judith, and to photographer Holly Booth for these lovely images. To see more of any of these dresses, please do contact me or check out my Heavenly Collection blog pages and website.

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides



Jewellery by Judith Brown or www.judithbrownjewellery.co.uk
Photographs by Holly Booth

Venue Dunwood Hall or twitter

Read more