Belle Époque vintage wedding dress

Pictures (courtesy of Alexander Leaman Photography)  from this wonderful wedding have recently arrived and it is great to able to share them with you. One of the earliest dresses we have ever had in the collection, Charlotte got married in this dress from c.1895.
1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress
Every now and again we find a dress that really stops us in our tracks. This extraordinary dress certainly did that. We have narrowed it down to 1895, which is an educated guess in reality, but we are confident that it is from no more than 2 years either side, a real Belle Époque era dress.
Fabric more than 100 years old can be in poor condition, those dresses that were truly loved and cared for though can turn up in amazingly good order; this dress was obviously cherished. The Duchess Satin and corded cut work over the Swiss Dot Tulle were supple, flowing and crisply defined even when we first saw it. Restoration required was minimal.
1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress
The dress did need a little sympathetic remodeling however as the original wearer would have been tightly corseted for a quite extreme hour glass shape. Although this would have been perfectly possible to do, it is not to all tastes and Charlotte wanted to feel less restricted. You can see from the pictures taken of the dress on the stand prior to alteration and later of it being worn that we managed to achieve this without altering the intrinsic nature of the dress.
1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress 1895 Belle Epoque vintage wedding dress
Dress – Abigail’s Vintage Bridal
Photography – Alexander Leaman Photography www.alexanderleaman.com
Venue – Loseley Park www.loseleypark.co.uk
Hair & Makeup – Catherine Bailey www.catherinebaileymakeupartist.co.uk