I never really thought much about the Barbie craze until I saw the movie. The New York TImes describes the movie Barbie and is well titled On the Road and Out of the Box.

My vintage Barbie

Below you will see my real vintage Barbie dressed in a taffeta gown with a fur wrap. Yes, I had to dig her out of storage after I saw the movie.  I added the sunglasses to give her a more casual vibe.  From gowns to sunglasses I began to relate to how she affected my life and how Barbie shapes imagination.

Dreams do come true as Barbie shapes imagination

One thing Barbie has tried to show girls is that dreams do come true. And making those dreams a reality requires persistence, drive and the will to experiment.

Some of my childhood dreams was to create pieces for the red carpet and for high profile stars.  My most recent ‘red carpet’ moment -I was honored to create a bodice for the Grammy’s Red Carpet one year ago, read about that HERE

In addition,  I also had the honor to create a custom jacket for Shania Twain, it was intended for her to wear as a lifestyle piece and I did see her on Instagram wearing it.  What a thrill!

Now Shania is being recognized as a Barbie role model @shaniatwain  said,  “All I’ve wanted to do my whole life is tell stories of empowerment, independence and self-expression through my songwriting. Getting to do that and inspire women and girls along the way is the dream. It means a lot to expand my responsibility as a role model into the Barbie world, thank you @barbie and Mattel for creating this reflection of me.”

I feel the same about the pieces I create. The garments I’ve made for my clients are all pieces from my heart. My hope is that they will always give my clients a feeling of empowerment, self-expression and independence every time they wear them.

So thank you, Barbie, for inspiring us all to reimagine the many ways our lives can be well lived.

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Not peach, not orange, salmon. That was her driving force for the entire wedding, from flowers, cake and everything in between.

The Process of Designing Karen’s Custom Wedding Dress

It was quite the journey for me to find the exact match from a color swatch. When I pulled out a color card of available laces, there was the exact color. Finding the undergarment color fabric was the challenge. I was thinking I may have to dye the silk to get the right color. Not only was the color important but the quality of the fabric needed to have body as Karen wanted a strapless dress. Boning and structure were eminent in this complicated task.

I like to take a photo of my client in her daytime clothing so that I can look at it during the creative process.

One thing I suggest to potential brides is to bring in their vision of what a gown for their day would look like. I find it so interesting that women have a vision of what they want to look like and sometimes the technical aspect doesn’t work with either the fabric or a body type.

Strapless dresses demand so much structure for the gown to stay up, the inside of the garment is highly constructed so that the wearer will be comfortable all night and not tug at her gown for staying in place. I love a challenge!

Here is the original vision of the gown Karen saw herself in:

Fast forward to one of the next steps in the custom-dress process, I create a strapless prototype for Karen to try on.

At the second fitting, not only does the prototype have the shape we are trying to achieve, but I use the exact kind of fabric for the sample. In order to see how something is going to fit, we have to first create it in the fabric we plan to use. 

You’ll see in photo below that I used the salmon duchess satin for the bustline fit. Although it looks odd, it gives me the perspective I need to continue to the next step.

Photo credit: Meredith Harris Photo

It is at this point that I suggest Karen consider sleeves to hold the gown in place. It is still constructed like a strapless gown but has the extra security of a cap sleeve for beauty and function. Even small cap sleeves can help provide a more elegant aesthetic for any body type, especially since strapless dresses can often appear a little too snug around the arms/shoulders and upper back. 

Meredith also captured me fitting the lace overlay on Karen in my atelier so that the pattern is symmetrical with some extra movement in the back of the gown, mainly a subtle train. 

Photo credit: Meredith Harris Photo

Photo credit: Meredith Harris Photo

After this fitting, the details of the sleeves and the fit were the main concern. We needed to make sure she could move easily and feel comfortable on her big day.

Here are a few shots I took on delivery day:

The Day of the Wedding

At the wedding, Heather and Gunther of High Altitude Photography captured the dress in an elegant way. As you can see the dress fit Karen beautifully, she was able to move without restraint, and her venue, hair and other details blended together seamlessly. I am so appreciative of High Altitude Weddings to share the day with me through their creative photography!

It’s so gratifying to see ‘the day of’.  Thank you to Meredith Harris and High Altitude Photography for their work and Karen’s vision of an unusual dress in an unexpected color to complete her wedding dreams.

Yes, dreams do come true.

Contact Brooks LTD for a Custom Wedding Dress

Sometimes your vision for the big day requires a wedding dress no one else has worn! Reach out to me for a custom wedding dress that fits you and suits your personality perfectly.

The post Custom-Made Salmon Colored Lace Wedding Gown appeared first on Brooks Ltd.