Is the most expensive dress you've ever bought just lurking in the loft? Time to bring it back into your life, says Surrey wedding dress designer Caroline Arthur.
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Reinventing your wedding dress
There are an estimated 10 million once-worn old wedding dresses out of circulation, neatly tucked away in lofts. And that’s just the UK. Time and again, in my 20 years as a wedding dress designer, I have been asked the same anxious question: “What am I going to do with it afterwards?”
Brides ask out of curiosity, a sense of waste at only wearing it once, or even because they’ve overspent and are wondering if they can sell or rent it. Others wouldn’t dream of parting with it, but want to know how to store it properly and maybe even have it on display.
This is what inspired me to write Relovable. With a rail of old bride samples, I set to work on creating new outfits – jumpsuits, evening dresses, skirts, jackets – as well as unique keepsakes such as bags, baubles and bunting, all achievable whether or not you can sew.
There are ideas on dyeing, washing and crafting. And I sent three dresses to students at the London College of Fashion for their own remarkable refabrications, calculated to help you rediscover the power of circularity, creativity and connection. Not to mention the beauty of your dress...
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Top tips to repurpose your dress
1. Get your dress out of the loft and spend some time with it.
Don’t rush. Enjoy a little wallow in memories of your wedding day. Give yourself permission to touch the dress (I notice during bridal fittings that many brides feel they’re not allowed to do this). Try it on. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fit or you didn’t dry clean it straight away. Guilt has no place here.
2. Access your transformation mojo.
Brides often have a perfectionist mindset, but you won’t enjoy remodelling your dress if you’re worried about how it turns out.This is all about the creative process, connecting with your own personal history – and with other likeminded makers – and simply having some fun.
3. Assess your own sewing ability, along with the potential of your dress.
Look at the fabric type – its condition, construction, colour, embellishment, style and value. Start by having a good old rifle through all the layers and look closely at the detail. It doesn’t matter if you don’t sew, as there are plenty of courses you can go on, either in person or online. Or you can have someone else transform your dress for you – a great app called Loom matches designers with people who need things stitched.
4. How to dye your dress:
If you’d like to change the colour of your dress, start by putting a photo of the dress into a dress-colour-change app and see what it looks like in a different hue. If it still looks like a wedding dress, albeit a colourful one, you most likely won’t wear it.
In addition, synthetic dye is the single biggest polluter in the fashion industry – and since most dyes require the item to get hot and wet, it’s not always appropriate. Fortunately there are lots of natural dye alternatives – tea, beetroot, nettles – and I’ve had excellent results with a fabric paint called Dye-Na-Flow, which lots of costume designers use.
Before dyeing, you need to know what your dress is made of and whether it’s natural or synthetic. My book has a fabric chart to help you ascertain this, but as a rule of thumb, most dresses since the 1990s are synthetic, whereas most from before the 1980s are made from the natural fibre of silk.
5. Restyling your dress:
Turn your dress inside out and see how it’s constructed. Look through the layers, looking for easy wins—like a horizontal join at the waist, which might enable you to take the lower half off and turn it into a skirt.
Don’t be afraid to unpick the dress completely – you’ll end up with beautiful harvested fabric ready for making into something new. There are 14 metres of material in the average wedding dress, compared with three in a summer dress. That’s a lot of fabric to repurpose.
6. Knitting your dress:
Your dress fabric—especially the lining—can be cut into strips (like tagliatelle), tied together, and knitted or crocheted. Dress jersey linings are particularly good for this.
7. Turning it into something new:
The crafting market is huge and gown fabric is perfect for making special keepsakes such as lampshades, baby blankets, fabric wreaths, soft toys, cushions, bags and – best of all – Christmas baubles.
Take your time and make a simple sphere, using the method of your choice. Add a hanging loop, decorate with any lace or leftover beading from your dress, and every year you’ll be sharing your special day with al the friends and family who see your tree.
8. Don’t overlook the lining.
It’s great for making bunting, and you can dye it in different colours. There are dyes, especially for synthetics, such as Rit DyeMore.
9. Don’t feel obliged to get your scissors out.
It may not be the right move for you. Your dress is a precious link to a special time in your life, and you don’t have to justify keeping it. There are lots of things you can do, besides cutting it up, to bring it firmly back into your life.
10. Whatever you do with your dress, have fun.
Enjoy the creative process and use it as inspiration. What else in your wardrobe, skulking out of sight, might you be able to reuse, upcycle and rewear?
British bespoke bridal gown designer, author and speaker Caroline Arthur featured in the BBC hit TV show Don’t Tell the Bride and commented live for The Independent at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor, talking about Meghan’s dress. Caroline lives with her young family near Guildford in Surrey. carolinearthur.com.
