Victoria came to me with an idea to change her great aunt’s dress into something more up to date. She already had in mind the type of look she wanted to achieve for her dress. We started by drawing out the details, drafting out the new bodice, washing the old dress (which smelled of mothballs), and taking it apart. Most of the skirt remained intact, however, the entire bodice was taken apart and only the lace reused on the new bodice.
The new bodice was made with an ivory satin in the front and organza overlaid with the lace in the back and wrapped around to the front. The back took a great deal of work as there were four different lace pieces used from the original dress sewed into one piece for the back. The skirt was then lined with the same satin used in the new bodice to bring the color down into the full skirt. Beading was then added from beads collected by Victoria to the waistline and color line of the dress.
