Finally
There are some things that I really don't like about the wedding industry. The consumerism, the waste, the 'must have' attitude, the commercialism, the superficial show, the fact that people feel pressurised by clever marketeers to go thousands of pounds into debt in order to have the 'perfect day', the fact that people DO go into debt for superficial reasons, and the rapaciousness of some vendors when it comes to the word "wedding". You can order a bunch of roses at £xx one day, but mention that that same bunch of roses is for a wedding bouquet and the price automatically increases to £xxxx !
I've worked in or around weddings since I was 12 years old - my parents are hoteliers, it was a family business, my mother organised the weddings, my dad was the toastmaster, and I was a waitress on Saturdays. I went on to work in the hospitality trade and only gave it up recently to concentrate on corsets. I've seen more brides in my time than most people have had hot dinners.
The worst bride I ever worked with was a spoiled Texan heiress who married an equally spoiled British army captain. Her name was Hope, so between my colleagues and I, the wedding became known as "Hope and Glory". I was in-charge of the wedding venue and in addition to working with Miss Hope and Mr Glory (who repeatedly introduced themselves to me, forgetting that they'd met me before, each time we met - including on the big day!), I worked with a 'celebrity' wedding planner (popstars and footballers weddings), a 'celebrity' cake maker (the cakes cost more than most dresses), a 'celebrity' florist (did the flowers for Charles and Camilla's wedding) and the brides mother ("we must have crystal! people will talk if we just have glass") and on the day, I swear, I never saw a more miserable looking bride. It was one of the hardest and longest days work of my life and I never received a 'thank you' before, during or after.
In contrast, the best wedding I ever worked on, was my last - a student couple. They had no money, no planners, a cake from Marks & Sparks, charity shop outfits, and the bride carried one flower, a lily. They glowed with the thought of being married to eachother - she was the happiest bride i've ever encountered, you could literrally see her shining and that made her the most beautiful although in every day she was conventionally plain. It was lovely. They gave me a lovely bunch of flowers afterwards to say thank you.
There have been many weddings in between and I do still get "bride fever" whenever I see one - that is, I love looking at the dresses and all the outfits of the assembled crowd. Some are spectacular, some are awful, some could be 'improved' if the bride had only washed her hair that morning. I've seen the whole spectrum from gypsies (they never used to wear big dresses), to heiresses...
Throughout all the time I've sewed, I always wanted to make 'a' wedding dress - I even bought 8 metres of beaded silk organza for the project. The lady who made my own dress inspired me (that's a whole other story) and although it was a secret fantasy to all but those who read my various interwebular scribblings, I never considered it to be a career choice until recently. I wanted to make corsets, I wanted a branch of my future corset making business to be wedding related, I ultimately wanted to make 'eco' wedding outfits - from peace silk, or bamboo satin - that is still my aim.... I wanted to do 'alternative' weddings, inspired by Paula Yates back in the 80's who caused many a sharp intake of breath with her scarlet wedding ensemble, which I still think is spectacular today, and if I got married again tomorrow, I probably wouldn't wear white/cream/ivory.
So I've been practicing my skills, working on coloured corsets in various designs, with various materials, experimenting with patterning and techniques, honing all my own methods and then experimenting some more with antique patterns and different colour/texture combinations etc., I've always been frightened to work with pale colours incase they got mucky - perhaps an excuse to keep my dreams of making corsetted wedding ensembles on a shelf in the back of my mind - I saved working with traditionally coloured bridal fabrics until I felt expert enough.
Last week I decided that procrastination has had its day and I decided to literally take the plunge with an ivory "bridal boudoir" corset. A corset design based on an Edwardian plunge corset seen at Snibston Discovery Centre back in August last year whilst on the Foundations Revealed fan trip. My corset is intended for wear 'after' the wedding ;) ... There are more incarnations to come, but this is my first dedicated bridal piece. And in making it, I have finally accepted what my mind has been fighting the urge to do for a long time:
All I really want to do, is make wedding corsets and ensembles.
I don't mind if they're underwear or outerwear ... when I think of wedding corsetry, my inspiration flows like a cascading waterfall! When I think of 'other' corsets, more of a dribble. So my psyche has therefore told me that weddings it has to be, wedding corsets will be my thing. For the moment anyway, because I am quite fickle.
Perhaps it's because i'm used to working with brides, and I like working with brides that is the thing, perhaps it's the general excitement which surrounds a wedding, perhaps it's in my blood, but I guess overall, it's the 'special'ness' of weddings that makes me want to narrow my repertoire in this way. The chance to create something really really wonderful and really really special and to make all the effort in doing so worthwhile whilst passing my passion over to a wider audience. This is the first time i've felt especially proud of my work even though it's not nearly finished yet.
I've worked in or around weddings since I was 12 years old - my parents are hoteliers, it was a family business, my mother organised the weddings, my dad was the toastmaster, and I was a waitress on Saturdays. I went on to work in the hospitality trade and only gave it up recently to concentrate on corsets. I've seen more brides in my time than most people have had hot dinners.
The worst bride I ever worked with was a spoiled Texan heiress who married an equally spoiled British army captain. Her name was Hope, so between my colleagues and I, the wedding became known as "Hope and Glory". I was in-charge of the wedding venue and in addition to working with Miss Hope and Mr Glory (who repeatedly introduced themselves to me, forgetting that they'd met me before, each time we met - including on the big day!), I worked with a 'celebrity' wedding planner (popstars and footballers weddings), a 'celebrity' cake maker (the cakes cost more than most dresses), a 'celebrity' florist (did the flowers for Charles and Camilla's wedding) and the brides mother ("we must have crystal! people will talk if we just have glass") and on the day, I swear, I never saw a more miserable looking bride. It was one of the hardest and longest days work of my life and I never received a 'thank you' before, during or after.
In contrast, the best wedding I ever worked on, was my last - a student couple. They had no money, no planners, a cake from Marks & Sparks, charity shop outfits, and the bride carried one flower, a lily. They glowed with the thought of being married to eachother - she was the happiest bride i've ever encountered, you could literrally see her shining and that made her the most beautiful although in every day she was conventionally plain. It was lovely. They gave me a lovely bunch of flowers afterwards to say thank you.
There have been many weddings in between and I do still get "bride fever" whenever I see one - that is, I love looking at the dresses and all the outfits of the assembled crowd. Some are spectacular, some are awful, some could be 'improved' if the bride had only washed her hair that morning. I've seen the whole spectrum from gypsies (they never used to wear big dresses), to heiresses...
Throughout all the time I've sewed, I always wanted to make 'a' wedding dress - I even bought 8 metres of beaded silk organza for the project. The lady who made my own dress inspired me (that's a whole other story) and although it was a secret fantasy to all but those who read my various interwebular scribblings, I never considered it to be a career choice until recently. I wanted to make corsets, I wanted a branch of my future corset making business to be wedding related, I ultimately wanted to make 'eco' wedding outfits - from peace silk, or bamboo satin - that is still my aim.... I wanted to do 'alternative' weddings, inspired by Paula Yates back in the 80's who caused many a sharp intake of breath with her scarlet wedding ensemble, which I still think is spectacular today, and if I got married again tomorrow, I probably wouldn't wear white/cream/ivory.
So I've been practicing my skills, working on coloured corsets in various designs, with various materials, experimenting with patterning and techniques, honing all my own methods and then experimenting some more with antique patterns and different colour/texture combinations etc., I've always been frightened to work with pale colours incase they got mucky - perhaps an excuse to keep my dreams of making corsetted wedding ensembles on a shelf in the back of my mind - I saved working with traditionally coloured bridal fabrics until I felt expert enough.
Last week I decided that procrastination has had its day and I decided to literally take the plunge with an ivory "bridal boudoir" corset. A corset design based on an Edwardian plunge corset seen at Snibston Discovery Centre back in August last year whilst on the Foundations Revealed fan trip. My corset is intended for wear 'after' the wedding ;) ... There are more incarnations to come, but this is my first dedicated bridal piece. And in making it, I have finally accepted what my mind has been fighting the urge to do for a long time:
All I really want to do, is make wedding corsets and ensembles.
I don't mind if they're underwear or outerwear ... when I think of wedding corsetry, my inspiration flows like a cascading waterfall! When I think of 'other' corsets, more of a dribble. So my psyche has therefore told me that weddings it has to be, wedding corsets will be my thing. For the moment anyway, because I am quite fickle.
Perhaps it's because i'm used to working with brides, and I like working with brides that is the thing, perhaps it's the general excitement which surrounds a wedding, perhaps it's in my blood, but I guess overall, it's the 'special'ness' of weddings that makes me want to narrow my repertoire in this way. The chance to create something really really wonderful and really really special and to make all the effort in doing so worthwhile whilst passing my passion over to a wider audience. This is the first time i've felt especially proud of my work even though it's not nearly finished yet.