In July of 2017 I got married. It was the most un-fussy wedding; we only invited our immediate families, had the ceremony at city hall, and then hung out at the beach all weekend. I highly recommend this route if the idea of planning a wedding makes you panic, like it did me. Also, holy crap do traditional weddings cost a lot.
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But let’s get down to the essence of this post: what I wore. Initially, I planned to wear a vintage dress and shoes I thrifted in Tulsa, OK. After declaring this was the outfit, I began to rethink things in momentary bride-like fashion. Vintage didn’t feel like the current me and I had no desire to make a traditional dress I’d wear for less than a day. Making a traditional dress felt wasteful in both time and materials, but the making part felt true to me.
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Enter wedding “dress” separates. I had recently made an Named dress and decided the cropped tee would pair nicely with a gathered skirt. This clean silhouette would allow me to wear a sweet statement necklace AND, most importantly both pieces could integrate into my everyday wardrobe. It also gave me an excuse to purchase my minimal accessories from two bad-ass women.
The much coveted Bryr clogs were acquired by pure luck. Normally, the studio has at least a 30 day waiting period, but this pair was in stock and I ran up to SF to claim them. If you’re a clog gal, this brand is worth every penny. They’re surprisingly comfortable and made in San Francisco.
I have been a long-time admirer of Fanny Penny‘s work and was also lucky enough to grab this necklace for the brief period it was in her online shop.
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The top came together quickly but the skirt really tested my patience. I had my failing Brother machine serviced in the middle of making and it got dirty oil all over everything. Thankfully silk noil is pretty resilient and it came out/blended in with a wash.
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The skirt shape I had in my head didn’t match any indie patterns, but it seemed simple enough to wing it. Boy, did I run in to a lot of problems. It was smooth sailing until the gathers, which took forever, then I sewed on the waistband and it was all messed up. I can’t remember the specifics due to blacking it out, but I do know I had already taken out all of the basting stitches before realizing everything needed to be redone. I think I may have even needed to recut the waistband… Anyway, it was a mess and I was running out of time and fabric. Once the waistband was finally attached, my machine couldn’t make it through the layers, so I had to abandon the pretty button plans. Then of course, after sewing on the hook and eye, I realized the inseam pockets I added to the sides weren’t evenly spaced. Oh well.
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Even though the skirt proved to be challenging, I’m quite pleased I made the somewhat last-minute decision to make my “dress.” I’ve worn the top a few times, but would wear it more if I sewed the facing to the shirt or changed it to bias binding. I never grab a garment if it needs ironing and the facing ALWAYS flips up (probably because I didn’t interface it). The skirt hasn’t been worn at all since, but I’m blaming that on the weather.
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