What’s the Process for Heirloom or Vintage Gowns?

We love a stunning vintage gown, heirloom pieces are always heartwarming projects, and something old to something new can be a great way to keep the family love story alive. But how does that affect the alterations process? And what do you need to know before you book?

Wedding gowns are our area of expertise, and as the bridal seamstress in your corner for the big day, its our job to guide you through the curves in the road before you even get to them yourself. These are our biggest tips if you’re dreaming of making changes to a vintage or family gown.

Our Process

Our process for vintage gowns and heirloom pieces is a bit different than traditional alterations. When we’re working with a family gown- that dress already has memories and emotions tied to it. People care deeply about these gowns and the people who wore them.

Respecting a new bride’s vision, and the heart of the original owner at the same time isn’t always easy even when it’s a heartfelt moment. As such, we require an in-person consultation for all heirloom gowns.

This helps us verify that the dress is in stable enough condition to be worked on as well as allowing us to look at the current seam construction and address any potential concerns. Additionally, it enables us to give a more accurate quote of the work needed as gown rebuilds are typically far more labor intensive than standard alts on a newer dress. Consults provide us the opportunity to make sure everyone is on the same page and that we all have a clear vision before a needle and thread are ever taken to mom or grandma’s dress.

The Timeline

If you are considering using an heirloom gown for your big day, we’re here to help and ensure things go smoothly. With the delicacy of many of these dresses, we suggest moving up your timeline much earlier to be on the safe side.

The alterations themselves may end up running on a similar 10-12 week time table, but we highly suggest reaching out 6-12 months before your wedding date for a consultation to ensure the project is doable and that there is adequate time for any necessary material sourcing.

This ensures that if for any reason a consultation results in a project not being feasibly doable- you have ample time to consider other bridal options without feeling like you are scrambling to find a gown.

Gown Cleaning

If you are having an heirloom gown altered, we highly recommend getting the gown cleaned first.

A lot of brides will say “it was cleaned after the wedding and then preserved so I’d rather skip it”. But the truth of the matter is, those cleanings serve two totally different purposes.

Cleaning a gown after a wedding and pre-preservation keeps the gown clean and sanitary and prevents the setting of any stains or odors from wear. Preservation can prevent damage from moths, a certain degree of moisture, and even UV damage when done correctly; but time makes exceptions for no-one, and a dress that’s been in a preservation box for 20-50 years still runs the risk of color changes both in the box but also once opened due to oxidization and dust.

Gowns must be steamed after alterations are complete for a perfect, wrinkle free bridal look; and nothing is worse than putting money into alterations on a sentimental gown only to have the color of the fabric change slightly during steaming due to exposure.

Get your heirloom gown cleaned before you bring it in for a full formal fitting to ensure that everything is fresh and you are happy with the color. This can be done after a consultation, but before a first real fitting.

What to know before you book:

Have a vision.

The most important thing is to have a clear vision. We can take creative license, and build off a vibe, theme, or aesthetic; but you have to know what that vision is before we can make the fairy godmother bibbiddi-boppidi-boo magic happen. Spend some time on Pinterest, or looking at bridal magazines. You still want to feel like you on wedding day, even if you do that with a touch of family history.

This means looking at your starting dress with an honest eye and a little bit of grace for what is possible. Consider the bones of the original dress, how much fabric you have to work with, what you want your final vibe to be, and how you might marry those two ideas together. We’re happy to help once you know what feels authentic to you!

Go Shopping

We highly recommend you go dress shopping before you make your final decision. We never want to discourage someone from using an heirloom gown, they are some of our favorite projects; but to make sure you get the full bridal experience and know what all your options are, we find it can be incredibly helpful to go try a few dresses in different styles on. Bridal shopping is different even than formalwear shopping, and its good to know how different fabrics lay, what different cuts feel like, and what feels best on your body to you.

Even if it only serves to help you figure out what you don’t want, it’s a useful tool and a great starting step if you’re just figuring out what you’d like (plus, it’s a LOT of fun).

Other Fun possibilities

If you decide that a full rebuild isn’t your style, or that you’d rather have your own dress but would still love to include heirloom pieces, there are a number of other fun options you can consider.

using applique to embellish a veil
turning the heirloom gown into a receptions dress or bridal party dress
using details and applique to embellish a memorabilia robe for the morning of your wedding

A Bridal Robe we Embellished using the applique from an heirloom dress

Suggested process

1. Reach out and connect with us about scheduling a consult. This can be done via text, email, or the form here on our website. We’ll ask you some basic details about the project and your wedding and get you set up to see Kristin.

2. Consultation time! In this 30 minute appointment we’ll look at the condition of the current gown, talk inspo and budget, and discuss any concerns. From there we’ll build a timeline based on the collaborative results of your consultation.

3. Gown Cleaning: If we are proceeding with alterations we’ll refer you to a dry cleaner for your next step to make sure everything is ready for the redesign.

4. Alterations Commence! Once your gown is picked up from the dry cleaners its time to begin the alterations process based on the timeline we outline together. This will likely involve multiple fittings before your final pick-up appointment, but we’ll be there to guide you through every step of the way.

5. Pick-up: Alterations are finally done and its time to come back and pick up your dream dress. We’ll still record a bustle video if you’re having one put in, and go through all the same things at your pick-up that we would for a ‘modern’ dress purchase. Unless otherwise requested, the goal is always to have your gown available for pick-up 3-4 weeks before the big day.

The beauty of alterations is that the possibilities are (almost) endless. If you have a vision, we’d love to help you breathe life into it.

XOXO,

The Town Seamstress Team