Welcome to a new series from the Anagrassia Atelier: Bridal Before & After.
As a couturier and bridal seamstress, I see wedding gowns come into my atelier with all kinds of fit and construction challenges. Some brides need relatively straightforward alterations, while others arrive with gowns that require significant reconstruction to achieve the fit and silhouette they originally envisioned.
In this series, I'll take you behind the scenes of real wedding dress alterations completed in my South Bend-area atelier. I'll share the gown as it arrived, explain the fitting issues I identified, walk through the alterations and construction work involved, and, whenever possible, show the finished before-and-after transformation.
Wedding dress alterations can involve much more than shortening a hem or taking in a side seam. Depending on the gown, achieving the right fit may require reshaping a bodice, reconstructing the bust, adjusting corsetry or boning, altering straps or sleeves, changing a neckline, rebuilding portions of lace, creating a bustle, or carefully balancing several alterations so that the entire gown hangs correctly.
My hope is that this series will give brides a better understanding of what can be accomplished through skilled bridal alterations—and why the construction underneath a wedding gown matters just as much as what you see on the outside.
If you already have your wedding gown and need alterations, you can learn more about Bridal Alterations in South Bend and the Notre Dame area and contact the atelier to schedule a consultation.
For brides looking for a gown made specifically for them from the beginning, you can also learn more about Custom Wedding Gowns by Anagrassia.
Now, for our first before and after...
AnneMarie’s Wedding Gown: Rebuilding the Bodice
AnneMarie contacted me early this summer about alterations to a wedding gown she had custom ordered. Although the gown had been made specifically for her, the finished dress didn't quite achieve the fit or style she had originally envisioned.
We talked through what she wanted to change and how she had originally imagined the gown looking. One of the most significant changes was removing the original sleeves and changing the overall structure and fit of the bodice.
Removing sleeves from a fitted wedding gown isn't always as simple as taking them off. In AnneMarie's gown, the sleeves were helping support the existing bodice. Once they were removed, the gown needed considerably more internal structure to support itself and fit properly. That meant reshaping the bodice and adding substantial boning and support inside the gown.
An Unexpected Find: I Had Her Lace
Once I saw AnneMarie's gown in person, I checked the lace I had in stock at the atelier and made a surprising discovery: I had approximately three meters of the exact lace used on her wedding gown.
That completely changed what was possible.
Instead of investing many hours trying to alter and reconstruct the original bodice, which already needed significant changes, I decided to start over.
Because I understood what AnneMarie had originally wanted from her dress, I could rebuild the bodice specifically around that vision rather than continuing to make compromises around the existing construction.
Building a Dropped-Waist Corset Inside the Gown
The first step was creating an entirely new dropped-waist inner corset.
This became the structural foundation of the gown. The corset provides the support and shaping that a fitted, strapless lace bodice needs while allowing the lace on the outside to remain delicate and uninterrupted.
Rather than relying on the lace itself to hold and shape the body, the internal corsetry does that work from underneath.
This is one of the areas where the construction you don't see becomes incredibly important to how a wedding gown ultimately looks and fits.
Approximately Five Bridal Fittings
Because this was a significant reconstruction rather than a simple alteration, AnneMarie came to the atelier for approximately five fittings throughout the process.
At our first fitting, I saw AnneMarie in her original wedding gown. This allowed me to evaluate the existing fit and construction, discuss what she wanted to change, and determine the best way to bring the gown closer to her original vision.
For the second fitting, AnneMarie tried on a mock-up of the new bodice. The mock-up allowed me to establish the shape and proportions before cutting into the final fabrics and refine the new dropped-waist bodice specifically to her body.
The third through fifth fittings took place during construction of the final gown. Rather than waiting until everything was finished, I fitted the gown at important stages so adjustments could be made before certain construction steps became permanent.
This included fitting the bodice before the final zipper insertion, refining the fit as the lace bodice came together, marking the lining hem, adjusting the sleeves, and determining the placement of the bustle.
Reusing the Original Silk
I also wanted the new bodice to remain connected to AnneMarie's original gown wherever possible.
I carefully cut silk lining from the train of the original dress and repurposed it as the lining beneath the lace of the new bodice.
The original silk therefore remained part of the gown, but it was reconstructed into a completely new shape.
Creating a Seamless Lace Bodice
Over the new corset and silk foundation, I created the lace bodice using a seamless lace construction technique.
Instead of simply cutting the lace into traditional bodice pattern pieces and sewing visible seams through it, the lace motifs are carefully placed and joined by hand so that the finished bodice appears continuous.
This is a couture approach to constructing fitted lace garments. It allows the floral pattern of the lace to flow across the body without obvious seam lines interrupting the design.
It also requires a tremendous amount of hand sewing.
AnneMarie's particular lace wasn't the easiest lace to use for this technique. Some lace patterns lend themselves more naturally to seamless construction because of the placement and density of their motifs. This one required additional manipulation and careful placement, but I was able to make it work.
The hours of handwork are worth it when the bodice is finished. Rather than seeing where individual pattern pieces meet, you see the lace.
Finishing Details: Sleeves, Buttons, Hem & Bustle
In addition to reconstructing the bodice, I made adjustments to the sleeves so they would sit properly with the new design and added buttons as a finishing detail.
The lining hem was marked and adjusted to the proper length, and I added a bustle for the train so AnneMarie could lift it for the reception.
There was also one more fit issue with the original gown: it was slightly too short.
Starting over with the bodice gave me an opportunity to address that problem in a less obvious way. By lengthening the new bodice and adjusting the overall proportions of the gown, I was able to give AnneMarie the additional length she needed without adding an extension to the bottom of the skirt.
Sometimes the best solution to an issue at the hem is actually found much higher in the dress.
The Finished Gown
What began as a request to alter a custom wedding gown ultimately became a significant reconstruction.
The original bodice was replaced, a new dropped-waist corset was built inside the gown, silk from the original train was repurposed for the new bodice lining, and the lace was reconstructed by hand into a seamless fitted bodice. I also adjusted the sleeves, added buttons, corrected the overall length, finished the lining hem, and added the bustle.
Over approximately five fittings, we were able to refine the gown at each stage of construction.
The goal wasn't to turn her gown into a completely different dress. It was to bring the gown closer to what AnneMarie had originally envisioned when she ordered it.
That is one of my favorite parts of bridal alterations and reconstruction. Sometimes a bride already has many of the elements of the dress she wanted, simply need to be reworked, reshaped, or rebuilt to bring that original idea to life.
Please note: The photos in this post were taken during work-in-progress fittings and AnneMarie's final fitting at the atelier. At her final fitting, she did not have the fashion tape that would be used to secure the sleeves in their intended position on the upper arms.
If you have a wedding gown that doesn't quite fit or doesn't quite look the way you envisioned, you can learn more about Bridal Alterations at the Anagrassia Atelier in the South Bend and Notre Dame area.
For brides interested in having a wedding gown designed and constructed specifically for them from the beginning, you can also learn more about Custom Wedding Gowns by Anagrassia.
WIP photos from fittings...
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