Entering the world of 'vintage' can be daunting for some. We long to look as elegant as the 'Audrey and Jackies' of this world but where do we start? many would argue that fashion is reserved for youth, well flimsy fashions that might be, but timeless elegance and classic style is not ... heck and blast no! My 83 year old neighbour Ros still dresses with elegance and vintage style, and never leaves the house without her silk scarf. 98% of my clothes are from charity and vintage shops ... (the remaining 2% are undies as one has to draw the line somewhere.) My love of vintage clothing started when I was a shabby student in Liverpool. It had some fantastic vintage shops and opened up a whole new world of shopping and style to me. Now I simply can't pass a charity / thrift shop without being tempted inside and I always manage to find something lovely ...

Like many brides I tried on quite a few dresses before I found 'the perfect dress' but unlike many brides I found my dress hanging up in my front room ... as it was my curtain. This is the story of how my lovely handmade wedding dress 'Rita' came into existence. In Part 1 I'll show you some of the other dresses I tried, and how I went about having a dress made. In Part 2 I'll show you the step-by-step making of, and how this ....




...was transformed from this .....

As you know we had a handmade wedding, so I wanted to find a beautiful, rustic photograph album that was also handmade. After much scouring of the net I found Lacuna - books with wooden memory. Hubby designed our wedding invitations, which consisted of our silhouettes in a ring of leaves and flowers. This image became our theme throughout the wedding, and we wanted this design carved into our wedding album too. Hana, the lovely lady who makes these (as well as lots of other things) was so helpful. She adapted our image and sent me sketches throughout the process. I asked if she'd mind taking pictures as she went so we could see how she makes them. She very kindly agreed and talks us through the entire transformation ... from the simple piece of reclaimed wood (below), to this most beautiful photograph album.