http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/A few weeks ago, in the fifth episode of Bravo’s “Project Runway,” designer Steven was auf’d for “turning a wedding dress into a funeral dress.” For the first time in the four seasons of the show, I was thrilled to see a designer go home.
To me, a wedding dress has always seemed like the perfect material for reinvention and Steven missed an excellent recycling opportunity when he turned a perfectly good, albeit ugly, wedding dress (and his client’s favorite outfit!) into a mostly black, shapeless sack of a dress—and complained about it the whole time.
The truth is, you can turn a wedding gown—a dress you’ll only wear once—into a fun and beautiful dress fit for any special occasion, especially an anniversary date with your new husband. Check out some of the ladies who did so here.
Why should a beautiful dress sit in the back of a closet, waiting to be eaten by moths or overgrown by mold? Recycle your wedding dress, just like you recycle your soda cans and newspapers.
Here are some options for what you can do with a wedding dress after a wedding:
To me, a wedding dress has always seemed like the perfect material for reinvention and Steven missed an excellent recycling opportunity when he turned a perfectly good, albeit ugly, wedding dress (and his client’s favorite outfit!) into a mostly black, shapeless sack of a dress—and complained about it the whole time.
The truth is, you can turn a wedding gown—a dress you’ll only wear once—into a fun and beautiful dress fit for any special occasion, especially an anniversary date with your new husband. Check out some of the ladies who did so here.
Why should a beautiful dress sit in the back of a closet, waiting to be eaten by moths or overgrown by mold? Recycle your wedding dress, just like you recycle your soda cans and newspapers.
Here are some options for what you can do with a wedding dress after a wedding:
* Dye the dress another color. If you purchased a gown that only says wedding because of its bright white hue, dying could be all you need to do to go from bridal gown to ball gown.
* Remove some of the fluff. This works if you have one of those chic Monique Lhuillier gowns, for example, where you could just take off a few bows and it would look like a modern, ready-to-wear gown. Also think about removing any lace overlay.
* Shorten it up. Floor-length gowns look extremely formal, but a knee-length, A-line dress can be worn in many more settings.
* Separate the dress. Many dresses actually come as two pieces: a bodice or corset top and a skirt. If yours isn’t two pieces, though, it’s still easy to separate a dress if it’s the right style. Then, you have two pieces that can be worn again and again—especially the top.
* Remove some of the fluff. This works if you have one of those chic Monique Lhuillier gowns, for example, where you could just take off a few bows and it would look like a modern, ready-to-wear gown. Also think about removing any lace overlay.
* Shorten it up. Floor-length gowns look extremely formal, but a knee-length, A-line dress can be worn in many more settings.
* Separate the dress. Many dresses actually come as two pieces: a bodice or corset top and a skirt. If yours isn’t two pieces, though, it’s still easy to separate a dress if it’s the right style. Then, you have two pieces that can be worn again and again—especially the top.
* Turn it into a whole new party dress. A skilled atelier will probably be necessary for this transformation to take place, unless you’ve got a few years of seamstressing under your belt, that is. Once all the seams are picked out, you'll see just how much fabric you have to work with. You could end up with a dress of a completely different shape, style, and color. Consider mixing your wedding dress with another dress, as well.
Sandra at Alterations, Etc. in Phoenix has done numerous conversions from wedding gown to party dress. She has her clients pick a type and style of dress and she makes the changes. The amount of work and price of this transformation depends entirely on the wedding gown, but she said prices usually range from $160 to $500.
Her most recent conversion was from an antique wedding dress into a party dress, which cost $250.
So while you’re shopping for your wedding dress, think a lot about wearing it on the big day and a little about revamping possibilities for the future.
You can also take your dress apart and make it into something special that can be reused by your family. There are hundreds of ways you can use wedding dress fabric, but here are just a few examples:
· Use satin as a lining for a baby blanket.
· Have a seamstress create a bringing-home-baby outfit or a christening gown.
· Line the inside of a bassinette.
· Make throw pillows.
· Use it in a scrapbook.
And if you’re not super attached to or sentimental about your wedding dress—like maybe it’s from a failed marriage!—donate it. Send the dress to Brides Against Breast Cancer to help raise money for the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. The two organizations sell the wedding gowns to other brides and use the proceeds to help grant the wishes of terminally ill breast cancer patients. Read about the wishes that have been granted so far here.
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