Designing Shelby's wedding dress

Shelby and Trygve decided to get married 5 weeks ago...in that time like most brides Shelby didn't see what she wanted in a dress in any store.

Step #1:

So I sent her a few pictures of inspiration dresses I have collected over the years...and the picture below is what she melted over. It is Elie Saab. I knew from then on we could have a lot of fun given we have similar taste.

Step #2

Shelby wears a lot of pencil skirts mixed with embellished tops and edgy heels. She also has a rock'n bod. Looking at the image above, most everyone loves it is because of the styling. If the model dropped the dress to the floor it would be very full "everywhere." Awesome but you can loose the shape of your body in all over texture.

So I did a few drawings making a hybrid of sleek structured lines (mostly inspired from the fifties but with a modern twist.) I also zeroed in on the chevron pattern the texture makes..I really wanted that effect. She choose the picture below....So here we go to rush and make it!!!

front

back

Step #3-1000

We had 4-3 weeks but I was in Memphis and Shelby was in Utah and California planning a wedding. So what to do? I have known about Melissa Blackburn for a while and thought she could help collaborate, She is known for classic elegance with a serious emphasis on texture. Though the dress is really different style she normally does she was hands down to best for the job. I would sew details, photograph them and send detail drawings. The rest was on Melissa. We all three finally met up 2 weeks to go and had back to back fittings hand placing the chevron applique pattern and making the dress just so.

note as a designer you can draw anything but to actually sew it,and quickly takes solid talent. Collaborating was great, problem solving together and getting excited about the little details...(only designers care about.)

The end result below:

What can I say I love this Girl...obviously. The Dress didn't even compare to the girl in it but it highlighted her style to a T. And I am pleased to put my stamp on it.

Thank you Shelby and Melissa for the mad fun.

I will post more pics once her professional pic's get back.