bridal

VV Wedding:: Soft Tulle Dress and Tuxedo

October 28, 2013 By Chie

It was great to see the customer in the wedding dress I made! I was invited the wedding party of my customer. As I wrote before (here and here) , Chie and I got the chance to produce the bride’s dress and the groom tuxedo.

They looked so awesome in the garments. It is hard to explain how happy I was when I saw the couple together!

They already had an official wedding ceremony a few days ago in Kyoto. They set this party at a restaurant in Tokyo, since they currently live near Tokyo and have many friends there.

Japanese brides usually rent a dress for the wedding ceremony, which is expensive, 2000-4000US dollar on average. It isn’t uncommon that they have to pay additional charge to wear the dress outside of the place of wedding ceremony, because the rental dress makers are sometimes attached to ceremony places.

I don’t really like this kind of Japanese system. I think the wedding style should be more flexible to each bridal couple. So I’ll try to keep making dresses what customers want with fair price.

I hope I could have contributed toward having their happiness (:

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私が作ったドレスを着たお客様の姿を見るのは本当に素敵なことです！先日、ご招待を頂き結婚式の二次会に参加しました。以前、ブログに書いたドレスとタキシードです。

ドレスもタキシードも二人に本当に良く似合っていて、素敵な笑顔が見られて嬉しかったです。

お二人は既に京都で結婚式を行っていたのですが、東京にも友達がたくさんいたので、東京で二次会を行うことにしたそうです。

通常、日本では花嫁さんが着るドレスはレンタルで、一着20万〜40万くらいするのが普通とか…。更に、ドレスメーカーと式場が提携している場合が多いと思うので、別会場でパーティーをする場合はドレスの持ち出し料金がかかるのは珍しくないのではないでしょうか。

私は、こういうシステムになにかしら不条理なものを感じます。せっかくの結婚式なのだから、もっと個々の自由にあわせられないものなのかなーと思ってしまったりします。なので、私はこれからも花嫁さんが欲しいと思うドレスを、妥当な価格で作っていきたいな、と思います！

この素敵なカップルの幸せにも何かしら貢献できていたらいいのですが：）

More Rina’s posts….

– DIY: Bead Necklace
– Fashion’s Night Out in Tokyo
– Silk Painting Groom’s Vest

VV Wedding:: Silk Gown and Vest

October 3, 2013 By Chie

このページを日本語で読む

There is nothing that gives me more joy than seeing my customers wear the clothes I have made and having them be happy with the product. Last Saturday, Andy and I were invited to a wedding by the bride and groom for whom I made the silk painted wedding gown and matching vest. The wedding was in a quite unusual place for Japanese standards. Usually a couple goes to a hotel of their selection where they offer a whole package – from a rental dress, fake chapel built within the hotel, gifts for the guests to take home and even fake priest! Milo and Toko, the groom and bride of this wedding did everything handmade on their own in a camp site in a mountain in Japan. A place called Chichibu.

It is about three hours away from Tokyo. 2 hours in a train and about an hour by car from the closest station. No cell phone reception! Toko’s family made the matching bouquet and hair piece. All the food at the reception was brought by her family and neighbors.

Last but not least, this entire wedding was filmed for a Japanese TV show, “Why did you come to Japan? (Youは何しに日本へ？）”! The groom’s family was asked if the TV crew can follow them to see what they are going to do. I am not sure when it is going to be aired, but so excited see my dress and vest on national TV!

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Wedding Project Progress: Dress Completed!

September 23, 2013 By Chie

Hi, this is Rina! I finally finished sewing this wedding dress. It was a kind of hard to cut the huge fabric in my tiny sewing room, and to deal with boning, delicate soft tulle and other materials, which I wasn’t really used to. But I’m pretty satisfied with the result. I was so happy to hear that the bride loves it too!

I was supposed to use satin fabric for covering the seam line between the bodice, and the skirt. When I emailed the bride with pictures of a half-done dress, she really liked it. And she gave me a better idea to use a ribbon instead of a satin fabric. And then she sent me a photo, which she found and likes. The dress on the picture has a ribbon on the waist. I think it’s pretty, and got me inspired. So I decided to change the ribbon, and stitched flower motifs on the tulle skirt by hand.

These flower motifs swing gently with the bride’s movements.

A stopper and strap for hanging.

I got a tip for s stopper from this book, 2 Way Wedding Dress. When a bride slips this boning encased tape into the bustier, it prevents the dress from sliding down. It’s good for making stable any kind of tube top dresses.

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ウエディングドレスが完成しました！小さな部屋で大きなドレスの生地を裁断することや、不慣れなボーン等を扱うのは少し難しかったですが、花嫁さんが気に入ってくれて本当に嬉しく思います。

当初、身頃とスカートの境目はサテン等の生地をベルト上に付ける予定でした。しかし途中経過を花嫁さんに写真で報告したところ、彼女が見つけたドレスの写真と、リボンを使ってはどうか？というアイディアを頂きました。送って頂いたドレスの写真はとても可愛かったですし（ANTEPRIMAのドレスです）、わたしの中でも新たなイメージが浮かんできて、リボンを採用！そしてお花のモチーフをスカートに縫い付けました。動くたびにこのお花も優しく揺れ動きます。花嫁さんと「一緒に作った」という感覚がとても楽しいです。

上記写真のストッパーはボーンをくるんだものです。着用時に下着の間に挟むことでドレスを安定させることができるようです。2Way Wedding Dressという本の中で紹介されていたテクニックです。肩ひものないドレスに使えそうですね！More Rina’s posts….

– Fashion’s Night Out in Tokyo
– Silk Painting Groom’s Vest
– Wedding Project Progress: Dress Shirt Completed
– Dress for Jazz Concert
– The Process of Making Wedding Dress
– Book Review: Over 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer, in Association with Vogue
– Handmade Dog Cllothes