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Custom Wedding Dress & Kimono Upcycled Clothes | オーダーメイドウェディングドレス&着物ドレス

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The Construction of Rental Wedding Dresses in Japan

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The Construction of Rental Wedding Dresses in JapanI make custom wedding dresses (my recent makes here and here), but occasionally I have a chance to refashion a dress from a rental shop. Renting one’s wedding dress is very popular in Japan. Usually the rental dress shop a given bride uses is associated with wedding ceremony venue so a bride “must” pick a dress from that wedding hall’s dress shop. If they choose an alternate dress rental provider, they will be charged extra fee.
It’s interesting to see the construction of a rental dress as it is different from a custom dress. Because the dress is meant to be used by different brides over and over again,  it must be made with more durable fabrics (synthetics) and is far more adjustable. I wanted to show the key features of a rental dress.inside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-51. Elastic back panel
I incorporate this element in the recent dress I made.inside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-62. Lace upinside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-3inside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-43. Wide waist stayinside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-24. Bra cups
inside-of-japanese-rental-wedding-dress-15. Built-in tulle under skirt to add volume

Not only is the construction different, but also the style of the dress is unique to rental dresses. You almost never see a relaxed Bohemian style like Grace Loves Lace or Limor Rosen as a rental option. Rather, you see dresses in a Disney princess style with a big puffy skirt and many layers. I wonder if this style difference comes from the nature of renting as it is easier for many people to fit in a puffy skirt than a mermaid style where you have to worry about the exact fit in waist and hip area. My hope is to provide more variety of choice for Japanese brides!chie sig2Find me elsewhere:

MADE: Khaki Wrap Dress

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khaki wrap dress by vivat veritas blogAt the beginning of the Summer, I purged some of the clothes in my closet. That purge included ridding some clothes I hand made in the past like this dress, high-low skirt, shirt dress (Archer pattern modification) and this floral skirt (I kept the top). They were made four years ago and worn many times, so the fabric was starting to fall apart. The floral skirt was nice, but the organza insert felt too sexy for me to wear in my daily life as a mom. As sad as I was to part with my creation, it also gave me an opportunity to make new summer clothes!

Since I made this parka, I wanted to incorporate more of khaki color in my closet. I have a lot of white and black as basic neutral colors but just black and white felt boring. As I always do, I browse through Pinterest to collect pretty images of the dresses to pin down what I want to make. I pin those in my “Fashion” board.

khaki dress inspiration board by vivat veritas blog{1 | 2 | 3 | 4 }
khaki wrap dress details
Here is the end result! I think it looks like the closest to #4 above. I might be able to wear it in the fall as well with a black turtle neck inside. The fabric is from Nippori Tomato, second floor knit section. It’s a medium weight jersey with a bit of velvet like feel in the right side of the fabric. It’s soft and comfortable!

The pattern was borrowed from my recent client work. I lengthened the skirt length by 5cm and added big patch pockets on both sides. I love the pockets and use them often to hold key when I am running out of the door.

最近自分用に作ったカーキ色のラップワンピースです。
クローゼットの中には入れるハンガーの数を決めていて、それにかからないものは出来るだけ人にあげたり、リサイクルショップに持って行ったり、状態が悪い場合は処分して、服だらけにならないように気を付けています。
断捨離についての本読むの好きなので笑

今年の夏も、着ていないものを随分処分しました。
その中には自分で数年前に手作りしたものもあって、別れるのが少し辛かったのですが、
やっぱり生地が駆使されて薄くなっていたり、丈が短く感じて長いこと着ていなかったりのものばかり。
なので心を鬼にしてさよならしました。

クローゼットのスペースが空いた分、新しいドレスを作りました。
カーキ色のシンプルラップ（カシュクール）ドレス。
ポケットもつけました。
出掛けにささっと鍵とか駐輪券とかを放り込んでおけるので便利です。

khaki color wrap dress with big pocketskhaki wrap dress by vivat veritas1 (2){worn with Dolce Vita sandals}chie sig2

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MADE | Navy Blue Lace Dress

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Navy blue lace dress for wedding via Vivat Veritas BlogIn November, I attended two weddings. This meant I had an excuse to make myself a new dress! I was browsing through etsy and came across  Fabric Bistro, a fabric shop based in California with a collection of great lace fabrics. Good lace fabrics are hard to find in Japan. Nippori is not a good place to go for quality lace.  Iwai lace has beautiful French lace but, very expensive. Fabric Bistro is great, except that it is hard to sort through the more than 4000 items in their shop! 

I imagined my dress to be like this one; long sleeve, I-line skirt using scallop at dress hem. The problem I had was the lack of fabric. I ordered 1.75 yards, but since the fabric width was rather narrow, I did not have enough fabric for the long sleeves.

I went ahead and started cutting the fabric without a pattern. I just used my measurements and adjusted as I went along. There were some hiccups – the dress is so hard to walk in, especially going up the stairs. I did not add a slit or vent in skirt back because I feared that it would ruin the scallop lace design. Being uncomfortable at the wedding for a day was something I was willing to deal with:)

I wanted to place the scallop in a way that would show off the lace pattern, so I used it for skirt hem and back V neckline. The front waist line is not connected with a seamline to use the scallop as well. I added a hidden button and a loop in center front around waistline so that the front would not keep opening. Back waistline is connected together and elastic band was inserted for cinched waist. I’m not a huge fan of sleeves but for Japanese weddings, it is taboo to reveal too much skin as a guest, so I added small cap sleeves.

I made a slip to wear underneath with four way stretch fabric. I am happy with the decision not to line the lace fabric, but to add a slip because yon switch the look around depending on what color of slip you wear. I might make a slip in nude color to really show off the navy blue lace in the future.
Dainty navy blue lace from Fabric Bistro
DIYed blue lace dress for wedding
Navy blue lace dress for wedding

Here is a photo from the wedding – I made Kiko’s dress too! She helped me design it. Will be posting about it soon.Navy blue lace dress at winter wedding

With my sister and her husband. The wedding was a lot of fun!
P.S. Here is the dress I made for the last wedding I attended.Family photo at winter wedding

11月は2回結婚式にお呼ばれしていたので、自分用ドレスを作りました。
生地はカリフォルニアのレースを豊富に扱っている生地屋さんからお取り寄せしました。
日本で質の良いレースを見つけるのはなかなか難しいです。
少なくとも、日暮里ではなかなか見つからないと思います。残念ながら。

自分のサイズに合わせて、型紙なしで作りました。袖は、本当はノースリーブが良かったけど、結婚式だということで控えめなキャップスリーブに。
このドレス、中に着るスリップの色によって雰囲気が変えられるんです。
今回は同色のネイビーで作ったけれど、ベージュのスリップにして、レースの柄を引き立たせてもとてもステキだと思います。
chie sig2

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