Wedding Dress Fashion Design Techniques and Their Historical Origins By Tess Mann

Hi There..... Are you interested in wedding dress fashion design?

Picture provided by Tess 

https://www.instagram.com/couture_by_tess/

https://tessmannhautecouture.com/

Sadly, I cannot share any insights about my personal wedding dress designs since I have never actually designed any garments. 😢

However, when I was approximately 14 years old, I did sew a long dress for myself, using a pattern, to wear to a wedding that I was attending as a guest. That was the extent of my experience with gown creations. 😉

You might have expected me to retract my previous statement as a joke, but I assure you that it's true, and to top it off, the dress turned out fantastic. 😁

Ok, I know what you are thinking; "where did this blog post come from". Ooh, you Snoopy Sally, always asking questions. 😂

I use a tool called Qwoted to find the experts for my interviews. Every month I renew my requests there, and if I find the time, I try to contact people from their database, to ask them to pitch my requests. 😎

Last time I received the following message; "I have recently placed Tess in a series of interviews and she has requested to take a break from interviews for a couple months due to time constraints/schedule. As an alternative, I can send you an original article about Tess and her bridal gown labels." 😊

Now how could I say no to that? The opportunity was too good to simply wave goodbye like a mediocre first date. 😄

Well then, fasten your seatbelts and hold onto your hats - we're about to embark on a wild ride through the history of wedding dress fashion design techniques! 😍

Wedding Dress Fashion Design Techniques and Their Historical Origins

By Tess Mann, Fashion Designer

 

Picture provided by Tess 

Intro about wedding dresses fashion design

When it comes to designing a wedding dress, there are many elements that go into making a gown that will create the perfect fit for the bride’s body and unique tastes. 

Take a moment to visualize a dream wedding. Within that visualization, the dress is likely the statement piece. The white wedding dress has been the bride's attire since the beginning of medieval times and was a symbol of purity. 

In modern-day, wedding dresses can be any shade of the rainbow as long as the bride feels confident. In addition to color, the neckline, bodice, sleeves, color, texture, skirt, train, material, waistline, and more are all design techniques used to give every bride plenty of options. 

It can also be difficult to shop for a wedding dress that suits the silhouette, personality, and vision of each bride. Knowing specific techniques and their purposes can help you find the perfect fit.

By identifying different techniques, brides can find individual designs that they love. Here are some techniques to help explain what to look for.

 

Picture provided by Tess 

Hand-Beading

Beading can be a tedious and time-consuming task. Although this is true, it raises the value of your dress for the time and labor put into it. It will allow the bride to showcase their personality through the distinctive design, color, and style of beading. 

Choosing the look of the bead is the first step in the design process, and then moving on to exactly where you would like them placed is next. When it comes to the technique, the best choice is to sew each bead in one by one. 

Though time-consuming to complete, if the bride were to snag a thread and it breaks, the dress would only lose one bead. The important part of beading is being sure each bead and pattern is consistent. 

Beadwork has been around since the 14th century, beginning with the embellishing of beads into Native American clothing, and has only become even more useful when designing.  

Use of Boning

Boning can come in handy when it comes to making a wedding dress secure and sturdy. This is a technique used to create structure in the dress and can be very important when it comes to fit. 

For instance, between the lining of plus-size bridal gowns, construction should include drill/double-mounted interfacing (similar to a strong canvas) as well as strong boning in various locations throughout the bust area, waist, and even down the back. 

There are also several different kinds of boning. Each type of boning material has the ability to give a more flexible structure depending on personal tastes. 

These materials, such as metal and plastic, are placed into seams or casings to become somewhat invisible. Boning originated in the bustles of Victorian dresses in the 1870s. Those queens knew how to get their dresses to create a desired silhouette, and now so do you. 

Hand-Drawn Embroidery

Embroidery allows the designer to add simple or complex designs throughout the fabric using a needle and thread or embroidery machines. 

The most difficult part of this process is mapping out the embroidery design. From simple flowers to intricate patterns, this will be the most important step. 

Often when it comes to wedding gowns, economical designs will have pre-made embellishments that are easily sewn on. 

Hand embroidery has been found to go back as far as 30,000 BC near China with beautiful embellishments and thread embroidery on their shoes and clothing. Embroidery was seen as a special craft and a way of creating art. Today, embroidery still holds that value.

 

Picture provided by Tess 

Adding Buttons

When it comes to a wedding dress, buttons can be very useful. Though useful, it can be hard to make them sturdy and stable, especially for a whole night of mingling and dancing as well as remaining intact through generations. 

Buttons on a bridal gown can be used in many ways: decoration, functionality, and necessity. Buttons down the back or sides of the dress will help a bride not feel so snug when putting their gown on, but perfectly snug when all buttoned up. 

You can also use the buttons to your advantage to create texture and a unique look as they cascade down the back or wrap from one side up to the other. 

High-quality garments will place thread security as a priority. After securing the thread, the needle is looped through the hole(s) of your button(s) and then secured to the fabric before looping through again. This helps the fabric become an anchor for the button and not only the thread. 

Buttons have been in existence for a very long time, not as long as embroidery, but they have been useful to people since around 5,000 BC. Buttons have been said to hold a spiritual symbolism since that time, acting as protection from negativity.

Pleats

Pleats can range from simple to intricate depending on what kind of material is used. Pleats are a type of fold made across the fabric and can be cohesive or vary for unique looks. 

There are different kinds of pleats such as accordion pleats, box pleats, rolled pleats, and many others. This technique of design also has plenty of benefits when used in clothing, especially gowns. 

Pleats are utilized to create texture, depth, flow, and dimension within a carefully-designed piece. 

To pleat, the fabric is folded in a zig-zag pattern at the top of where the pleats begin. This process can be made easier by using a pleating tool to make sharp turns in the fabric. 

The origin of pleating is actually quite an interesting one. Coming from ancient Egypt, pleats were used in the clothing of royalty to signify they were rulers and had power and wealth. 

This pleating was usually done on natural materials such as silk, cotton, and wool, which are still some of the easiest materials to pleat.

 

Picture provided by Tess 

Darts

A dart is a simple technique that makes a big difference. Darts are small, folded pieces of fabric that have been tapered and stitched down, which helps flat fabric take shape. 

They can be used to give shape to a shoulder, neck, bust, and even waistline. There are also several different types of darts such as the standard dart, French dart, curved dart, and several others. 

Used to create texture and dimension, this is such a simple way to spice up a design. Darts can be a challenge of trial and error sometimes to get the fabric to lay just how the designer likes it, but it’s a simple technique of lining it up and sewing. 

Referred to as “fishes” in the 19th century, darts were very popular in high-end men’s attire.

Ruching

Ruching is a similar technique to pleating but produces a totally different look. The layers of the fabric create a frill, ripple-like effect. It constructs extreme volume and texture, as well as catches the eye. 

When it comes to ruching, it’s visually similar to pleating, but the technique is done very differently. First, take a long piece of thread, and sew it across where you want your ruching to be. Next, pull the thread and the fabric will bunch up. 

Then the designer can meticulously place the ruches and sew over them to keep them in place. Pins are going to be your best friend as a designer when using this technique. 

Ruching dates back to ancient Greece which used ruching just like we do today, as an intricate design on our clothing.

Pockets

Pockets can add a lot to a design. Not only are they a nearly necessary functional technique to put into your piece, but they can be created and placed in so many different ways. 

Pockets in dresses have become increasingly popular, especially in the wedding dress scene. Pockets have a knack for being able to go anywhere on a dress: the sides or maybe just one side, on the inside by the leg, or a small insert on the sleeve…the possibilities of hiding a pocket are truly endless. 

Pockets can create more volume among the skirt of the dress if that is preferred. They can be placed on any style of dress. Pockets can also be made out of any material if it is hidden beneath an opaque fabric, making it easy to implement something sentimental such as a piece of fabric from a late grandparent or parent. 

They can simply be added to a garment after the design process upon request, as well. Cut out the pocket pieces in the desired size. Figure out placement for the pocket. Open up the side seams on the inside and sew on if you are putting them on the sides of your dress, or simply sew three different sides on if on the inside. 

Recapitulation

There are so many design techniques that can be used to give wedding dress designs that distinctive flare. Couture wedding dresses have become the best way to get the look you want for your perfect day. 

Having an expert fashion designer to work with can give brides a good idea of what techniques are important to implement into “the dress” or designs you might not have thought of before.

Picture provided by Tess 

Thank you so much Tess for taking some time off, but most of all for giving me the permission to share this interesting piece about Wedding dresses. 😍

Hope you like my blog.....Until next time.....Have a nice day 

Renata (Seadbeady) 

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