How to source a vintage wedding dress, according to a secondhand collector
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEY WILLIS
WORDS BY GIULIA BRUGLIERA
“I am so proud to be offering these pieces to brides seeking something ultra-directional, sustainable and singular.”
There’s a long list of criteria when finding the perfect wedding dress. It has to feel true to your personal style, but also feel extra special. You may only wear it once, but it’s a dress you want to pass on to loved ones.
It can’t look the same as every other bride getting married that season, and bonus points if there’s a sentimental element to it. Perhaps your mum wore a dress from the same designer on her wedding day, or the neckline is similar to the dress you wore on your first date. Perhaps the dress is one of a kind.
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With such a flurry of factors in mind, it’s no wonder more brides are looking to scout and source vintage wedding dresses. I, myself, wore a vintage Vera Wang gown in butter yellow to celebrate my nuptials, sourced by stylist and vintage curator Grace Corby of Art Garments.
For those who may not have the patience to source their own vintage gown or accessories, Grace has curated an extensive collection of bridal pieces now available to shop. She started the collection after searching for her own (spectacular) vintage wedding dress and quite simply, couldn’t stop. Grace has undeniably got an eye for sourcing vintage pieces for fashion girlies, so who better to ask for advice on sourcing vintage for prospective brides-to-be?
What do you look for when sourcing vintage bridal?
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I like to keep my eye on contemporary bridal designers at the top of the game, like Danielle Frankel and Vivienne Westwood, as they so often reference shapes of the past. I look for pieces with good bones, quality fabrics like silk and directional details like ruching or rosettes or funky volume.
I look for pieces that have the well-built singularity of vintage that aren’t too obviously ‘retro,’ with my hope being to bring my customers pieces that are a few steps ahead of what’s offered in new boutiques… that was exactly what I was looking for in my wedding looks. Vintage that is remarkable and intuitive.
Where do you typically look to source?
I look mainly online – I have about fifteen different marketplaces I keep close tabs on. My advice is to start on Gem because it is an aggregator of different sites that offer vintage, and start bookmarking your favourite marketplaces and sellers from there. I have had a lot more luck online than in physical stores because the internet is worldwide and infinite – there are always new nooks and crannies to ferret through.
Are there any search terms you lean on heavily / you could recommend when sourcing online?
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I focus on fabric and design. [Examples include] ‘Pure silk gown’, ‘‘origami taffeta’, ‘draped disco’ and ‘sequin silk’. They can’t be too broad or too narrow. Unfortunately, you can’t rely on refining with ‘white’ because you’ll exclude ivory, cream, ecru, eggshell, etc. Plus, your dream dress might end up being a blush or citrus tone! Keep your eyes peeled for designers that keep popping up within these searches and bookmark them, too. I love Victor Costa, for example, one of my bridesmaids wore him and I found two of his pieces for this collection.
How did you go about sourcing your own dress?
It felt wrong for me on a cellular level to opt for a ‘new’ gown. Not only because I’m a vintage fanatic, but because weddings generally are so fraught with convention and unjustified expense, I was obsessive about finding ways to undermine the process.
The act of hunting for a secondhand dress, customising it and ultimately wearing it, imbued the sense of creativity and individuality I neurotically craved within the dictates of wedding planning. For me, it signified a way to reclaim agency in a very silly and overpriced system that felt eager to take advantage.
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I found my own 1940s wedding dress from an American seller on Etsy. It was a bespoke gown made of reams of heavy champagne silk/satin. I loved the dramatic texture of it. It was different when I purchased it, with a higher neckline and little sleeves. I wanted something more modern so I had it customised into a spaghetti strap and shortened at the train.
How did you go about sourcing this collection?
In the years leading up to my wedding, I became a fanatical prospector who painstakingly scoured the internet daily for dresses with the ‘X factor’. Once my event was over, it had become habitual and I didn’t want to stop searching, so I kept going.
I had noticed the market lacked high-end, directional vintage bridal collections – with none in Australia – so an idea started to form. Despite knowing how costly and laborious it would be to source (given the light colours, the fabrication, the weight, the age and the assiduous cleaning it would require) I felt a call to continue hunting and collate an Art Garments take on bridal.
Being a vintage thrill-seeker with moderate hoarding tendencies to keep in check, I went massively overboard. I’m not exaggerating when I say my entire net worth has been invested in these pieces – now over 120 gowns, minis, suits, skirts, tops, pants, shoes and earrings, from low-key to divinely dramatic.
What was intended to be a boutique capsule has blossomed into a living arm of Art Garments. Ultimately, I am smitten with how beautiful it turned out, and I am so proud to be offering these pieces to brides seeking something ultra-directional, sustainable and singular.
What should we be wary of when sourcing vintage bridal?
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Difficult stains. I have learnt the hard way [through] gathering this collection. I have a strong ‘I can fix him’ mentality when I source, but with the fabric composition and age of some of the marks you might find on wedding pieces, they can be very difficult to budge.
I have auditioned four different Sydney dry cleaners in preparing this collection and finally found one at the end. Be wary that buying at the bottom dollar will likely mean damage you will have to fix, so just factor that into your budget. A more professional seller should make sure every piece is cleaned, mended and at the best possible standard before listing, but pay close attention to the description.
That being said, light marks won’t show up in photos and it would be a terrible shame to rule out a spectacular dress because of a little damage, so if you’re not too precious about a couple of blemishes, don’t let that get in your way.
How do you navigate fit? Do you recommend getting things tailored?
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Tailoring is basically an inevitability with bridal. Even off-the-rack or trunk show bridal will require some tailoring. Sizing down is usually quite simple but I have even seen amazing examples of wedding dresses four sizes too small being upsized. It will wholly depend on the construction of the piece. I would recommend showing some pictures to your chosen tailor before committing and discussing how customisation and tailoring could be done.
How much should we expect to spend on vintage bridal?
That’s a great question and it’s a bit of a roulette wheel. You can get very lucky and find something underpriced but most sellers understand the high initial cost and sustained value in bridal and will charge appropriately. Secondhand bridal will always be better value than ‘new,’ which depreciates as soon as it’s taken home from the boutique, like a new car.
Vintage is priced on quality and rareness, so the better constructed and singular the dress, the more you can expect to pay. I would expect anywhere between $500 to $4,000 per piece, the higher end being exceptional. I recently saw a ‘complete bridal set’ by Romeo Gigli online for almost $30,000 and was like… that’s a fair price. It was museum-worthy. Vintage bridal retains its value and can even appreciate [in value], so that adds another element of value to it as well.
Any other tips or advice?
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There’s always the option to resell if it doesn’t work out and I resorted to this multiple times over my personal dress-buying journey. The pitfalls of buying online mean that sometimes looks won’t work the way we planned. Fortunately, there are innumerable platforms to resell and there are so many vintage enthusiasts out there looking for their perfect dress. Rather than being seen as a hassle it should give you peace of mind to take some risks and see how your vision pans out.
Explore the Art Garments Bridal collection here.
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