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1880s Style Gown "Highland Lily"

"Lily" in green silk taffeta, accessorised with tartan

Karen chose a green/ black shot silk taffeta for her version of the "Lily" design. (See index for original sample and other alternatives). The colour was chosen to co-ordinate with her husband-to-be's O'Connor clan tartan; it also proved to complement the highland landscape perfectly. The tartan theme was continued with hand-made victorian style boots.

The wedding gown was actually a three-piece outfit of nineteenth century style drape-fronted skirt (with train) and boned corset bodice. The matching bolero-style cropped jacket made the whole outfit more contemporary. The corseted bodice was enhanced with scattered bugle beads in "petrol" shades around the neckline. The matching cropped bolero/ shrug jacket was designed in case some protection against highland chills was needed. It was also ornamented with beading at the wrist.

The colour was chosen to co-ordinate with her husband-to-be's O'Connor clan tartan; it proved to complement the highland landscape perfectly. The tartan theme was continued with her hand-made victorian style boots. The colour was chosen to co-ordinate with her husband-to-be's O'Connor clan tartan; it proved to complement the highland landscape perfectly. The tartan theme was continued with her hand-made victorian style boots. The boned bodice was enhanced with scattered bugle beads in petrol shades around the neckline. A matching cropped bolero/ shrug jacket was also designed. Although a midsummer wedding,it took place in a scottish castle and some protection against possible chills was needed.

An authentically victorian pose shows off the sumptuous taffeta skirts.

Copyright © 2005 - 2006 Theresa Blake. All Rights Reserved.

Notes From The Designer

Karen's initial aim was to match her wedding gown to her fiancé's O'Connor tartan. We managed this beautifully with a green/black shot silk taffeta which took on blue tones in certain lights. She was also inspired to order victorian ankle boots to be covered in the actual loom woven wool tartan. These worked out extremely well: proving that the long-established company I use for covered wedding shoes are experts in this field. The two boots were identical - every line of the tartan weave matched perfectly.

Other clients have opted to use silk dupion tartan - available in around 90 clan colours. It is a beautifully lustrous fabric and I have used it to cover wedding shoes for brides, for edging corsets and for lining wraps - quite apart from making entire wedding dresses which can look stunning in silk tartan!

Silk dupion tartans available (suitable for wedding dresses and covering shoes) include: Royal Stewart, Dress Stewart, Dress Gordon, Black Watch, Mackenzie, Prince Charles, Black/ White Erskine, Red Ramsey, Princess Mary, Camel Stewart, Dark Anderson, Kennedy, Lindsay, Dark Maple, Modern Macdonald, Ruthven, Old Wallace, Hunting Macinnes, Mackenzie old colours, Macduff of Duff, Macbeth, Hunting Maclean, Hunting Macrae, Old Macdonal of the Isles, Forbes, Old Maclachlan, Braveheart tartan, Ancient Crawford, Sinclair, Ancient Douglas, Macpherson, Ancient Macleod, Burns, Perthshire, Red Remony, Grampian, Macnaughton, Modern Lindsay, Mackay, Modern Mackay, Bruce, Murray, Fraser, Ancient Johnson, Ancient Davidson, Antique Royal Stewart, Antique Buchanan, Cameron, Gunn, Mackintosh, Macgregor, Baird, Buchanan, Campbell, Hunting Ross, Graham, Mackintosh chief, Hunting Macmillan tartan, Robertson, The National Tartan, Flower of Scotland, Old Baird tartan.
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