Hello all! I apologize for the radio silence last week; a trip out of town combined with a series of technical difficulties (including someone deciding that my new cell phone would have a better home with them…) conspired to derail my posting plans. But I’m back this week, and have a lot of great things to share with you!

Does anyone remember the Barbie Fashion Plates toy from the 70s and 80s (an example)? I had one, and LOVED making different outfits…especially wedding dresses! Well, Jasmine Bridal has the grown-up version. You can pick any one of their top selling dresses, and change the neckline, sleeves and back of the dress to suit your wedding!!

Here’s one of their examples:

And one that I created using their design tool:

Style T842, no alterations (spaghetti straps, low scoop neckline, low v-shaped back)

Style T482 with a square neckline and long sleeves

Style T482 with a boat neck and flared sleeves

Isn’t that fun? They also do custom alterations on other dresses, but it’s nice to be able to see some of the changes you are making and how they would affect the look of the gown, before you get into the “serious design discussion” phase with one of their designers. What dress is your favorite?

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday…I was in bed all day, fighting the flu (or The Plague, as I assured my husband in my more melodramatic moments). Today it looks like I’m going to remain in the land of the living, so I’ll have a couple of posts to make up for it!!

Did you see this wedding? Well, all of the gorgeous photos of the dress made me curious about the designer. So I did a little bit of research on Melissa Blackburn and she definitely has a new fan!! Here are a few of her custom dress designs:

This dress is definitely one of my favorites:

{Photos by OpieFoto}

I love the Regency feel of the ruffles on this dress:

{Photo via Melissa Blackburn}

She also does other dresses too-here’s one she altered for an engagement shoot:

{Photo by Katherine Loveless}
Melissa has some photos of her work on her website, but many more on her blog. Go check it out!!

Alta Moda Bridal definitely ranks up there as one of my favorite bridal boutiques. Many brides who are looking for a modest wedding gown have one of three choices: choose a gown that already has sleeves, add a jacket of some type to a gown that doesn’t, or alter a finished gown to make it more modest. Well, Alta Moda adds another option: they work directly with the gown designers to modify the actual dress pattern before the dress is made. That’s right: rather than trying to add a top to a strapless dress you love, or find a seamstress to make a similar gown, you can have a custom, modest dress right from the designer! Pretty great, isn’t it?

You can see the difference very clearly in this comparison from Alta Moda. A “traditional” alteration of the gown would have left a clear line where a bodice was added. In this dress, you can see that the entire top of the dress was reworked to include sleeves from the start of the gown’s creation — no line!

{Photos via Alta Moda Bridal)

This dress is another of my favorites. Again, the entire top of the dress has been altered before it was sewn. Personally, I don’t know that this gown would have altered well — a lot of its charm is the flow of ruffles. But in the Alta Moda version, the top of the dress looks like one continuous flow because it is! And if you wanted more sleeve than the cap sleeve shown here, I would hazard a guess that Alta Moda could accommodate you there too! For more gorgeousness from Alta Moda, check out their website, as well as this post, offering gown shopping tips for brides.

I’m discovering that I have a particular weakness for dresses with collars.

This Justin Alexander beauty, in particular, reminds me of the amazingly gorgeous riding habits women used to have. When I was little, I wanted to have a time machine just so I could go back and have one of those habits! I grew out of that particular delusion, but I still love anything that reminds me of my beloved riding habits!

{All photos from Justin Alexander}

Justin Alexander’s collection includes many other dresses that have sleeves or a jacket. Go check out the gorgeousness for yourself.

If you could wear any historical outfit, what would it be? A riding habit, like mine? Something flowing and Grecian? A demure walking dress?

- Leika

Who says modest dresses have to have puffed sleeves? Adoring this regal dress by Joan Shum, via Poppies & Posies.