I love to alter things: clothing, tools, furniture, whatever; I like to make them fit/work/look better. It’s like a hobby; something I do for fun tho it also has practical effects. So when we decided to get married I knew pretty quickly that I would need to put hands on my dress in some significant way (tho I do not have the skill to make a dress myself).
My contribution to this dress is probably obvious: I added the colored squares. I did make the “sleeves” I’m wearing in some of these images myself. They are certainly the most complex article of clothing I’ve ever made “from scratch”, so-to-speak. I had a seamstress change the hemline quite a bit & do a few other alterations.
The colored squares are embroidered (I used a hoop and everything!). After a bit of experimenting it was pretty straightforward. I was insanely busy during this time of my life (2019) & dealing with many personal & family issues. As a result I didn’t manage to document this process as much as I’d have liked. Check out the “drawings & in-progress shots” link below to see what documentation there is.
I would also like to note that my hair was completely awesome; check out the ribbon gradient. The design for my hair was developed in partnership with the stylist I went to in Memphis. She persevered through a difficult problem-solving process and really delivered for me. I can say quite seriously that it is a sculpture unto itself (& no, it's not all my actual hair). It also took about 2 hours to dismantle (much) later that evening.