My mum’s 1940s wedding dress.

 

I thought you’d like to have a look at a Fullerton family heirloom; my mum’s 1948 wedding dress. I used it as the template for the wedding dress Millie helped Connie make in Call Nurse Millie.

 

 

mum and dads wedding 001
back details 1 Although my parents were married on the 14th August 1948, almost six months after cloth rationing ended, other than the slightly longer train, my mother’s dress is in fact a typical war-time wedding dress.
Like most brides of the period my mother, who was a machinist by trade, made her wedding dress and has only covered buttons and press studs to fasten it. front view 1
fabric detail The fabric is rayon, one of the first man-made fabrics and as the brilliant white fabric of modern wedding dresses wasn’t manufactured 65 years ago the colour was ivory although it has now faded to buttermilk.
 As you can see it is a simple design with very few details other than the small peplum at the waist and two beaded bows at the neckline.          construction detail
neck detail 1 The only other style details are the cuffs which are pointed and fastened by press studs; you can even see my mother’s original stitching on them.
   My mum was only 5 foot tall and after she had me and my brother, hovered between a 16-18 dress size. Interestingly I had to buy a size 10 stand to display the dress so perhaps those of us who want to lose weight should try a few months on war time rations! cuff 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first in the new Stepney Girl’s Series

A Child of the East End

Recent Blog Posts

Archives

Jean’s Newsletter

Subscribe to Jean's newsletter and receive a free e-book