Heavenly Vintage

Bristol Vintage wishes you a Happy New Year and introduces… Heavenly Vintage.

Heavenly Vintage adapts beautiful vintage gowns to make them perfect for the modern bride.

As well sourcing these vintage delights, owner Helena has been busy working on her own collection of vintage reproduction dresses.

The Heavenly Collection comprises of 10 styles, most of which can be varied (different sleeve lengths or necklines etc). 

At our very own Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair, Helena will be showing a collection of totally original vintage dresses.

She'll have about 65 unique outfits ranging from Edwardian to the 70's, all of which have been cleaned and repaired where necessary and all in fantastic ready-to-wear condition. 

Among the collection will be dresses that show off the elegance of the 30's to the sweet prettiness of the 50's and the boho relaxed look of the 70's.

Find out more on the Heavenly Vintage website and take a look at Helena's new blog. Do make sure you come and meet her on March 16th. It's a real opportunity to see these dresses up close and try them on as Helena's normally based in her West London studio and rarely comes to vintage fairs - we feel very privileged to have her!

Clifton Hill Costume and Textiles

Clifton Hill Costume and Textiles is an antique and vintage costumier - and a haberdashery!

Boasting an impressive hoard of vintage treasures, costume and textiles, and haberdashery including buttons, fasteners, buckles, hats & hat decorations, lace ribbon, gloves, costume jewellery and many more rare and fashionable curios; you’re guaranteed to find something unique for your wedding.

The store hosts stunning examples of lace dresses from the turn of the twentieth century, sections of beaded dresses rescued from the 1920’s and a variety of trims, handmade and machine lace. If you're looking for inspiration or pieces for customising your outfit, go and spend an afternoon immersing yourself in this Aladdin’s cave! 

Jenny also stocks wedding dresses and two-piece outfits ready to wear or for alteration (each item is a one off). She has evening dresses, nightwear and accessories, including new and handmade items from vintage stock, by a handpicked selection of designers. For the mother of the bride there’s an extensive range of beautiful ensembles including pieces by Kunick, Harrods designers and Jacques Vert .

If you're looking for something specific for your big day and struggling to find it locally or online, email Jenny at cliftonhillcostume@gmail.com or visit the shop from Spring 2013 to browse her fascinating collection. Visit Facebook to be kept up to date with offers and events, but make sure you stop by and meet Jenny at our next Fair – she’ll have just a taste of all the treasures with her to inspire you.

Heavenly Vintage

Helena of Heavenly Vintage has around 60 to 70 beautiful vintage dresses, ranging from the 1930's to 1970's at her home in West London.  We’re delighted that she’s going to take us through just some of her gorgeous collection. Of course, if you want to see Heavenly Vintage’s collection up close, you’ll want to visit our Fair this Sunday, March 10^th at the Clifton Pavilion.

This first dress is from the early 1960's. It’s silk with French lace appliques, would be priced at around £1000, and showcases a beautiful headpiece by Abby at Cherished.

  

  

This second dress is from Helena’s new Heavenly Collection; a vintage reproduction range of dresses available in modern sizes from the website. Helena had the pattern specially made - it was copied from a 1930's lace dress and the intricate cutting has been preserved in the new dress to get the soft sexy feel of the best 1930's dresses. The lace is an old-fashioned style of lace called 'English Net', made for Helena by a family who’ve been lace makers for three generations! The slightly deeper slip underneath shows off the pattern of embroidery on the fabric and the slip can be made in ivory, champagne, the pale dusky pink as seen here, or any other colour that works with the style. This dress would cost around £1250, and is made to order. All the headpieces are by Abby at Cherished.  

  

Below is another vintage dress from Heavenly Vintage, with a very fitted 'Mad Men' feel to it, in a shade of soft pale gold. It’s original vintage, and would be priced at around £1000. The wonderful headband is again by Abby at Cherished – she and Heavenly Vintage did a joint shoot as their styles suit each other brilliantly (Abby is also one of Helena’s favourite people in the Vintage Bridal business!)

  

This lovely silk satin dress below is another example of the range of styles Heavenly Vintage has to offer in their own Heavenly Collection. It’s copied from a 1930's wedding dress and has a slinky fitted look typical of the bias cut dresses of that era. Helena loves the complex bias cutting of the dresses of the Art Deco period, and has tried to keep it as faithful to the original as possible, so that it hugs the body but in a gentle figure-flattering way. The headpiece uses an original 1930's dress embellishment and vintage beads - the perfect foil for the subtle glamour of the dress. Again, the headpiece is designed by Abby at Cherished.

  

This last dress is a sweet wispy lace 1970's dress, an original vintage rather than a copy. Helena always looks for these romantic soft dresses on her travels. The 70's offer a soft Boho feel, which is very pretty and floaty; the fashion influences at play in that decade ranged from Edwardian to 1930's. An original vintage dress like this one would be around £800. Helena is also working on a copy of this lovely little dress for her own Collection and will be adding styles as she continues to develop the range - this one is planned for the Summer. The pretty beaded headpiece is made by Abby at Cherished again, and is called 'Cow Parsley', from her new range, launching soon.

  

Helena loves vintage wedding dresses so much, but there is of course only one of each, and only in one size, so copying the most beautiful ones seems a great solution to being able to offer the most lovely styles to more brides. Come and see them in person at our next Fair!

(Many thanks to Helena’s lovely models Georgia and Lucy for bringing Heavenly Vintage’s dresses to life so well, and to Robert Lawler for the fantastic photographs.)

Days of Grace Vintage

Vintage lace dress designer, Linda Duriez, is returning to our Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair again this March, and she’s bringing more goodies from her treasure store. 

Unique lace gowns will share rail space with original period pieces and new designers inspired by archive styling. Add to this headwear, antique lace and gossamer fine tulle veils and accessories…

You'll want to come prepared to try on and find that dress you've been looking for.

Days of Grace Vintage also have a limited collection of exquisite lace and jewel embellished shoes by Diane Hassall - the perfect finishing touch and at very special prices on the day.

So whether you’re looking for something vintage or vintage-inspired, perhaps even vintage re-created, Linda will be at our Fair with some beautiful dresses to showcase from both her shops, Days of Grace Vintage in Budleigh Salterton and Pirouette in Exeter (by appointment only).  There’s something for everyone, but you’ll have to be quick as there’s only one of each gorgeous dress.

For delicate gowns, beautiful veils, handmade jewellery and tiaras... make sure you don’t miss Days of Grace Vintage on March 10^th! 

Days of Grace Vintage

Days of Grace is the place for beautiful vintage style dresses and stunning accessories.  These one-off designs are made from antique lace and vintage textiles and are perfect for country, barefoot on the beach or beautiful summer picnic style weddings.  They’re totally romantic dresses with a boho edge and each original ranges from the late 1800's right through to the 1980's. 

At Days of Grace you’ll see exquisite beadwork, beautiful draping fabrics and laces.  Alongside the wedding gowns in the back room there are medieval style hand woven silk bodices from the 1980s.  There’s brand new fine lace and slipper satins from sourced designers with a vintage inspired twist, always unusual and completely unrepeatable. Owner Linda Duriez finds these discontinued gems from designer archives and brings them to life, each totally unique, such as her current Jenny Packham 30s inspired pieces.  A visit to Days of Grace Vintage is a delight because you never know just what treasures might have been added to their collection and with these often hidden away in store, it’s always best to ring ahead to let them know exactly what you’re looking for.

A click onto the website lets you sample some of the vintage and retro pieces available or you can find their treasure trove of a shop at 15 Fore Street, Budleigh Salterton [although they recommend you book an appointment in advance, to avoid disappointment].  You can also find their sister shop Pirouette in Exeter and online.  Based in a 16^th century merchant’s house in the old West Quarter, you can explore the very different designers showcased including Maggie Sottero, Sottero & Midgley and Annasul Y. New designers arrived recently include Amanda Wakely and Yolan Cris. A wedding gown specialist, the Pirouette range is forever changing.  Think delicate gowns, beautiful veils, hand made jewellery and tiaras. 

Whether you’re looking for something vintage or vintage-inspired, perhaps even vintage re-created, Linda will be at our fair with some beautiful dresses to showcase from both shops.  There’s something for everyone, but you’ll have to be quick as there’s only one of each gorgeous dress.

Heavenly Vintage Brides

These gorgeous dresses range from the 40's to the 60's but Helena of Heavenly Vintage sells original vintage pieces from the 30s, which she adores, through to the lovely tailoring of the 40s, the fabulous nipped in waists and hourglass shapes of the 50s, long A line lace dresses and cute short shifts of the 60s and even a few lovely 70s boho dresses.  Each decade has so much to offer and is so different to any other and Helena feels one of the very best things about vintage wedding dresses is that there is such a wide choice - so many shapes and styles.

         

Heavenly Vintage’s prices range from about £350 or £400 to around £1350, with a good range in between and all the dresses for sale are in great condition.  So if you’re looking for that perfect vintage wedding dress, take some time to browse their gorgeous, Heavenly collection online. Each dress is carefully chosen and sourced and vintage gowns have been adapted to make them perfect for the modern bride, whilst retaining their unique charms and remember, there’s only ever one of each!  Helena also stocks headdresses made from vintage silk flowers to complement the dresses.



Choosing a Wedding dress requires a personal service, so Heavenly Vintage work on an appointment system where you can discuss your individual requirements.  Each takes 1.5 hours in their West London home, but we’re lucky enough to have Helena at this year’s fair in Bristol.  She’s currently working on a collection of 'vintage-inspired' dresses, spending a lot of time trying to get the detail right with fabrics that look authentic. Unfortunately it won't be ready in time for the fair, but by the end of the Spring she’ll have even more dresses on the website to offer and in a full range of modern sizes.  Helena loved being part of the Bristol Vintage Fair last year and is really looking forward to being there again in February.  We’re thrilled she’s coming down from London and urge you to catch her while you can.