The Story Behind the Dress
My Wedding Dress
I never planned to wear a fully white dress for my wedding. I am an artist who stains every piece of clothing I own with acrylic paint. I thought it only fitting that I try to use acrylic paints on the materials that made up my wedding dress.
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The Search
I walked into each store telling the attendant I’d be painting whichever dress I chose to buy. I also knew we would be hiking in the dress, so I warned them of that as well. After trying on a few dresses at a few stores, to put it short and sweet, I realized I wanted an A-line style dress with modern patterns, likely not floral lace. I found “the one” at The Loft Greenwood, just south of Indianapolis. They called it their showstopper piece.
A Stella York style 7336.
It had glued on glitter lines in an art deco type pattern with white beading. The base color was more of a champagne than a white, and the design called it moscato. There were pockets!!
The Process
Dress in hand, I brought it to one of the alterations locations the store had suggested. She hemmed it, added a corset back, adjusted the sleeves to be on the shoulder instead of over the shoulder, and removed a couple layers of crinoline for me.
I used photos of me trying on the dress to create digital mock ups of my plan for color.
The Process (cont.)
Mock-ups in hand, I had to dive into painting the moment I brought the dress home from the 3rd alteration appointment.
I recorded the entire process and posted it to YouTube. I tested a couple different application methods for the base layers before spraying on a watered down acrylic paint. I tested on wet and dry fabric. I did this on scrap pieces from hemming beforehand.
For the outer most layer, I added acrylic paint to pre-glued glitter lines with a brush.
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Pre-Wedding Reveal
Our amazing photographer agreed to get together with me to document trying on the dress for the first time since I had finished painting it. I hadn’t allowed myself to try it on and look at myself yet!
Enna Photos