My mom and dad on their wedding day. Notice the mock turtleneck on my mother’s wedding dress.
Something old, something new
By JAMMIE SALAGUBANG – Buzz Editor
Sewing is an underappreciated art. I like clothes, but I rarely think about the stitches and cutting that goes into it, I’m too busy thinking about color and fit.
But the things it can do are amazing.
For my wedding I am wearing my mother’s wedding gown. My mother had quite the fashion sense. I wear many of her clothes now, and it’s a running joke among my friends that when they compliment me on some item that I reply, “Thanks. It’s my mom’s.”
So when the idea came up that I should wear my mother’s wedding dress, I jumped on it. And it fit me, incredibly. The only problem was that my mother was married in the ’70s — and the dress looks it. A-line, long-sleeved with a mock turtleneck neckline, it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my wedding day.
Enter the seamstress.
Or rather, enter the hours of trying to find one. It seems sewing is also a dying art. I found plenty of places that could do alterations, but this dress required major reworking. I was redoing the silhouette and making it strapless. Plus, I wanted to incorporate my mother’s veil into the skirt. (It doesn’t count if the groom reads a description of the dress, right?)
Also, the dress is 40 years old. I was perhaps a little overprotective of it — as in obsessively hovering over it and hyperventilating if anyone touched it with unwashed hands.
I Googled seamstresses and the name of Janice Babb came up at Corwin’s Bridal Salon. However, there were no pictures of her work. With apprehension I made an appointment to meet her.
On the appointed day I turned up at Corwin’s. Janice was nowhere in sight, but a man before me came in to pick up a jacket she had worked on. “Perfect,” he said. So far, so good.
And it got even better. Janice Babb turned out to have the most soothing voice, perfect for calming the orneriest and prickliest bridezilla. I gingerly and tenderly took out the garment. She just as gingerly and tenderly looked at it. The savage beast in me subsided.
Not only was she able to do everything I wanted, she included things I would’ve wanted if I had known about them, like a built-in petticoat and an elastic waist thingy. She was even able to make flowers out of the leftover remnants of the dress (not that there were many because she was very respectful of the dress and only cut what she had to) that the wedding party can wear, so we’ll all get to wear something from the dress.
When you look at before pictures of the dress and what it looks like now, it’s hard to believe they’re the same thing. Sometimes I just sit in front of the dress and stare in wonder.
Janice Babb, you’re awesome.
What the dress looks like now, from the front…
…and from the back. The train is basically the same as it was for my mom, except mine hangs from mid-back, and hers hung from her shoulders, like a royal mantle or something 🙂
Jammie Karlman is the entertainment editor for the Chico Enterprise-Record. Contact her at buzz@chicoer.com. Follow her on Twitter @JammieKarlman
