Bride & Bridesmaids

Eight women, one wedding, one bolt of cloth — and eight completely different sets of measurements.

The bride wanted her party in a single colour without putting them in a single shape. So the bridesmaid dresses share the fabric, the hem length and the neckline, and nothing else: [each bodice was drafted individually, and the skirt fullness adjusted so the group reads as one line in photographs while every dress actually fits the woman in it].

Her own gown was built to sit apart rather than above — [the same silk in an undyed ivory, with a structured bodice and a detachable train] so the ceremony and the reception ask different things of the same dress.

Fabric: [silk mikado, dyed to one lot so the colour matches across all six]. Construction: [French seams throughout, hand-finished waist stays, covered buttons at centre back].

Fittings ran in two rounds — [the bridesmaids together over two Saturdays, the bride across four sessions ending three days before the wedding].