WIN | Double tickets to the Oakfield Farm Bridal Expo

By sharing the Dimity Bridal Studio Oakfield Farm Bridal Expo event on Facebook, you will be entered into our competition to win double entrance tickets for Sunday.

The expo opens at 10:00 on Sunday morning, and closes at 17:00.
Oakfield Farm is located at Plot 240 Beyers Naude Drive, Johannesburg.

The prize tickets are not transferable and are valid for Sunday entrance only.The prize tickets must be collected at the entrance to the expo on Sunday, at a pre-determined time.
To enter, see the Facebook event here
Entries close at 16:00 on Friday the 27th of January 2017.
Winner will be announced at 17:00 on Friday 27th of January 2017 on the Facebook event page.
Dimity Bridal Studio and/or Oakfield Farm may not be held responsible for any losses, damages, injury or other incurred during the visit.
Tickets to purchase are available through Computicket.

A periwinkle blue wedding at Oakfield Farm

18th of December, 2010

Nicola & Grant's wedding was a beautiful traditional affair at Oakfield Farm in Muldersdrift, Gauteng.
Nicola chose a pretty daisy-embroidered tulle for her wedding dress and we included a periwinkle blue netting in the petticoat as a flash of colour that would be on show during their dance. The curved flared panels of Nicola's dress gave the silhouette incredible movement - perfect for her bubbly character!
The evening's celebrations were captured by the talented Travis & Maike of We Love Pictures, from Cape Town.

Photography by We Love Pictures www.welovepictures.co.za

Venue: Oakfield Farm www.oakfield.co.za

A charming Pretoria wedding

27th of February, 2010

Loanita chose an asymmetric style and a subtle champagne bridal satin with ivory corded lace overlay for her wedding dress. The corseted lining tailored her silhouette beautifully and allowed Loanita to be comfortable in her dress all day. Loanita & Carl were married at Safari Chapel in Pretoria, and dined at the romantic Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg afterwards.

Zero Waste Sustainable Design

Zero waste pattern-cutting is the designing of a pattern that will result in absolutely no off-cuts once the fabric pieces are cut – each pattern piece fits into the overall fabric piece like a jigsaw puzzle. This is an important tenant of sustainable design practices because much of the waste of the fashion industry starts with the off-cuts produced at this stage of the production process. 

The seam allowances of pattern excess stitched to the outside and trimmed with delicate hand-sewn edge laces.

The Tull-bi-telli bridal gown is an example of this method of design, in that it was cut with zero waste. In order to produce a well-tailored shape, the sections of fabric  which would ordinarily have been cut off and thrown away, have been included into the surface design and embellishment of the dress by stitching the seam allowances to the outside of the garment and trimming them with vintage edge laces for emphasis.

Tulle-Bi-Telli Dimity Bridal gown from the EcoBride collection.
Photo Credit: AES Photography 2011, Model: Samantha-Jo Chandler

This celebration of a sustainable design ethos is a successful study in the art of creating more out of less.

A Whimsical Garden Wedding in Kloof, Kwa-Zulu Natal

June 2008

Janet's wedding dress was created out of ivory duchess satin and beaded embroidered lace. The sweetheart neckline and asymmetric flared skirt complimented her slim frame beautifully. We also made a flirty birdcage veil and hand-curled silk flower for her hair. Janet & Mathew were married in her childhood garden, under the canopy of the giant flame tree.

Picture credit: We Love Pictures, Cape Town.

What is Slow Fashion?

Unlike the mass produced garments readily available today, slow fashion garments are put together by hand often using handmade fabrics, resulting in unique, higher quality pieces.
Using the cheapest raw materials and labour possible is not an option, as that results in a poor quality item that only lasts one season or a couple of washes. Slow fashion garments take much longer to make, and are intended to be kept and used for generations. An example of slow fashion products is Haute Couture, where items are stitched by hand as a toille in time for a fitting, and afterwards are reconstructed - again by hand - as the finished item. Pieces can take months and many hands to create.

A Dimity bridal gown bodice constructed from vintage laces and crochet edgings is embellished with glass pearls, one at a time.

When shopping for clothing at your usual stores, choose items which are made out of higher quality fabrics with proper linings and structure instead of following the latest fad with short-cut construction. You will find that you get many more wears out of the quality pieces than the cheaper items.

Dimity EcoBride Debut Collection

December 2011

The aim of the EcoBride collection is to create bridal gowns through a slow and considered process, using materials & procedures that do not harm the environment in any way. This can be done by using new fabrics which are certified organic (cottons & hemp), are produced in environmentally-friendly & ethical ways (peace silk), are handmade by highly skilled artisans (crochet & lace), or by using reclaimed fabrics from other textile items to extend their lifespan.

Some of the design concepts include:
• Zero waste (no waste fabric created during pattern-cutting), 
• Slow fashion (hand-sewing rather than machining), 
• Emotionally durable design (importance of sentimentality and durability of style), and 
• Reclaiming both vintage items and off-cuts to make new fabrics. 

Another consideration is for the lifespan of the gown: some gown styles are designed as separates (corsets & blouses) which can be worn after the wedding as part of the brides wardrobe.

Chevron gown lace detail - vintage edge laces stitched together by hand to create a new textured fabric.

Zero Waste - seams stitched to the outside of the Tulle-Bi-Telli bridal gown are trimmed in vintage edge laces in order to celebrate the principle.

The result is a collection of gowns with strong themes of lace-mixing, colour-mixing, fabric-efficient pattern styling, and artisanal crafts of lace-making, crochet & appliqué. Conservative necklines are balanced out by sheer sections, lending a flirty edge to some of the more traditional or demure styles. These pieces designed for the debut EcoBride collection, each epitomised a specific design concept; illustrating the many ways in which bridal fashion could be earth-sensitive. This in itself is a long-debated issue - the paradox of sustainable fashion - and it was Wendy's intention to highlight areas of design that could address this debate.

Veneto gown: Vintage Chantilly, dotted tulle, tatting and needlepoint laces stitched by hand.

It is becoming more important to people to know and celebrate the origin of the items they save for. A bridal gown, possibly the most important dress a girl will ever wear, is the culmination of her personality and what is important to her. EcoBride gowns take all of this into consideration, allowing a bride to display her care for the environment (through careful fabric choices) and the people who live in it, through development of rural skills of crochet & lace making.

All of the Dimity EcoBride gowns are available to order and are cut to the brides measurements. However, it is important to note that since many of the laces used in the original gowns are vintage, the exact lace may not be available anymore, and would need to be replaced by a different vintage piece, chosen by the bride.

Credits: 
Bridal Gowns: Dimity Bridal Studio www.dimity.co.za
Photographed by Allen E Schultz www.aesp.co.za
Model: Samantha-Jo Chandler
Hair & MUA: Adelle Jung www.facebook.com/AdelleJungMakeUpArtistHairStylist/
Jewellery: Chey Michau www.cheymichau.co.za