Heavenly Recommends... gorgeous vintage-style clothes and accessories from Lowie

Dear Reader

My work brings me into contact with many other independent fashion labels and producers, all sharing a love of vintage style and offering a taste of affordable luxury. 

As Christmas is getting closer, today on my vintage wedding blog I'd like to share one of my favourite with you. 

Lowie was started in 2002 by lovely and super-talented designer Bronwyn Lowenthal, with the idea to produce beautiful clothing as ethically as possible, without jeopardising design. 

The brand has gone from strength to strength and their high-quality, quirky pieces are now worn by discerning fashionistas including Liberty Ross, Erin O'Connor, Lily Cole, Fearne Cotton, and Rachel Khoo. 

The Lowie range includes stylish vintage-inspired dresses and coats, grown-up Christmas sweaters, and so many beautiful hand made accessories in luxurious fabrics.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of just a few of their lovely items (and may be inspired for Christmas). All are available online here, from their South London shop, and through a range of outlets including Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Not On The High Street and many of the best independent boutiques. 

You can see more pictures of Lowie's gorgeous range here. 
Have fun looking, and thanks for dropping by today Heavenlies!

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

Today's gorgeous vintage bride, Sophie in a 1950s style wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Dear Reader

After posting about my own dress last week, I thought I'd better bring it back to my lovely clients! So here's a first picture of gorgeous vintage bride Sophie, looking oh-so-chic in 'Chantilly', a 1950s style wedding dress from the Heavenly Collection. 

You can see why Sophie was so delighted, and said:

I felt wonderful in my dress and received so many compliments, so thank you for all your help and support in making my dream dress!

Thanks to Olliver Photography for the image - I'll be posting more pictures of gorgeous Sophie soon. And thanks for dropping by today.

Love 
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

On my vintage wedding blog today... MY OWN 1950s style wedding dress.

Dear Reader

My lovely clients sometimes ask what I wore for my own wedding. So - ahem - today my vintage wedding blog is about me! 

Not me! But one of my inspirations.

But don't worry, I'll stick to the point. It's really about my gorgeous 1950s inspired wedding dress. 

...And another! 

First, I should say I got married in the 1980s - widely regarded as the decade style forgot. Well, in wedding fashions anyway... 

The world's favourite 1980s wedding dress. Yikes.

I was always a fan of vintage clothing, I loved to mix it up with new styles. But vintage wedding dresses were not yet popular, and were still hidden in the attic. So my darling sister Anna (talented gal!) offered to make me a dress - and a way to escape the massive 80s puffed sleeves which could have been my fate.

Maybe lovely on a Princess... but really not very me.

Off we went to wonderful London store Liberty to choose some silk. Luckily they had an exhibition of vintage reproduction fabrics, such an exciting find! All the fabric was by husband and wife team, Lida and Zika Ascher - so popular in the 50s that they had their own fabric room in Liberty. Their fabrics were used by all the top designers of the 40s and 50s.

Audrey Hepburn wearing Ascher. Photo by Cecil Beaton.

I immediately fell in love with an ivory silk covered in huge bronze and silver roses. It reminded me so much of 1950s Christian Dior 'new look' dresses I had seen in photos by Norman Parkinson and Cecil Beaton.

(These wonderful gowns in today's post date from 1954 to 1957 and are mainly by Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior.)

And this is what we made... my very own vintage inspired wedding dress. I hope you love it almost as much as I did! 

I must confess the gorgeous girl in the photos is not me ...wish it was! The photos are by my talented daughter Cordelia Lawler, and her beautiful friend Lucy is the model.

Thanks for dropping by today - I do hope you enjoyed seeing my very own vintage wedding dress.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

Lovely Leo in a perfect 1950s wedding dress - the inspiration for my vintage-style wedding dress 'Blanche'

Dear Reader

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been admiring lace dresses here on my vintage wedding blog, so I'd like to show you one of my very favourites - as worn by real vintage bride, the lovely Leo.

Leo looked wonderful in this perfect tea length, champagne coloured, late 1950s wedding dress. 

Brides sometimes ask what kind of dress I love the best. Well, I think my perfect vintage wedding dress is an elegant, well-balanced shape in a beautiful fabric, complemented by a carefully-chosen trim. And sometimes, a dress comes along that really stands out for its simplicity. This was just such a dress. 

In fact, I loved it so much that I used it as one of the models for my own vintage-style lace dress 'Blanche'.

Ultimately, I strongly believe the dress is there to bring out the most beautiful features of the brides. And as you can see from how stunning Leo looks, in her perfect choice of vintage wedding dress, this one certainly succeeds. 

Thanks to Leo for sharing these lovely photos of her happy day. If you'd like to see more real vintage brides, take a look on the real brides section of my vintage wedding blog.

You can see more of my own Heavenly Collection of vintage-inspired wedding dresses here on my blog. And more original 1950s lace wedding dresses here.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Love
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

For the perfect city wedding, Ania looks stunning in a 1970s vintage wedding dress.

Today - as promised - I'd like to share the pictures from one of my lovely clients, Ania. For their vintage-inspired London wedding, Ania and Mark knew they wanted to keep the day as simple and relaxed as possible...

As Ania says: 

"We didn’t have any particular theme in mind when planning the day. I just wanted a rustic, shabby, boho feel, with a flavour of vintage to it.”

Ania chose a gorgeous, floaty, 1970s lace wedding dress from my selection of original vintage wedding dresses. A perfect choice: she looks beautiful, relaxed and rocknroll! 

And Ania - such a darling - was very generous about Heavenly Vintage Brides!

"I am so happy I found you! Everyone loved the amazing dress. I can't thank you enough for everything, Helena. For your advice, the lovely words and for my dream wedding dress -:)"

Ania made the dress her own with a simple white flower in her hair, the brightest sunflower bouquet by Turners of Hammersmith, and fabulous shoes from Etsy.

The day was made even more special by their choice of iconic London locations - the grandeur of Islington Town Hall, a traditional London red bus, the AK Rowing Club on the banks of the Thames, and finally Hammersmith Bridge by night!

Add some good friends, delightful home-made decorations, and sunflowers... lots of Ania's favourite sunflowers.

Oh, and dancing too. Lots of dancing! A heavenly formula for a perfect vintage-style London wedding, for a perfectly lovely London couple.

Thank you so much to Ania, and to her photographer Sassy at Assassynation, for sharing the pictures of this fantastic day. 

If you'd like to see more of lovely Ania and Mark, check out the feature on RocknRoll Bride. If you'd like to see more real vintage brides in Heavenly vintage, check out the Real Brides section on my vintage wedding blog here or my website here. 

And if you're feeling inspired to see more beautiful dresses, check out my selection of original vintage wedding dresses on my vintage wedding blog here. 

Thanks for stopping by today. See you again soon...

Love
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides


Ania chose a 1970s vintage lace wedding dress from Heavenly Vintage Brides. 
Her natural beauty was revealed by make-up artist Bella Simonsen.
Ania tripped down the aisle at Islington Town Hall in shoes from Etsy,
Carrying her favourite sunflowers from Turners.
To where Mark stood proudly waiting, looking dapper in a suit by Adam of London.
Then they - and all their friends - travelled across London on This Bus to the AK Rowing Club.
There they partied the night away to tunes spun by MD Essential DJs.
With thanks to Assassynation who were on hand to photograph the big day and night.

Vintage Bride of the Week: Beautiful Martina in a traditional Swedish bridal crown

Dear Reader

I've just received this lovely image, and wanted to share it with you straight away.

Beautiful vintage bride Martina married in Sweden in June. If you look closely, you'll see Martina is wearing a Brudkronan, an antique bridal crown. This wonderful Swedish tradition reaches right back to the Middle Ages. The crown is held at the local church for all brides to wear on their wedding day.

I'll be featuring more pictures of this gorgeous couple on my vintage wedding blog. And I have more real vintage weddings here. Thanks for visiting today.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides