70s Wedding Dresses Reborn
After having troubles finding a vintage wedding gown of her dreams, Rebecca Morris launched a vintage wedding dress business specializing in the 70s vintage gowns.
“My partner proposed to me a few years ago now and being the lover of vintage clothing that I am, I needed to find an authentic seventies wedding dress to be married in.
The only problem was: I couldn’t find my dream dress. I searched high and low, thrifting, looking on vintage clothing websites, and second-hand stores. I just couldn’t find it.
As my search continued, I realized that there were some real gems that I came across; vintage lace, vintage embroidery, vintage gold! So I started to buy all the seventies wedding dresses that I found, in hopes of one day opening my own vintage wedding dress business.
Cut to 2020, Corona hit. I had a lot of time on my hands with work slowing down, so I decided to take the chance, jump in, and finally launch my dream Vintage Wedding dress business, Australiana Weddings.
We sell authentic vintage seventies bohemian dresses: Bell sleeves, luxurious lace, intricate embroidery.
In my opinion, the 70s is truly the most beautiful and romantic era.
A modern-day bride to be is looking for a dress that is glamorous, flowing, yet slightly form-fitting, flattering, and unique.
I collaborate with the only female tailor in Newcastle, Bonnie Lee Tipper. She is an amazing seamstress and also vintage entrepreneur herself.
We work together to enhance the dress’s functionality, and yet keep it as original as possible.
The modern-day bride wants a dress that flows and has movement and can be worn to dance the night away in.
Vintage 70s wedding dresses in their original state often have meters of fabric in their trains and veils, making them bulky and impractical.
My goal is to reduce the waste that has been created by the fast fashion industry and create a sustainable wedding dress business. Offering brides the opportunity to become much more conscious consumers.
My business aims to provide brides with unique, sustainable, second-hand wedding dresses that will not only look incredible for their wedding day but will also support their ethics and morals, too.
The advice I give many newly engaged brides is to open their wardrobe and figure out their style.
A person’s wedding outfit should be a heightened reflection of their own personality.
If a dress, suit, jumpsuit, skirt, or blouse co-ord is your thing go with it.
Consider the season that you have chosen for the date of your wedding. If you have chosen an Aussie summer wedding, that is predominantly outdoors, then a long dress with sleeves may not be for you. Go with something shorter, sheer, lightweight, and flowing.
Be realistic, practical, and patient. Take your time to create a Pinterest board, research brands, and styles that you love, try to source a dress second hand, and wherever possible thrift.
When buying a vintage wedding dress, you are not only buying a piece that is truly unique and rare, but you are also making a conscious decision to support ethical and sustainable fashion. Therefore reducing your carbon footprint. It’s a win-win for your environmental values and morals, as well as looking incredible on your big day.
We strongly advise and recommend our brides to pass on and resell their wedding dresses, and we even go as far as to help them with this process. If a bride wishes to keep their wedding dress, we can provide them with styling tips and advice, so that they can wear their dress again and again in a more casual manner.
On the journey to creating my business, I finally found my dream dress, and cannot wait to wear it on my wedding day. There’s no falling out of love with this one. My dream vintage gown is a 70s bohemian dress with bell sleeves, cotton lace, floor-length, flowing fabric, with a sneaky hint of embroidery.”
Photographer: Kate Olivia
Model: Emily Legg
Stylist: Rebecca Morris
Dress: Australiana Weddings
PA: River Hayden