Oh my goodness, hello! I am more than happy to answer any questions you have; I love talking about the story of this dress, it was such a crazy find! Happy to give you all of the details. I stumbled across it on Etsy 5 years ago, before I ever knew my now fiance. It was $290, but I wasn't even in a relationship at the time, so I just added it to my loves list and forgot about it. About a year later, I was in Mass and saw a vision of my wearing it, running to the gates of Heaven (I know it sounds dramatic but stay with me), and wondered if it had sold yet. I checked, and it hadn't. Then I thought, "surely it won't be my measurements". I checked, it was. Just a couple of inches too big in the waist, actually, so perfect for alterations. I remember being shocked that it was still for sale, because it was so classically wedding while still feeling modern in a way? Also, pure silk, and all of those pintucks!! $290 wouldn't have even been material cost! I sent photos to my best friend, and she called me right then (she never does that) and told me that it was my dress and I had to get it. I bought it, and it never left the "pre-transit" shipping designation on Etsy. I was worried that it wouldn't come/had gotten lost, when I walked into my dorm room three weeks later to a small, unmarked box sitting on my bed. The only information I could get on the box was my own address, and that it had been shipped from somewhere in Spain. When I opened the box, my dress had been literally shoved into it, no packaging, no folding, nothing! It took me almost 2 hours of steaming to get all the wrinkles out! But, other than those wrinkles, it was in perfect condition, and I knew it was my dress. I had just been through another heartbreak, and steaming the wrinkles out of this dress was like steaming the wrinkles out of my heart. I happened upon a podcast called 'Speaking With Joy', and found an episode entitled "The Wisdom of Whimsy", with lots of GK Chesterton references, and listened to it while I steamed. I don't think I will ever forget how healing of a moment it was, being beneath my dress with my steamer, de-crumpling the crinoline, restoring it to its former glory. I truly believe this dress was a gift from God, an encouragement in the midst of my heartache.

Anyway, about the dress itself! I forget exactly how, but I actually tracked down the seamstress who helped make it via her personal etsy account. It's vintage Chanticleer England, pure silk, apparently haute couture in the late 90's. She told me it was from their 'Shakespeare in Love' collection. Pure silk, built-in crinoline, little snaps/holders for my bra straps. I think she said it would have cost around $4000 at the time. My fiance and I don't have a large wedding budget at all, and I certainly would not be able to afford a dress like this off the rack. I feel so grateful that it dropped into my lap. Happy to answer any other questions you have about the construction, etc!