The dress is a floor-length sleeveless dress with a square neckline. The bertha collar/cape is edged with a gathered lace ruffle & covers the shoulders and joins the front neckline edge with a gathered, mock-knotted pouf in the center front. The darted bodice is lace-covered and comes to a point the center waist. The full 6-gore skirt (169 inch hemline circumference) has a deep hem and is gathered at the waist. Because the fabric is so soft, it drapes beautifully to the hem. Separate long pull on sleeves are made of the same lace as the bodice, are edged with gathered lace & come to a point. A metal side zipper allows my mom to get into the fitted bodice of this dress. The interior handwork is beautiful, and of course, doesn�t show up well in the photograph! To the naked eye, there are almost no spots or discolorations, but some discoloration shows up in the photographs.
The headpiece is a hand-crocheted circle, made by my multi-talented grandmother, and has gathered tulle veiling that fell to below the waist in the back. Somewhere along the line the longer portion of the veil was separated from the shorter tier that remains. In the wedding pictures you can see the circle of stephanotis flowers that rimmed the headpiece.
The lace sleeves and headpiece are below, left and right.
She just has to come visit me to do it.