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Hi JoSaBi fam! How are you guys today? I hope your week started in a stellar fashion, and that you are staying safe. Please keep social distancing if you can, and wear masks! 😷 Our post today is all about class, and about how subtle accents can really make all the difference. Clarisse, our gorgeous Franco- Togolese bride, stunned in her beaded sleeveless sheath wedding dress with a detachable train. Her gown was a pure delight, and we are happy to share our journey with her today!
Clarisse’s detachable sheath wedding dress: The Story
Clarisse came to JoSaBi in November 2019 for her March 2020 wedding, recommended by JoSaBi Laeti. She was super fun to chat with, and also very precise and inquisitive (something that is always welcome, as we love details). Her consultation started with her sharing how she imagined herself on her wedding day: simple, timeless, classy and very elegant. She wanted to look sophisticated, yet soft and radiant. Nothing about her dress was to be gaudy. We hence already knew we would be playing up factors like airiness and lightness.
Clarisse had gone to a few shops, and shared some images of her fittings to create a mood board. As a result, some details were immediately apparent: she gravitated towards plunging V necklines, loved a good detailed back, was all about delicate floral details, and LOVED lightness. Seriously- she was not able to put it in words at first, but the one thing in common across all of the gowns she tried was their airy ethereal feel. Also, even though we looked at the mermaid shape at first, it became clear that she liked the sheath silhouette more. Indeed, she loved the elegance of a narrower bottom.
However, and this is important to note, she briefly succumbed to the pressure of Instagram at some point. A gorgeous wedding dress had gone viral a few months before, and she loved it too. She considered that dress as an addition to her mood board for a few days, but it was different from her core style. In fact, it was very trendy, heavy, majestic and adorned with lots of texture and sparkle. While we absolutely will always have an everlasting soft spot for bling, that dress… just was not Clarisse.
One lesson to learn here is that it is always best to stay true to yourself. We recommended she focus on who she was and what she wanted, instead of on what social media was telling her. After thinking about it, she agreed that her heart was more set on a classy yet unique sheath wedding dress with an airy feel (that eventually came from a detachable train.)
Design
Designing Clarisse’s detachable sheath wedding dress was an exercise in layering subtleties to attain a unique look. From her mood board and her consultation, a few things were certain.
- A V neckline was happening.
- Her back would be open, with some detailing.
- The shape of the dress would be a proper sheath, with the slightest flare at the bottom.
- The bust would be finely beaded.
- She would have a detachable skirt.
- The color would be pure white.
Finally, the detachable skirt was the last thing we focused on. Clarisse was set on her sheath. That said, she looked really, and I mean REALLY angelic in tulle (based on the dresses she had already tried on.) Sheaths are straight and structured, so tulle would have not been a good fit for that shape. We hence ended up adding a very light detachable skirt to the look, and made it out of high quality tulle.
As far as the bodice was concerned, a subtle chantilly floral lace was the cornerstone of the design. Clarisse wanted some soft sparkle on her beaded detachable sheath wedding dress. Hence, we therefore picked a lace with some transparent sequins, so the dress would glisten when sun rays would hit it (her wedding was to take place during the day.) In addition, we added a V neckline of course, and almost opted for an open back, but she went for a deep V back in the end.
The pièce de résistance of the bodice was the very delicate beading work, made exclusively out of white glass beads. That made a huge difference in the look, and completely elevated the dress from simply classic to exquisite. The beading was intense, but barely visible from afar. It was a true work of art, and Clarisse’s brief “subdued yet amazing” would be respected.
Finally, the shape of the dress was a proper sheath, with only a small 35 cm train and a moderate flare at the bottom for our bride to confidently and comfortably walk down the aisle.
Oh wait- last note, her veil. She opted for a simple cathedral veil, but we added a more traditional pencil edge, instead of a raw edge.
In the end, the whole design was simple, yet complex; subtle, yet incredibly detailed; classic, yet unforgettable.
Please see below Clarisse’s sketches, which represented her ideas and brought her dress to life before production.
Clarisse wanted some soft sparkle on her beaded detachable sheath wedding dress.
Creating Clarisse’s detachable sheath mermaid wedding dress
Clarisse’s dress was started the first week of January, and moved pretty well until mid January… when COVID hit. Everything pretty much came to a grinding halt. We did not end up resuming the dress until late February. As a result, our team worked overtime, and it was completed on time. Clarisse loved her sheath detachable wedding dress, and was super excited to see her dress in person. She had also lost a little weight, so we altered the dress an inch on each side of the bust before sending it over.
By then, global shipping was in a state of complete upheaval (… it still is, we just plan for extended delivery times from now on). We convened to re-route the dress from its initial destination of France (where Clarisse lives) to Togo (where the wedding was taking place.) The dress arrived a couple of days after she landed in Togo herself for the wedding, and fit her like a glove. By the way, kudos to our logistics team. They worked day and night to get the dress to our bride in time, even in the middle of a global pandemic.
Wedding Day
On her wedding day, Clarisse looked exactly as she had envisioned. Truly, her beaded sheath wedding dress highlighted her gorgeous curves. The beading looked exquisite, the detachable skirt was like a halo of tulle around her, and her veil finished the look to perfection. Thus, she looked amazing, and later told us her husband absolutely loved her dress! Her wedding was one of the last ones to happen before all of Togo was closed due to the imminent threat of COVID-19.
Final Thanks
Our Clarisse, thanks again for choosing JoSaBi. We had a blast creating with you, and we were happy to see you celebrate your new life with your love. You looked absolutely ethereal on your big day. You trusted your gut, were brave, did not go for trends, and focused on what you wanted. Your beaded sheath detachable wedding dress was exactly YOU, and your joy was our joy. Also, your photos are absolutely stunning!!! You looked like a fairy!
Thanks so much JoSaBi fam, for reading Clarisse’s adventure! We appreciate your time every day you stop by the blog. Thanks so much for your support, and see you next time for more dress adventures. Of course, in the meantime, we are here if you have any questions! You can reach us by leaving a comment, sending an email or through Instagram and Facebook DM.
Until next time, stay safe.
Best,
JoSaBi
Thanks to the whole team:
- Makeup: Kris Makeup
- Photography: Happuc Company
