Here is the story of a wedding dress recently donated to Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley by Jeanne Lee, living in Ohio:

“My father’s brother fought in the pacific during WWII.  He stayed in the Philippines after war and married a widow with two children.  They never had children together.  He worked for CAL and every 7 years they would travel around the world and that always included a stop to see us.  When they visited in 1969, I was living at home and planning a wedding.  My fiance was in Vietnam and their visit was a bright spot in a very bleak year.  Since they would be not be back in the states the following year, I shared all of the weeding plans .  I had not purchased a dress but I had a picture.  It was a plain white A-line with a simple veil.  Aunt Gloria said that she would take the picture back to the Philippines and have the dress made.  I was thrilled.  When the dress arrived in Rochester many months later, I was stunned.  This was not the dress in the picture and it was not me.  It is lovely dress but…    I found a cap and veil to match and  I have never been tempted to dress in pearls and sequence since.   I am sure Aunt Gloria thought I was too thin to wear a plain A-line dress.  She added sleeves, raised the neckline, the satin panels and beading added dimension.  It was a lovely gesture.”

* All images via Lacis