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