TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010 C1TIMES COLONIST, VICTORIA, B.C.

O n Aug. 4, 1909, inCollingwood, Ont.,a young MaryConstance Guil-

foyle beamed for the cam-era with her groom, JohnPatrick McLaughlin, andtheir wedding party besidethem. The broad-brimmed,flower-laden hats of thebridesmaids and tailoredmen’s suits made for a typi-cal Edwardian vignette.

But it was the bride’sdress, custom-made withfine imported French lace,that would create a bondspanning generations of thenewlyweds’ descendants.

“It’s amazing that it haslasted and fit so many ofus,” Kay Begley said. She isthe McLaughlins’ grand-daughter and unofficialkeeper of the dress that hassince been worn nine timesby family members, includ-ing herself. “I got it frommy mother and now it’sbecome a passion to keep itin the family.”

Incorporating a familyheirloom into weddingdress attire is tradition, atalisman of luck in love.Something old, somethingnew, something borrowed,something blue. But pre-serving a dress over a cen-tury is nearly impossible.

Which is why Begleybrought her bride-to-bedaughter Tessa and thedress to Alida Lloyd lastyear to be restored. Tessa’swedding took place 100years almost to the dayafter her great-grand-mother wore the dress forthe first time.

“It was not in the bestshape. There were yellowspots and the lace wasfrail,” said Lloyd, whodesigns and makes custom-wedding dresses and attireat Alida’s Gowns in Sidney.“It’s not uncommon forsomeone to want to wear adress that has been passeddown. Usually, the adjust-ments make it fit perfectlyand less matronly thansome of the older styles.But this dress was a chal-lenge and had a very inter-esting history.”

After 1909, the dress wasnot worn again until 1943,by Begley’s aunt MaryMcLaughlin. Her ownmother did not wear thedress for her wedding — abrown suit at Toronto cityhall during wartime seemedmore appropriate for thetimes.

There is a photo of hermother’s sister, Dorothea,

wearing the dress on herwedding day in 1946. Thesimplified undergarmentworn beneath the panelledlace sheath made it lookentirely different from thetrailing lace gown of 1909.

Begley’s sister AnneSirdevan wore the dress in1971, when she had to besewn into it. Begley worethe dress for her own wed-ding in 1973. It was flown toGlasgow to be worn by hercousin Denise Jones in 1975,then to another cousin inFrance in 1978. In 1989,Begley’s younger brotherJoseph Sirdevan’s brideMarie wore the dress attheir wedding in Toronto.

“When Alida saw thedress she said she’d have totake it apart to save it,” saidBegley, who divides hertime between Pender Islandand Vancouver, where sheworks as an accountant. “Iknew I might get flak fromthe family, but the alterna-tive was that we’d never getto see it worn again.”

Lloyd followed the tradi-tion of using the lace dressas an overlay, creating aScarlett O’Hara shape toflatter Tessa Begley’s fig-ure. The original panels ofthe dress were combined

with flounces and rosettesto give it a tiered look.

“She looked incredible,”said her mother, who gavea speech about the dress atthe wedding. She said thereare several great-grand-daughters and four great-great-granddaughters,including Tessa’s two-month-old baby, Magdalen, whomight be interested in wear-ing it one day. “Taking careof the dress has becomevery important to me.”

Lloyd, a master seam-stress, designs her gownsmade-to-measure, using pri-marily silk and fine fabricswith hand-sewn embellish-ments. Her dresses rangefrom $2,500 to $5,000.

“Every dress is guaran-teed to fit perfectly. It istrue haute couture,” shesaid. Word has spread sinceshe started her businessfour years ago — it was adream project she vowedto fulfil after her firsthusband died. She nowaverages one dress perweek and has outfittedentire wedding parties.

“My favourite are thewedding dresses. They arespecial.”

Lloyd follows the latesttrends in wedding dresses.

“Already fashionablewomen will seek out some-one like me to custom-maketheir dress,” she said,adding that women withhard-to-fit body types mightalso prefer a custom dress.She designs and makessample dresses for display,ranging from the classic tothe fashion-forward.

Lloyd says there are afew new trends dominating.One is to embellish wildly.

“Heavily rosed skirtsare popular right now.The trend is to have a lotof loose, unfinished, bigorganza roses all over,”she said. Just stay awayfrom the heavy beadingand jewels.

Bustiers and French laceare making a comeback,reflecting the current trendin streetwear. “The corset is

very in right now,” Lloydsaid. Diagonal and plungingnecklines are also a popularalternative to the popularstrapless princess design.

“Women will alwayslove strapless and wantdresses that are slightlyivory, not white, but thereare beautiful alternatives,”she said.

The most important andunchanging rule of weddingdress fashion is to findsomething you love, thatflatters and that fits.A dress that special couldbe worn for generations.

LIFEEditor: Bruce MacKenzie > Telephone: 250-380-5346 > E-mail: features@tc.canwest.com ■ ARTS, C4 ■ TV, C6

SARAH PETRESCUReady to Wearspetrescu@tc.canwest.com

1909 bridal dresshas forged familybond spanninggenerations

WEB EXTRA: Rain dance

timescolonist.com/extras

Boots add a splash of colourto a grey day

something new

WEDDING SERIESToday we kick off a series ofstories on wedding prepara-tions. Throughout May and June,Times Colonist writers willexplore trends in food, cakes,gifts, decorations and every-thing else that goes into makingthe day special.We also want to hear from you.Send us your favourite weddinganecdotes. Things that wentright and things that wentwrong. Keep them to about 150words and e-mail them tofeatures@tc.canwest.com ormail them to Features at theTimes Colonist, 2621 DouglasSt., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2

COURTESY OF FAMILYABOVE: Mary Constance Guilfoyle was the first to wearthe bridal dress, made of fine French lace, in 1909.RIGHT: Kay Begley’s aunt Dorothea wore the dress in1946.

DEBRA BRASH, TIMES COLONISTStephanie Shade wears a French lace bustier bridal dressby Alida Lloyd.

HANDOUTTessa Begley wears her great-grandmother’s 1909 bridal gown — reconstructed for her wedding last summer by Victoria dressmaker Alida Lloyd.

Something old,

timescolonist.com>> For a soundslide aboutthe 1909 dress reconstructionand a bridal gown photo gallery,visit our website.

> Fashion show fundraiser, C3