Gran’s beads sparkled on my gown

STYLIST and styling teacher Pamela Quirke, 38, from Tipperary, has made a career out of her passion for fashion, so finding the perfect wedding dress was always going to be tricky.

However, when she was planning her wedding, which took place in Lanzarote in April 2015, she was guided by the knowledge that she had always wanted to design her own wedding dress, plus she had some raw materials ready to go.

‘I wanted to use some of the material from my mum’s wedding gown — I couldn’t use all of it as the fabric was too warm — but the lining from her skirt created the template for my own skirt, and I used her netting as tulle to give my dress a bit of “poof”, and also as part of my headpiece.’

She also used her grandmother’s beads as an integral part of her dress design, using them to create a string detail across her back, tying the dress together from shoulder to shoulder.

Inspired by couture from the 1950s, Pamela painstakingly scoured Pinterest for ideas before she came up with a sketch for her fabulous frock.

‘I went to the Cloth Shop in Dublin and sourced vintage fabric that was ridiculously expensive for my headpiece and gown detail — a silk crepe de chine that cost €250 a metre, and a beaded georgette.

‘Then I went to the Zip Yard with all my bits and pieces and sketches and we set to work.’

The sentimental value of the dress has increased substantially for Pamela with the tragic passing of her mother Breda last year. Both mother and daughter had stayed up night after night, hand sewing silk flowers onto the lower part of the skirt. ‘Looking at the dress makes me remember those nights,’ recalls Pamela.

‘It was a really special time that I will never forget. We sat up and chatted and laughed and sewed.’

Like any other bride with a bespoke gown imbued with sentimentality and precious memories, Pamela says she will never part with the dress, except perhaps to let her own daughter wear it one day.