Vyn Johns - vintage, bridal, couture was borne out of friends’ sheer frustration when they were unable to find a vintage wedding dress which fitted – without substantial re-working. And was in ‘good-enough’ condition for that special day – vintage textiles often discolour and can deteriorate considerably over time if not stored in the correct conditions. The eureka moment came in 2010 after one of
Vyn’s friends – aware of his knowledge of costume and perhaps more importantly costume’s often considered antiquated construction methods, casually asked if he could make a vintage style wedding dress for her, he set about the task. She was so impressed with the results that she told her friends who in turn told their friends. Originally no more than a hobby, as the requests grew a business began to emerge, until during certain months of that year the hobby/business was taking up as much time as the day job! Forward to the present day, Vyn Johns now has an ever increasing number of clients and a back catalogue of original vintage evening and wedding dress patterns by Vogue, Simplicity and McCalls to name but a few; predominantly dating from 1945 to 1970, although some patterns in the archive date back to the 1930s! The company enables the ‘lover of vintage’ bride to either choose from sample dresses in the show room – perhaps adding or taking away a detail here and there to maintain originality and/or improve suitability, or choose a design from the archive of patterns – which is made up and fitted to the bride irrespective of her size or shape.
