The notion of walking down the aisle in your mother’s wedding dress is undeniably romantic. Yet translating that sentiment into reality often proves complicated—silhouettes evolve, fabrics age, and fit rarely aligns. To bridge the gap, many brides turn to tailors who can give heirloom dresses new life and, more often, an entirely new look. Three brides tell G&G how they repurposed their mother’s (and in one case, grandmother’s) gown to great effect.
Courtney Knight
Ceremony: Kiawah Island River Course Clubhouse in Johns Island, South Carolina
Tailor: Green and Blue Studio in Washington, D.C.
As an only child, Courtney Knight is especially close to her mother and wanted to honor her on her wedding day on Kiawah Island in June 2025. That meant finding a way to weave her mother’s gown into the celebration. “It was in really good shape,” Knight recalls. “But the dress itself was very Princess Diana—beautiful, just not something I’d ever wear as my actual wedding dress. I thought it would be perfect for a second look.”
To bring her playful, party-ready vision to life, Knight turned to Green and Blue Studio near her home in Washington, D.C., an alterations and design company known for its bespoke creations. Over five fittings, the team at Green and Blue, led by Daniela Martell and Michaela Schwartz, worked through the shortening and shaping of Knight’s mother’s 1990 cupcake gown.
“Initially I was thinking of doing a sweetheart neckline, but then I thought, no, let’s just do strapless,” Knight says. The waistline posed another challenge: Petite in stature, Knight was overwhelmed by the original cut, so the designers carved out a silhouette that flattered her frame. The final reveal—and her mother’s delighted surprise at recognizing her gown at the festivities—made it all worth it.
“On the wedding day there is a moment for pretty much everyone to shine except the mother of the bride,” Knight says. “The groom’s mom had the first dance and my dad walked me down the aisle. My mom didn’t have that, but she felt like this gave her her moment.”
Parker Gavlin
Ceremony: First Congregational Church of Rockland in Camden, Maine
Tailor: Lady Heirloom and Gentle Arts Textiles in New Orleans
“My mom and I have always expressed love and connection with each other through clothes,” says Parker Gavlin, who grew up in Mobile, Alabama, but now calls Charleston, South Carolina, home and was married in 2022 near her grandmother’s vacation home in Maine. “She has always said that having a little girl was like getting to dress up a doll every day, and even now at thirty, I still find myself playing dress-up in her closet.”
Funnily enough, slipping into her mother’s wedding gown—a Christos design purchased at Town & Country Bridal in New Orleans in 1993—wasn’t part of Gavlin’s plan when she and her husband started mapping out the big day. “I hadn’t seen it in years, so it was very out of sight, out of mind,” Gavlin says. “But during Christmas 2021, my mom and I were in the kitchen, sipping wine and chatting all things wedding, when she pulled the dress out of storage just for fun for me to try on. Call it fate, but it fit me perfectly.”
There was just one snag: Decades later, the silk organdy and lace had taken on a yellow hue. Gavlin’s grandmother urged her to consult Lady Heirloom and Gentle Arts Textiles in New Orleans, founded by Bryce and Leigh Reveley and now owned by their apprentice, Chelsea Syal. Leigh, renowned for restoring delicate lace, gave the dress a careful assessment.
“Leigh explained that while still wearable, the silk organdy was too fragile to be fully restored, but the cotton lace could be restored,” Gavlin says. And that’s how Gavlin and her mom came up with a brilliant fashion epiphany: Remove the bodice and pair it with pants. “No other alterations were needed,” Gavlin says, and she wore the look to her rehearsal dinner and welcome party at Primo in Rockland the night before the wedding.
“I loved the idea of giving my mom’s gown another life outside of the box that it had been packed in for thirty years,” Gavlin says. “It made the experience so much more personal and meaningful. And who knows—maybe one day I’ll get to share that same tradition with my own kids.”
Kirsten Schofield
Ceremony: The Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky
Tailor: Elizabeth Crum Bridal in Louisville
While many brides reach for their mother’s gown, Kirsten Schofield, who lives and was married in Louisville last year, had the opportunity to consider her grandmother’s 1951 dress. “It was originally very Kate Middleton, with a super high collar, lace bodice, and big skirt, plus like a sixteen-foot cathedral train,” Schofield says. “It was a Capital D dress.”
But it had already seen more than one transformation. Schofield’s aunt and mom had both worn it, and each had added her own touch. (In the case of Schofield’s mom, that meant the addition of “several thousand” hand-sewn pearls.) Then there was the issue of it being originally made for a four-foot-ten professional dancer who weighed less than 100 pounds. “I’m five-six and considered a giant in my family,” Schofield says. Enter Elizabeth Crum, owner of Elizabeth Crum Bridal.
The first step was deciding what could be salvaged from the seventy-five-year-old gown. “I was lucky—it was made from exceptional materials and had been stored in an air-conditioned home,” Schofield explains. Even so, the handmade lace had deteriorated and the petticoats were damaged, so some of that was set aside. Over the course of a year and four fittings, Crum and Schofield pinned and adjusted, trimmed and refined, until the dress began to take on its new life.
“My grandmother is ninety-five and still with us,” Schofield says. “I wore it to my rehearsal dinner and we buried our bottle of bourbon in it, which was a bottle that Bill Samuels Sr. from Maker’s Mark had given my grandfather as a personal gift, so it felt like both grandparents were with me.”
