It’s a feel good day for me today, not only have we got to share the most beautiful Scottish farm wedding, we also get to showcase and shout about two brilliant British designers. This morning, we featured an interview with designer Nicki Macfarlane, who creates the most beautiful outfits for children to wear at weddings. This afternoon, we’re turning our focus to Tobi Hannah of the modern contemporary bridal wear label, Tobi Hannah Bridal.
“I truly believe that perfection is achieved when there is nothing more to take away. I like to keep it simple. Simple is sophistication and so I prefer clean lines. I have a bias towards 1950s and 1960s silhouettes but my goal when designing is never to rehash the same old clichéd full skirt and colourful petticoat look.
Instead I like to experiment with unusual fabrics, make modern modifications to vintage silhouettes whilst creating short and tea length wedding dresses that appear slightly unconventional yet very sophisticated.”
London based Tobi Hannah, is best known for her short dress wedding dress designs – such an expert is she at having honed the short wedding dress design, she has even written her own book about it.
Today, I want to introduce you to Tobi’s brand new collection of short wedding dresses. I caught up with Tobi recently and she told me all about this new collection, which I think could well appeal to those of our readers who appreciate sassy, vintage designs created with the modern bride in mind.
“My designs dresses are made for real people and are cut beautifully to flatter the female form in its natural state. I am so grateful to work with an amazing team of people who also believe in individuality and we work in harmony to help brides get their perfect wedding dress every year and we have SO much fun doing it!”
“From vintage and modern to the flintstones, degas ballerinas and book covers, I take inspiration from anywhere that resonates with me and fuels my imagination. I am in love with art and music (from jazz to heavy metal), I have more books than clothes and every single thing I love finds its way onto the dresses in a small or big way.
My new ‘Adventure’ collection owes its name to quote by Helen Keller. She is known around the world as a symbol of courage in the face of overwhelming odds. (She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree) Her story inspired me to create a collection that reflects my own interpretation of Helen Keller’s quote about life and adventure. Life is both beautiful and fragile – and personally, I believe that every bride should strive to be her own authentic self on her wedding day.”
Each wedding dress in the adventure collection has it’s own unique creation journey. The Affection Tea length wedding dress takes inspiration from an amazing painting by Leon Comerre of famous ballerina, Rosita Mauri.
“I designed each dress with 10 individual moodboards and a specific body shape in mind. I took inspiration from anything that resonated with me and fuelled my imagination. All short wedding dresses in the collection are named after words that can be associated with Adventure (Paradise, Wonder, Brave) to name a few.”
“I grew up with a love of art, design and vintage style. I started my career designing occasion dresses that were later sold through Lipsy. I designed one inspired by Degas’s ballerina portraits, and from there moved into my first bridal collection. I thought: “Where will I feel valued working with people?” That drew me towards working with brides.
I could see a gap in the market between what women want and what’s out there. I knew I wasn’t going to be designing ‘meringue’ dresses.”
“I started meeting brides and learning about body shape, how to work with women to make what they want. At the same vintage fair where I met the lovely Annabel for the first time in 2009, I also met a woman, who I mention in my book The Short Wedding Dress. She told me that she had found it a bit of a challenge to find something right because she wanted to go short as it was her second marriage, and a gown didn’t feel right. Everything she had found was either 1950 petticoat style, a bit rock’n’roll or very tomboyish, none of which suited her.
Meeting her made me realise that when some women express their anxiety about going short it’s often because of what people will think rather than what they really want.”
The Tobi Hannah Wonder Tea Length Wedding Dress
The Tobi Hannah Paradise Short Wedding Dress
The Tobi Hannah Brave Dress
“My brides are highly individualistic. They do not believe in a commonplace thing nor do they follow bridal trends. They are also very strong characters that cannot be talked out of what they believe. They are sometimes met with a lot of questions and concern from well-meaning friends family when they are say that are opting for a short wedding dress.
In the end, everyone finally gets it when she walks down the aisle or across the field (my bride is unpredictable). They realise, that wearing a short wedding dress can be equally as special.”
The Tobi Hannah Briggs Short Wedding Dress
The Tobi Hannah Thorne Short Wedding Dress
The Tobi Hannah Affection Dress
The Tobi Hannah Dare Dress
The Tobi Hannah Adventure Short Wedding Dress
A Tobi Hannah dress is typically between £1,300 and £1600. Our online made to measure service starts from £950 and can be done in just three weeks. Dresses are available exclusively to try on with one of Tobi’s premier stockist located in an amazing old antique centre in Battlesbridge just 40 minutes on the train from London Liverpool Street. There are 16 very different designs in all, with a range of silhouettes to suit different body types. Tobi Hannah also offers an online made to measure service on several of her designs, and ships to most EU countries, USA, Canada and Australia.
For further information, do take a moment to visit the Tobi Hannah website. Tobi Hannah is also on Facebook and Twitter.
So, are any of you planning on wearing a short wedding dress? And might some of you be tempted by a Tobi Hannah dress?
Love Annabel x
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Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
