How to find a vegan-friendly wedding dress
Fashion Advice
Guestpost by
on October 11, 2010
20
I had the idea to write a post about finding vegan wedding dresses, but I am not a vegan. So I asked my go-to vegan expert to write this one up… Jana Morgan is a vegan and an amazing wedding photographer. She's also in the midst of planning a vow-renewal with her husband, so she's fresh off the vegan wedding dress search. Here are her tips…
When I recently went shopping for a vegan-friendly wedding dress, I knew that I wanted to go to a bridal boutique to try on dresses and get the feel for them. The first thing that I did when I walked into a store was to talk to someone and brief them on what my needs were.
What to avoid…
Avoid dresses that contain the mixture of silk, chiffon, taffeta, leather, wool, pearls and feathers. Once you know what to avoid, just keep an eye out for materials that you do want, like polyester, cotton, linen, lace, etc.
When shopping at bridal stores…
When shopping at bridal boutiques, be sure to let your dress consultant or sales person know the following…
- That you are specifically looking for a dress with no silks, or any of the above mentioned fabrics.
- If you are comfortable, feel free to explain that you are vegan and do not wish to wear anything that has any animal products.
- The environment of your wedding (beach, church, high end resort, park, etc)
- Weather of location (hot, humid, cold, etc)
- What you're looking for (style, colors, fit, etc)
- Budget
I would definitely recommend finding a boutique with a trusting person to work with and try on a variety of dresses. Once I started showing her dress styles that I loved, she was able to instantly suggest, "well, that dress has silk, BUT I have one that looks just like that and would be perfect for you." This exact dialogue helped me to find the dress that I ended up buying which was made with 100% polyester and was light as a feather.
Vegan wedding dress resources…
The Grace dress from Poetic Justice is totally vegan and totally amazing.
Check out some of these designers who offer eco-friendly wedding gown options:
- Wai Ching
- Annatarian
- Poetic Justice
- Olivia Luca
- The Cotton Bride
- Nicole Lenzen
- Natural Bridals
- Leanne Marshall
- Tara Lynn
- Isadora Clothing
- Lindee Daniel
Other eco-friendly options…
If you MUST have silk, but don't want to contribute to the market and corporations, I would really recommend either looking for a dress that is made with eco-friendly peace silk [Editor's note: See, this is why I had Jana write this, I had NO IDEA about peace silk] or buying a used dress. Try these online website to shop for beautiful used wedding dresses:
- Pre-owned wedding dresses
- Once Wed
- A Vintage Wedding
- Cherished
- The Frock
- And of course, Craigslist
About Jana Morgan
Jana was born in Thailand and grew up in Bangladesh before coming to America at the age of 8. Today she is an amazing wedding photographer, living on the island of Maui with her husband and their two dogs. During her free time you can find her baking vegan treats, surfing knee-high peelers, and hiking with the dogs.
Rae said
That's a great list of things to tell your stylist. Thanks.
Re: chiffon and taffeta:
Those are types of fabrics that aren't necessarily non-vegan. Although traditionally made of silk, they're commonly made of polyester or other synthetics now. So, if you are looking for a vegan dress, you can still get one with that type of look, just made with the synthetic versions. For cheaper dresses, that is probably what you're getting. For more expensive, the provided questions will help narrow that down.
Andrea D said
Yes, most taffeta and chiffon are polyester if the dress is under a certain price point – most bridal websites will say silk chiffon or mention silk specifically if its silk and the price will be double what the poly version is. My dress is taffeta and as polyester as the day is long!
R said
Peace silk is also known as Ahimsa silk & is common in India as it is worn by Jains & other vegans. Its easy to purchase online & have made into a dress.
Laura Cassil said
The Poetic Justice link is no good.
Offbeat Megan said
thanks Laura! It's fixed now.
Shannon Hays said
There is a girl in appalachia that makes simple beautiful eco conscious/vegan dresses http://www.snakemountainthread…esses.html
Bellezyx said
Vegans should be aware that peace silk still involves the death of thousands of silk worms – the worm who spins your cocoon survives and lays eggs (each fertilized female moth will lay between 200 and 1000 eggs) but those resulting worms starve (the eggs do not undergo the refrigeration and feeding process as there are just too many resulting worms. Something to consider.
lindee said
It's important to trust your source, and to be informed, because the peace silks we use allow all the moths to emerge/live. And, when there is a partial peace silk fabric, we say that. To add a personal note, I'd much rather wear true peace silk or wild silk (organic and peace by nature) than a chemically created fabric, i.e. synthetic and this includes bamboo- a great resource but not when it's turned into fabric. I know it's tough sorting through all the information out there and the 'greenwashing' . (I've been a complete vegetarian since I was 13 yrs old.) Thank you Off Beat Bride for your post. ~ peace & love
Kavisa said
My wedding dress was made from organic bamboo fabric. I found it on etsy. I received numerous compliments on it
Emma said
I have been considering bamboo!
InfamousQBert said
i REALLY wanted a particular organic bamboo dress i found on etsy for a while, but had some body image issues and it's such a drapey fabric that i couldn't do it. i still drool over the designer's products though. her username is "econica". worth checking out for anyone else interested!
kimmy said
Kavisa!! You wore the gown by Mnemosyene on Etsy! I saw your wedding profiled on OBB and thought… her dress looks so much like mine! And smiled at the end when I saw the etsy link. I'm sooooo excited to get my dress.. I've added a sash and pockets to it too
This is a nice article, too. I struggled a LOT finding a happy fabric dress that was in my fairly low price range.
princess lasertron said
Great post! My husband is vegan so I definitely sympathize with this struggle. I wanted to add that many independent designers (including myself) will work with clients who have needs for alternative fabrics–sometimes it goes a long way to just ask!
Harper said
Any Custom Gown Designer worth her chops should be able to make anything in Vegan fabrics all the way down to the linings for you -To Order!
Fabric types like Taffeta for instance, do not always refer to the Fiber Content btw: Taffeta comes in acetate, rayon (which comes from vegan wood pulp, same very toxic chemical process produces ALL Bamboo fabrics), and pure silk. Same with Chiffon which is manufactured in many fiber contents.
For more hardcore fabric geek info look up Fashion-Incubator.com.
Eliza said
Since i make recycled wedding dresses i love the idea of looking for a used dress, especially since you can then revamp that dress into something completely unique that no one else will have (unless you sell it to them! and re use all over again!)
B said
Thank you for this.
I like good fabrics so I didn't want to go with any kind of polyester blend. I ended up going with a used J Crew silk dress. Very happy with it.
Lori Del Genis said
Check out some of these designers who offer eco-friendly wedding gown options:
Oh HAI.
We've been making eco-friendly (including vegan) dresses since 2007. Granted, we were located in the UK for much of that time, but we're in the US now.
Hope Victoria Brett-Bowen said
Cripes. Before wearing polyester, you might want to make sure it's made from recycled sources. Some don't.
The devastation cased by plastics to the environment is the worst – it kills many animals and destroys their habitats.
Jane said
Hi guys – great article.
Just wanted to add that I bought my eco-friendly wedding dress off www.stillwhite.com The girl I bought it off was actually the second owner, and I can't wait to pass it on to another bride.
jane
Jessi D said
I found this article while I was on the hunt for my dress. It is truly a blessing to have found other offbeat brides. I am a cruelty free veggie-ma-tarion, but when it comes to clothing I lean vegan (the only concession I make is wool). I cannot bear the thought of what they do to silk worms. I hunted online for hours on end trying to find designers that use vegan materials. I hit the jack pot this weekend with a Moonlight gown (model T524 if your interested) and jumped up and down when I saw it was 100% Polyester!!!! Yay!