Rachael · A walled garden in Sussex. June 2024. Photograph by Sarah Brookes
Rachael
Suzanne Neville · “Cabianca” · 2024
Rachael & Tom
Rachael and Tom met in a queue outside a pub in Borough in 2019 and spent the first hour arguing about a football match neither of them had watched. Five years later they married in a walled garden in Sussex in June, with a hundred and twenty people, a saxophonist who was booked for an hour and stayed for four, and a heatwave nobody had planned for.
The dress
Suzanne Neville has been cutting in Knightsbridge for thirty years and the “Cabianca” is her house language in one gown: silk organza over a corseted foundation, Chantilly lace laid by hand at the neckline and dropped away entirely at the back. The high neck and the open back are the same idea from two directions.
Why I’m letting it go
“My sister is getting married next year and briefly considered wearing it, and I realised I wanted it to go to someone who chose it rather than inherited it.”
Hemmed for a 76mm heel, with 7cm of allowance left. The closer a shoe sits to that height, the less has to be altered.
Organza against organza. The one shoe in the collection made of the same cloth as the dress.
Within 6mm of the hem as cut, so nothing needs touching.
Plain satin. With Chantilly lace at the neckline, a decorated shoe is one thing too many.
Suggestions only. We do not sell shoes and we are not affiliated with any footwear brand.
Reserve a fitting and we will hold this gown off sale for you. Alterations are arranged after purchase, with our tailor, once the gown is yours. We don’t cut a dress that isn’t.
