Vintage and second-hand bridalwear in New Zealand is seeing a surge of interest. Madeleine Crutchley talks to expert purveyors of wedding wear, and a bride who opted for something borrowed.
When Lizzie Langridge welcomes brides-to-be into her studio, they enter a room of apparitions.
These spirits appear from wedding days
The room is lively.
Adorned on the wall, there’s an “impeccably constructed”, corseted gown in raw silk by famed British bridal designer Catherine Rayner (“it’s in mint condition”, Lizzie says).
Next to her mantelpiece, heaving with vintage and New Zealand-made accessories, there’s a basque waist gown, its neckline a flourish of origami florals.
And, tucked in the back corner, there’s a freshly dry-cleaned dress by Colin Cole – a leading designer from Aotearoa from the late 1950s into the ’80s (as recognised by the New Zealand Fashion Museum) – that proves its credentials with a handsewn, rose-detailed label.
Lizzie has been collecting vintage bridal and occasionwear since 2020. She opened her boutique, Love James, in 2022. Now, her salon is perched on Karangahape Rd, where she leads brides through an extended collection of dresses from the 1930s to the early 2000s. Lizzie estimates 60% is sourced internationally, while the rest comes from New Zealand.
Lizzie decided to open the vintage bridal business after noting the popularity of similar salons overseas.
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Advertise with NZME.“I was following one of the original ones, which was Happy Isles in LA. She transformed it culturally.”
Lizzie saw a gap in New Zealand’s bridal market for an experience that echoed this.
“I thought, ‘what would my friends from design school want to wear?’ They’d want to wear a custom New Zealand designer or they’d want to wear something vintage.”
After the launch, Lizzie quickly found her collection to be in demand. She is still drawing an eager crowd of customers.
“I mean, I haven’t had to do any paid advertising. It’s all just word of mouth and through social media. I was booking out the pop-ups, which I would do six appointments per day. It was intense. I still do six some days.”
Lizzie’s boutique seems to reflect a growing appreciation for vintage and second-hand bridal wear. Worldwide, fashion media have reported on its increasing popularity – last year, Vogue Business declared that second-hand bridal was “booming”.
Locally, bridal designer Trish Peng expanded her designer offering to include second-hand bridal in 2021. Reflecting on the years since this launch, Trish confirmed, “we’ve definitely seen an increase in brides opting for sample and pre-loved wedding dresses”.
It’s a shift that Designer Wardrobe’s co-founder Aidan Bartlett has also noticed on the second-hand digital storefront (with a customer base across both New Zealand and Australia).
Aidan says that in 2024, Designer Wardrobe tracked a 53% increase in second-hand wedding dress listings.
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Advertise with NZME.“We’ve always had a presence of wedding dresses on Designer Wardrobe but it’s really over the past couple of years that we’ve seen that rise.”
The interest has been so convincing that Designer Wardrobe is looking to adjust the site so it better caters to people searching (and broadens the categorisation of wedding wear to include more than just white dresses).
“We are looking at making it its own dedicated area. We know that people are usually finding these dresses just by looking up their favourite brands and seeing what’s available. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to find wedding dresses.”
Online retailers for second-hand and vintage wedding wear have long been an option. Once Wed, for example, was launched in 2008 (it has now been absorbed by a bigger second-hand bridal online retailer). There are many others – Stillwhite, Borrowing Magnolia, The Loop and Vestiaire Collective, for example – that are known for their romantic offerings. Designer Wardrobe’s local setting, however, helps to narrow the broad overwhelm of these sites, restricting the marketplace to New Zealand and Australia.
Emma Ritchie, a bride from Auckland, found success in her search for a second-hand gown on the digital marketplace. It was a natural fit.
“I’ve shopped second-hand for a really long time now... I love that you’re kind of giving something a second chance. I’ve always loved thrifting and going into hospice shops, so I knew that I would want to get as many items for my wedding second-hand as possible.”
While she chose to buy new for her ceremony, with a big, grand dress (it had “quite a lot of fabric”), the bride wanted to swap the dramatic gown for something simple ahead of the reception.
“I got changed before our first dance just so I had a bit more room to move, and I was more comfortable.”
She trawled through various resale sites, including Designer Wardrobe, checking on a daily basis – the task becoming almost administrative.
“Every day in the evening, I would filter by my dress size and then filter the colours white and cream and beige. I would just go and see any of the new listings that had come through that day.”
She didn’t have to wait long before she came across the slip dress. It featured a low back and a bloom of roses over each shoulder. She met the seller in a public place to try the dress on.
“It was purchased off the rack and [the previous owner] hadn’t done any alterations. It was my dress size, so I was really lucky that it fit me well.”
This kismet moment isn’t one Emma was expecting. As a keen second-hand shopper, she was familiar with the need to adjust pieces to fit.
“I’m aware that things may not be in perfect condition or altered to suit someone else. You’re coming across pieces obviously that already exist, maybe with somebody else in mind or with a kind of a life already in mind.”
And, as alterations are a huge part of bridalwear, the experts are quick to preface this as an important aspect of trialling second-hand and vintage wear.
These alterations are a huge part of Lizzie’s work at Love James. She works with professional tailors (including Jessica Jay at Reparation Studio) to make changes for fit.
“I’m not scared to alter the vintage too much, shortening hemlines and that kind of thing. [It’s good to know] that alterations are a really normal part of bridal shopping. With op shopping or maybe vintage shopping you might be happy to have something like not 100% right – with this you are going to get it tailored. The last 10% is tailoring and that is what makes it the difference between average and exceptional.”
For Yours Truly, Trish also works with brides to re-alter dresses in-house. This can include small fit changes, but she’s been particularly excited to work with brides on bigger changes.
“The most memorable ones are when brides get really creative. Some have used excess fabric from the hem to make draped sleeves, while others reshape the neckline to create a bespoke look. It’s always so special to see a bride put her own personal touch to a dress.”
Big changes are a huge part of Lizzie’s work with vintage too – she also takes on the challenge of reviving and reimagining vintage dresses that have encountered problems in their age.
Lizzie recalls a recent project where she bought a raw silk dress with stains on the bodice and skirt. After a failed stain removal process, she had to adjust the sides and transform the full skirt into a bubble hem. “It’s gone from a gown to a mini.”
Occasionally, working with vintage pieces can be a gamble.
“To be honest, yeah, it’s sometimes quite financially burdening. Like, I’ll buy pieces and I’ll think I can get the stains out but then I can’t. I’ve invested in them and I have to find a solution for them. But, it’s problem-solving in business.”
And, as business continues to tick along, each of the purveyors has ideas about what could be driving this interest in second-hand and vintage options.
There’s the potential for influence through the sustainability ethos often associated with vintage and second-hand. Lizzie has observed customers with this in mind.
“It’s a reprioritisation of values. People just love the idea of really wearing it, dyeing it and reusing it as well. I think it’s not wanting to live in excess.”
Emma says this aspect was on her mind for her wedding and it extended to other parts of the big day.
“I got a lot of vintage frames that I tried to incorporate throughout our wedding, and I purchased our bud vases for our floral decor second-hand as well. I also purchased some second-hand Chanel shoes – the classic cream and black Chanel-style heels – from Trade Me. They were such a steal as well.”
Designer Wardrobe’s Aidan Bartlett picks the monetary aspects as another potential factor for the “cultural shift” around second-hand and vintage.
“I think it’s a bit of a correlation between a growing awareness of second-hand and the cost of living. People want to think smarter when it comes to things like weddings, which are incredibly expensive.”
But then, Lizzie suggests, there’s also the draw of exclusivity and, simply, the aesthetic. Love James is inclusive of a range of budgets, from $350 for party-style dresses to $7000 for rarer finds. Lizzie will see brides with all sorts of budgets, who are looking to find something that is one-of-a-kind.
“It is the most exclusive option... The wedding has become the statement sartorially and culturally. It’s the moment to express yourself in this fashion-y way. It has grown.”
Emma agrees with this too.
“It made it feel a little bit more special because we knew that we had things that other people don’t have. You’re kind of putting your little touch on it in a way that feels unique.”
Madeleine Crutchley is a multimedia journalist for Viva and premium lifestyle and entertainment at The New Zealand Herald. She covers stories relating to fashion, culture and food and drink, from her hometown of Auckland. Recently, she’s written about fashion design in the climate emergency, upcoming designers and future forecasting at fashion schools.
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