Dresses by style and occasion
A bridal shower puts one woman at the centre of the room for an afternoon, with her friends and family around her, a table of presents and a camera pointed at her the whole time. In Britain and Ireland the same send-off is more often a hen party or hen do, which can run from afternoon tea to a late dinner, or take a whole weekend. Two sets of people need something to wear: the woman getting married, who usually wants white, ivory or a soft colour that is plainly not her wedding dress, and the guests, who want to look as if they made an effort without stealing her thunder. We make both to order in Pakistan, in S to XL or cut to your own measurements, and send them wherever the party is.
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Design previewQuick answer
The Gilded Seam makes bridal shower and hen party dresses in Pakistan. The woman getting married can have a white, ivory or off-white dress that is not a wedding dress; guests can pick blush, powder blue, lilac or rose pink. Every dress is cut in S to XL or to your measurements and takes 5 to 7 working days to make once your quote is paid in full.
10 designs
Each design is made to order in your size or to your measurements. The pictures are design previews made before sewing, so the finished piece is confirmed in your written quote.
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10 designs shown
£127Regular £159· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
An ivory organza frock with gold lace across the bodice and shoulders, sheer flutter sleeves and a layered skirt edged with a gold lace border.
£100Regular £125· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
An ivory and gold brocade frock with puff elbow sleeves, a fitted bodice and a full skirt.
£76Regular £95· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · everyday
An off-white frock with chikankari all over, short sleeves, a gathered waist and a full skirt to the calf.
£87Regular £109· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFdresses · everyday
An ivory maxi dress with a round neck, long balloon sleeves and a full gathered skirt, embroidered with colourful wildflowers on the sleeves and along the hem.
£76Regular £95· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
A blush chiffon frock with a pearl-beaded sweetheart bodice, soft puff sleeves and a layered, cascading ruffle skirt.
£100Regular £125· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
A powder blue frock with a pearl-studded sweetheart bodice, pearl straps that cross at the back and a full tulle skirt scattered with pearls.
£127Regular £159· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
A dusty rose tulle frock covered in three-dimensional fabric flowers, with flutter sleeves, a lace-up back and a layered skirt.
£127Regular £159· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
A lilac tulle frock with three-dimensional butterflies over the bodice and skirt, puff sleeves and layers of tulle to the knee.
£56Regular £70· 20% offSale20% OFFeveryday · party · dresses
A floor-length chiffon maxi with a split band collar, full balloon sleeves gathered at the cuff, and three soft tiers. In seven colours.
£127Regular £159· 20% offDesign previewSale20% OFFfrocks · party
A rose gold sequin gown with a V-neck on fine straps, fitted to the hip and falling to the floor, with straps that cross over an open back.
Design preview01
If the shower is for you, the dress has one job above all: to look like a celebration without looking like a rehearsal for the wedding. In the United States and Canada many women wear white or ivory to their own shower, and the trick is to keep it plainly a party dress. A hem at or just below the knee does it, so does gold lace or a woven pattern, and so does colour in the embroidery. Lengths and sleeves can all be changed, and the four designs below are white or ivory exactly as drawn:
Three whites sit on this page. The gold lace frock, the brocade frock and the Wildflower are ivory, with a little warmth in them; the off-white frock is softer still, a white with the brightness taken down. A true bright white is made to order on the Wildflower, since its base colour can change. Ivory is kind to most skin under restaurant lighting and in late afternoon sun, while a bright white looks crisp in a garden at midday and glows on deeper skin. Our white dresses page sets the shades beside each other, and ivory, cream or off-white explains the differences.
Not everyone wants white twice in one year. If you would rather save it for the wedding day, pick a colour that is unmistakably yours and tell the people closest to you, so nobody arrives in the same shade. Blush is the obvious choice at a shower, and the blush frock with pearls across its bodice was drawn for exactly this kind of afternoon. The Tiered Maxi comes in Rose Pink, Lavender and Sage Green, and the lilac frock, with butterflies over a tulle skirt to the knee, is a happy, slightly playful dress for a hen party or a tea.
At most showers the guest of honour spends a long stretch sitting in front of everyone with a pile of gifts, leaning forward to tear paper and holding things up for the room. A full skirt that spreads when you sit looks right in the photographs and keeps you comfortable; the brocade frock and the gold lace frock both have one. A neckline that stays put as you bend forward matters more than usual, so if you love the blush frock’s sweetheart line, ask for it a little higher. Buttons or lacing down the back show in the pictures taken from behind your chair, which is where many of them are taken.
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Most bridal showers happen in daylight: a brunch, an afternoon tea, a garden at someone’s home, the private room of a restaurant. Dress one step up from lunch with friends and one step down from the wedding itself, and leave white, ivory and cream to the woman the party is for, unless the host has asked everyone to wear white. After that, the invitation does the rest: a theme, a colour, a venue. Six designs here were drawn with a guest in mind:
Pink and gold, sage and cream, garden party, tea party, all white: shower invitations love a theme. Treat a named colour as a request, not an exam. A near shade counts, and so does a print or embroidery that carries the colour, as when the invitation names a colour theme explains. The dusty rose and lilac frocks were made for a garden or tea party theme. At an all white party the usual rule is lifted: wear the off-white frock or the Wildflower and let her be the one in the gold lace. Much of this carries over to a baby shower, which has a page of its own.
The host, often the maid of honour or a sister, is on her feet all afternoon pouring tea and running the games, so she needs a dress she can move in: the Tiered Maxi or the off-white frock rather than a full tulle skirt. Mothers of the couple are photographed beside the guest of honour and often choose a dressier midi, such as the powder blue frock with sleeves added; our mother of the bride dresses page has more for them. If the bridesmaids want to match, the Tiered Maxi in one colour is the simplest route, each dress cut to its wearer’s own measurements, and several can go into one quote request; ordering several outfits at once shows how to set that out.
A wedding shower or couples’ shower, where both partners and their friends come, is usually a more relaxed, mixed afternoon, often outdoors, so a guest can dress a touch more casually: the off-white frock, or the Tiered Maxi taken up to the ankle. In Pakistani families the nearest thing to a shower is often the dholki, an evening of singing at home before the wedding, where a frock in a cheerful colour works as well as a suit; see dholki outfit ideas. We make women’s clothing only, so this page dresses just one half of a couples’ shower.
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A hen party in Britain or Ireland, a hens night in Australia or a bachelorette in North America rarely stays in one place. A single day might run from a spa or an afternoon tea through cocktails to dinner and a club, and plenty of hen dos now take a whole weekend in a cottage, by the sea or abroad. One dress rarely covers all of that, so think in two parts: something easy for the daytime and something with more shine for the evening.
For the daytime, the lilac frock with its butterflies, the dusty rose frock or the Tiered Maxi in Lavender all look like a celebration without being hard work over a long lunch. For the evening, the rose gold sequin gown is the showpiece: fine straps, a V-neck, close through the body and flaring to the floor, the dress the guest of honour will be photographed in all night. The whole group in pastels with her in white or rose gold is a simple plan that photographs well.
On a hen night the woman getting married is often the one in white while her friends wear a colour, the reverse of the wedding guest rule. The off-white frock and the brocade frock both work for a dinner, and the gold lace frock is dressy enough for a cocktail bar. For dancing, ask for the frock at knee length, the shortest we cut, and for shorter sleeves if the room will be hot. None of these is a wedding dress in disguise: we do not make the dress for the wedding day itself, and these are party frocks that happen to be white.
If the hens are dressing to one colour, say so in the quote request and we confirm in writing what is possible. The simplest way to put eight friends in the same shade is the Tiered Maxi in one of its seven colours, or several frocks of one design, since each frock is made in the colour it is drawn in. Every dress is still cut to its own wearer, so one friend can have hers sleeveless and another at ankle length. Put each person’s measurements and changes in one request, with the party date rather than the wedding date. If the group also wants matching T-shirts for the daytime, we print T-shirts with your own words on the front and the back; see printed T-shirts.
Two common hen days in Britain have pages of their own. A day at the races comes with its own dress codes, which our race day dresses page goes through. An afternoon tea or brunch is gentler on the dress code but harder on pale fabric, so read what to wear to a hi-tea or brunch before you choose cream for a cream tea. A ladies-only gathering at home, which is how many families celebrate, suits the Tiered Maxi or the off-white frock.
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Showers are decorated to be photographed: balloon arches, flower walls, a dessert table, usually in pink, white and gold. The palest pastels can vanish into that backdrop, and into pale skin in bright light, so a shade with a little depth, dusty rose or lavender rather than the faintest pink, holds its own, and texture helps even more. Pearls, sequins, lace, fabric flowers and butterflies all give the camera something to catch. Which colours photograph well and what are pastel colours go into the detail.
Making takes 5 to 7 working days, counted from the day you approve your written quote and pay it in full, and the parcel then travels for as long as the courier needs to reach your country. Work backwards from the party, not the wedding, and leave some slack for the journey. The quote sets out the design, the colour, your measurements and every change you asked for, and it includes delivery to your door with any import duty and taxes, so there is nothing to pay when the parcel arrives.
Any dress on this page can be made sleeveless for a garden in July or a hen weekend somewhere hot: choose Sleeveless on the order form or write it in the changes box and it goes into your quote. Send an armhole measurement with the rest so the edge sits close, as why sleeveless armholes gape explains. Going the other way, the powder blue frock and the rose gold gown can be given short, elbow, three-quarter or full sleeves, the puff and flutter sleeves on the frocks can be lengthened, and the Tiered Maxi and the Wildflower already cover the arms. For a shower in a cold month, our long sleeve dresses, among them the powder blue Wisteria and the Lilac Tiered Dress, are worth a look.
White, ivory, blush and powder blue let more light through than dark colours, and a flash or a sunny window finds the difference. Every design here can be lined, which is the easiest answer; ask for it in the changes box. Under chiffon a lining also stops the tiers of the Tiered Maxi clinging, and under layered tulle it settles the skirt. The fabric of each frock is agreed with you in your quote, so if the shower is outdoors in the heat, say so when you ask.
When you ask for a quote, give the date of the shower or the hen party, the design, your size from S to XL or your measurements marked as body or garment, the colour where there is a choice, and the changes you want: sleeveless or longer sleeves, the hem, a higher neckline, a lining. A daylight photo of the shade you are hoping for helps, because screens shift pastels and most pictures here are design previews made before sewing. Nothing is cut until the quote is agreed in writing. If you also need something for the engagement party, our engagement party dresses are made the same way, and guests going on to the wedding can look at the wedding guest dresses.
In close-up
Necklines, sleeves and backs from this collection. Tap a name to see every view of that design.
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Design previewYour choices
Initials, a name or a monogram can be embroidered too: tell us the letters and where you would like them, and we confirm the size and thread in your quote.
Anything else you would like changed, ask in your quote request and we tell you honestly whether it can be done.
How to order
Delivery to the UK
Quoted and paid in pounds. Your quote includes delivery to your door and any import VAT, duty and courier fees, so there is nothing to pay when the parcel arrives. Ordering from the UK
Delivery to the UAE
Choose to be quoted in US dollars, euros or pounds. Delivery to any emirate and the import charges are included in the quote. Ordering from the UAE · the Gulf
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FAQ
Usually white, ivory or a soft colour, in a dress that is plainly not her wedding dress: a frock to the knee or the calf, or a long dress with colour in its embroidery. On this page the ivory frock with gold lace, the ivory brocade frock, the off-white frock and the ivory Wildflower Maxi are all white as drawn, and the Wildflower can be made on a brighter white. We do not make wedding dresses.
It is better not to, unless the host has asked everyone to wear white. White and ivory are usually left to the woman the shower is for. Guests tend to wear pastels and soft colours, such as the blush, powder blue, dusty rose and lilac frocks here, or the Tiered Maxi in Lavender or Sage Green.
A bridal shower is a daytime party with presents, common in the United States and Canada, usually given by friends or family at home, in a garden or at a restaurant. A hen party, or hen do, is the British and Irish send-off, more often an evening out or a weekend away; in Australia it is a hens night and in North America a bachelorette. Many women now have both, and the dresses on this page suit either.
Yes, with one honest limit. Each frock is made in the colour it is drawn in, so a group in one colour is easiest with the Tiered Maxi, which comes in seven colours, or with several frocks of the same design. Every dress is cut to its own wearer’s measurements, and all of them can go into one quote request with the date of the party.
As soon as the date is fixed. Making takes 5 to 7 working days from the day your written quote is approved and paid in full, and shipping follows and depends on your country. Give the date of the shower or the hen party in your quote request and allow spare time for the parcel, because we cannot promise arrival on a particular day.
Ready when you are
Send the design you like with your size or measurements, and we reply with a written quote.
No commitment until you approve your written quote.
