Paper to Lace

About Paper to Lace

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About Us

Paper to Lace is co-owned by Cristina Ruggeri and Becky Gunstone. We specialise in creating beautiful bridal wear and accessories in our London studio.
We met in 2010 working in the same costume department and proceeded to work on numerous theatre productions together. We bonded over a shared appreciation of pasta, David Bowie, cinnamon pastries, quoting The Thick of It and of course, our love of 20th Century Fashion.
Probably because we were so busy eating and singing along to Flight of the Conchords , it wasn't until some time later that we realised we both had dreams of designing and creating wedding dresses.
And thus the seeds of Paper to Lace were sown.

Having both studied costume, Cristina at London College of Fashion and Becky at The Central School of Speech and Drama, our bridal designs are heavily influenced by historical fashion and couture. Our costume careers have given us the skills to adapt to the varied requirements of our bespoke brides and create a strong design vision in our made to order collections.

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About Our Style

Paper to Lace create luxurious and ethically made dresses and separates.
We draw inspiration from music, nature, travel, old Hollywood movies, and a magpie like draw to the sparkly things in life. Our style is a mix of bohemian vintage glamour, with clean lines and modern touches.
We love using beautiful fabrics, textures and embellishments to perfectly compliment our designs.
The right fabric for each garment is carefully selected for its drape and appearance as well as how it will feel on the body. Luxurious silks like satins, chiffon, crepe and lace sit perfectly alongside new sustainable fabrics like bamboo and recycled polyester.

It is important to us that these designs are something that you will truly look forward to wearing, so much so that you will want to wear them again and again. By creating a range of separates alongside the dresses, our brides have the ability to style these pieces in many different ways, for many different occasions. The Classic Slip dress with Devore Kimono would be perfect for the honeymoon or a holiday on the Amalfi Coast perhaps. The Serafina Blouse for example, would look awesome with a patterned palazzo pant as a guest to another wedding, or even the Cirrus Top with high waisted black trousers for a New Year's Eve party. Timeless and beautifully crafted from high quality fabrics, these pieces will last longer than just the wedding day.

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About Our Values

We want all our brides to feel confident and happy.
Inclusivity and diversity is a no-brainer for us. We want to work with you to create your ideal wedding outfit. Size, colour, orientation or anything else, are not barriers to us.
We think everyone should wear what they want on their wedding day. With this in mind, some pieces have pockets, some are cut so you can wear a proper bra underneath them (if you so wish.) Nothing contains internal structure or will "cinch you in". Wedding days involve a lot of standing, sitting, hugging, eating and dancing (and going to the loo!) and we want our brides to be able to do all these things without being restricted by their outfits, and still looking absolutely fantastic.

Sustainable fabric choices are at the forefront of our designs. We try to make sure that all the fabrics we use are either either natural fibres such as silk, linen or bamboo, or recycled fabrics like the crepe we have used for the Faye Jumpsuit.
We make all our pieces to order in London which allows us to limit fabric waste by not holding large amounts of stock. We also use the offcuts from our dresses and separates to make silk flowers and other smaller accessories. All other leftover fabric scraps are recycled.
We will continue to keep looking for better options as we grow. This will always be an ongoing mission for us whilst we search for better practices.
Being a small business we are able to ensure every worker earns a fair wage, especially being based in London. Our garments are made to a high standard by skilled technicians and they are paid accordingly.

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About Your Options

Our Made-to-Order collection is intended as a versatile way to build your perfect look, or to transition your outfit from day to night.
It is possible – and encouraged! – to customise all of our pieces. This might involve a change in fabric or colour, or adapting the shape such as adding a train, lengthening the sleeves or lowering the back. We absolutely love doing this for our brides, it is exciting and inspiring for us to see how each piece can be transformed into something new and unique each time.

We also offer a fully Bespoke Service. If you chose to go bespoke, your outfit is created completely from scratch to your individual specifications.
Our bespoke brides are involved throughout the whole process, from initial sketches and fabric choices, to fittings in a toile (a practice version of the dress) and finally the awesome real one. This is a really wonderful opportunity to design something that is one-of-a-kind and made entirely for you.

© 2023 – Paper To Lace