In the aftermath of the catastrophic Los Angeles fires, the old wedding tradition of “something borrowed” has taken on an entirely new meaning. People have lost everything—and for some, that includes the dress they planned to wear on one of the most exciting days of their lives. But that’s where former brides and the tight-knit wedding community are rising to the occasion.
Taylor Baldwin, who is based in Washington, D.C., was married in April of last year on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. “I was very calm on my wedding day,” she tells Vogue. But the recent devastation has stirred up a different feeling inside of her—one of purpose. Three days ago, she took to Reddit’s active r/weddingdress forum, sharing “Any brides impacted by the fires in LA needing a last-minute dress?” Baldwin actually had two dresses to offer up gratis: a Lela Rose Maison dress she wore on her wedding day and a backup design from Amsale, never worn.
“It’s so unbelievably humbling to see that some people literally don’t own anything anymore,” she tells Vogue. “I don’t need the dress just sitting in my closet, and realistically, it’s probably not something my potential future daughter would want 30 years from now. I’d rather it bring joy to someone else, so this felt like the right time to part with it and see if someone else could give it a new life.” As of now, her dresses are unclaimed—but in the comments, other recent brides have begun offering up their dresses as well.
While each and every single thing lost to the fires is a tragedy, an unworn wedding dress is a unique situation. There are married women—like Keleigh Teller, who married actor Miles Teller in 2019—who were saving their dresses as a future heirloom and lost them to the fire. But there are also brides who had yet to wear their wedding dress, a symbol of possibility, the future, and excitement. Instead, it was consumed by the natural disaster.
And it’s not just brides who are feeling generous. Atlanta-based Monet Brewerton-Palmer, owner of Vionnette Bridal, shared on Instagram that she has more than 30 dresses in bridal sizes 2 to 22 available to brides who lost their wedding day look in the fires. “I grew up in the bridal world, my grandmother was a bridal seamstress,” Brewerton-Palmer says. “I have been collecting vintage bridal attire for a long time, so this just feels like the right thing to do.” At Vionette, the process goes like this: Share the designer and name of your original dress, plus your measurements, and the team at Vionnette will match you with a comparable replacement. All they ask in return? That you pass the kindness along and consider donating the dress after you’ve worn it.
