Married in Reno: Brye's Thrifted Wedding Dress

A little over a year ago, my little brother and his wife, Brye, got married in Reno. I've always admired Brye's style and her eye for unique, witty pieces that she styles effortlessly. A peek into Brye’s closet reveals a balance of high-end and vintage sensibilities – a Betsy Johnson dress here, a $2 sweater there – so it’s no surprise that her wedding dress was the perfect mix of elegant and unconventional.

I asked her to tell me a little more about the dress and the vintage scene in Portland...

Where did you find the dress?

I found it at Xtabay in Portland. They have a bridal salon upstairs, but I found mine in the regular vintage section downstairs. This dress was one of the only newer vintage pieces they had. It’s by TopShop (I think Kate Moss did a limited edition flapper line at one point). It was missing a few sequins, but since there were like 300 of them it was hard to tell. 

And the veil?

My veil is by Sonia Kasparian of Urchin re.design.  I found her after I realized a bunch of similar things I liked at vintage places were all made by the same person. I looked her up, called her, and visited her cute old Victorian house in North Portland for a custom design. The house is two stories and full of her pieces and all the materials she uses to make them: lace, feathers, vintage fabrics, etc. Her cats and dogs run around totally chill and not touching any of it.

I took my dress in so she could coordinate my veil with it. She finished it in about two weeks.

It’s actually pretty hard to find good, reasonably priced vintage clothing in San Francisco these days. Tell me about Portland so I can shop vicariously…

Portland is crawling with good vintage. People here are pretty picky when it comes to used clothing; they’re not willing to pay too much, especially when they’re shelling out for more expensive, weather-appropriate stuff. So the consignment stores are really consistent.

You're making Portland sound pretty appealing. 

We love it, but you're a sun junkie so it's tough to say. You get full seasons, the people are really nice, and there is hiking and beer!