General information & description
 
Catherine Rayner's Cafe au Lait is a wedding dress that needs no introduction! It is a design so brilliant and striking that it earned a place in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. 
 
We've had a different version of Cafe au Lait before. Our newest version is made of duchess silk satin instead of silk dupion, which gives a more formal vibe overall. And best of all, it comes with custom gloves designed and made by Catherine Rayner for the original owner. The glove has covered buttons down the entire length and a pointed cuff that extends over the hand. (Note that the gloves appear to have a yellow tinge in some of our images, but they are cooler toned in real life. The dress is a shade of ivory that has a slight seashell pink tone, while the glove is more of the classic bridal ivory tone.) 
 
The finest quality duchess silk satin, expert corsetry, and genius design...what more could you ask for in a wedding dress? It is not difficult to understand why Catherine Rayner was so beloved among brides in the 1990s (and continues to be our most-requested designer)!
 
Size & measurements
 
Measurements must be used to assess whether a gown will fit you or can be altered to fit you. A gown can usually be made 2-3 sizes smaller without compromising the design, but can rarely be made more than approximately 1/2-1” larger without making major modifications. The exterior hanging measurements of this dress are as follows:
 
Bust - 33"
Waist - 25"
Hip - 38"
 
It is approximately a modern size 2. Note that there is some flexibility with the measurements because of the corset back, but we would not recommend going beyond a size 4-6 because it would cause seam displacement. 
 
Condition notes
 
We are known for the excellent condition of our vintage bridal attire. However, vintage gowns will always contain some imperfections that result from being worn and/or stored for decades. We make every effort to review each dress thoroughly and disclose every issue we can find. With that in mind, please review the following notes:
 
Cafe au Lait is in very good vintage condition and presents beautifully overall. 
 
There is a small, striated oxidized mark between the pleats on the right front side of the skirt. This mark did not come out with cleaning, but the mark itself and the area around it were lightened. It is approximately 5 millimeters wide x 10 millimeters long.
 
The grommets (the metal circles that hold the laces of the corset on the back of the bodice) may have been exposed to a very small amount of moisture, causing small marks to appear near some of the grommets on both the inner and outer bodice. One grommet required reinforcement, which we have done. The ribbon used to lace the corset in our images came with the dress, but it is probably not the original lace because it does not look like the typical Catherine Rayner corset cord.
 
There is slight discoloration to the interior front of the bodice from wear.
 
Finally, there are three areas on the front of the skirt that have a shadow of discoloration that is visible only in certain light and at a certain angle. These were probably marks that were removed when the dress was initially cleaned and preserved, so they are ghost marks today. It is not possible to get pictures of these because they are extremely difficult to find and do not show up on camera, but we mention them for the sake of completeness.