When Nicola Peltz Beckham and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham renewed their wedding vows this summer the fashion-loving bride decided to make a vintage wedding dress the star of her bridal look. When the couple tied the knot in 2022, Peltz Beckham wore a wardrobe of bespoke designs created by Valentino with the star being a minimalist column gown complete with a dramatic train which felt heavily ’90s inspired. Second time around, Peltz Beckham went even more retro with her wedding vibe choosing a singular, romantic ballgown—her mother Claudia’s 1985 wedding dress.
Wearing vintage is currently the biggest trend in bridal style. In an age where hyper-personalized details are the most important part of every wedding day, choosing to wear vintage is one of the most beautiful ways to make your day truly bespoke.
“Today there is so much repetitiveness in bridal because of social media, says Olivia Ivey Bannock, and Los Angeles-based stylist whose focus is brides. “Vintage fashion gives your wedding a true moment of differentiation. If you are a fashion girlie and appreciate a moment, vintage is a perfect wedding choice.”
Bannock, who is also the CEO of Olivet—a line of fashionable garment bags—says finding dream vintage looks for her clients sparks joy because it’s a personal passion of hers. For her own wedding a few years ago, she incorporated several vintage elements into her looks including antique hair pins and a vintage veil to wear with her new season Oscar de la Renta ceremony gown. For the afterparty she changed in to a ’80s moire dress with rhinestone detailing. She did some creative alterations to transform it into an ultra-chic mini.
Most of Bannock’s brides come to her with a mood board requesting specific designers and eras. From there, she starts the process of treasure hunting, checking in with trusted vintage retailers to see what’s available and if they are able to source what she’s looking for. Having a dress made in the image of a designer original is also a popular option in the event a style match can’t be found.
One of Bannock’s clients who recently made a huge impact with her standout wedding fashion is Lauren Kyle McDavid, wife of Edmonton Oiler’s captain Connor McDavid. On her wedding day last summer, McDavid wore five incredible dresses which were an otherworldly mix of vintage and contemporary looks. For her ceremony, she chose a glamourous Vivienne Westwood Couture custom creation. The supporting stars of the bridal fashion show included a 2007 Ralph Lauren dress with a plunging cowl neckline which McDavid wore to her rehearsal dinner; and an extremely rare Chloé by Stella McCartney blue mini dress, which was worn by Kate Moss on the runway during the fashion house’s Spring/Summer 1998 presentation.
“With Lauren, she knew what she wanted with her looks,” Bannock says. “She loved vintage Ralph Lauren because it was one of her mother’s favourite designers. With the Chloé dress, we looked around the world for it, and a few weeks before the wedding had not sourced it yet, so we had a replica made. Two weeks before the wedding, the dress miraculously surfaced at a vintage store in New York. Lauren wore the original for the first part of the after party then changed into the gown, we had made so we could preserve the original.”
If you are looking to secure a vintage wedding dress, know that shopping can require a different level of dedication and patience because pieces are typically snapped up quickly. Cher Thornton is the owner of Toronto’s Vintage Bride boutique and says she typically stocks upwards of 300 dresses which date from the early 1900s through the year 2000. She shares since making vintage wedding dresses the focus of her business in 2017 the demand for gowns has exploded because not only do her customers want to wear something unique, but they also love the sustainable angle, too.
“Right now, dresses from the ’90s and Y2K are trending,” Thornton says. “We currently have a lot of great designers from the bridal canon including Priscilla of Boston, and William Cahill who was one of the biggest American bridal designers from the 1950s through the ’70s. We have also recently had amazing couture pieces form houses like Dior and YSL. Those dresses sell fast.”
Because sizing can be a bit fussy with vintage pieces, Thornton likes to see brides in person, and reports she has had many travel distances to secure their dress. She says every gown stocked in her boutique is cared for by her vintage-savvy team who take care of fabric restoration and any repairs to ensure dresses are restored to their original grandeur. These glow up details are built into the price tag for a dress and customization is also available.
“A lot of times older dresses are quite modest, and clients want to modernize them—sleeve removal is very popular,” Thornton explains. “Any excess fabric we have we keep and have amassed and incredible textile library which we dip into for alternations when we need to.”
When it comes to cost, a vintage wedding dress is typically more affordable than a new gown. “Pieces are typically reasonably priced, and you can expect a small mark up at vintage retailers to cover their curation costs,” Bannock says. “I consider vintage fashion to be a beautiful investment because not only are wearing something that’s not only super rare, but a piece of history.” —Alison McGill
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October 13th, 2025 at 12:39 am
Vintage wedding dresses have such timeless charm, wearing one makes the day feel even more special and personal.
February 10th, 2026 at 1:24 am
The mix of sustainability, craftsmanship, and storytelling makes vintage such a powerful choice, and these examples show how timeless pieces can still feel completely modern.