The Knightsbridge shop where you can get an incredible personal-styled wedding dress for just £300
| Date | 18 June 2021 |
| Published date | 18 June 2021 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
However, a shop in Knightsbridge has created the perfect solution to the wedding dress issue.
In a first for London charity shops, the Octavia Foundation 's Knightsbridge branch has launched a bridal boutique, offering new and pre-loved wedding dresses donated from famous bridal designers and members of the public.
The bridal department offers a personal styling service for high quality, second-hand wedding dresses from leading designers, some of which have never even been worn, and they all cost a fraction of the price of a dress from a conventional bridal shop.
At Octavia brides-to-be will be treated to specialist advice and the exceptional service you expect from a bridal shop, while also being given the opportunity to browse high quality dresses, vintage heirlooms and accessories in a private, decorated space.
This means you'll still get the full experience of shopping for a wedding dress, but also the added benefits of helping the environment and the community by shopping more consciously.
Benefits of second-hand wedding dress shopping
While a charity shop might not be your first choice for a place to buy a wedding dress, there are enormous benefits to shopping second-hand -even for one of the most important dresses in your life.
Of course, saving money is a huge draw: some of the dresses in Octavia's boutique retail offer savings of almost £1,000 based on retail pricing.
For example, one dress retailed at £1,300 but is on sale at Octavia for just £450, and another was originally priced at £900 but is selling for £300.
As well as being more affordable, shopping second-hand also has huge social and environmental benefits.
Every penny of profit raised through Octavia retail goes straight into their work in the community, which includes inspirational, confidence-building projects for young people, employment and training support for local residents and befriending schemes for older, isolated members of the community.
Shockingly, the fashion industry is actually the second largest polluter in the world -beaten only by the oil industry -and 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every five minutes.
While fast fashion and fast-moving trends are the main culprits for this level of pollution, a wedding dress that will only worn once is still likely to be one of the most...
To continue reading
Request your trial