ADEOLA African White Wedding Dress With Long Sleeves and Train

Bespoke Bridal

ADEOLA is an African white wedding dress for the bride who wants to be covered at the top and impossible to miss at the floor. Long sleeves, a closed round neckline, a body cut close through the waist and hip, and a train that is still arriving after she has stopped walking.

It reads correctly in a church, holds up under the scrutiny of a Nigerian wedding, and still photographs as the loudest thing in the room. The coverage is not a compromise. It is the design.

The gown in detail

The satin-finish fabric carries enough weight to hold the line of the body without clinging to it. That weight is what keeps the skirt falling in one clean sheet instead of creasing every time you sit, and it is what lets the train travel behind you rather than bunching at your heels. In daylight it reads as a soft even white. Under reception lighting it picks up a low sheen along the hip and down the skirt.

The neckline sits closed and high. The sleeves run the full length of the arm and finish at each shoulder with a sculpted bow drape that lifts the shoulder line. That is coverage built into the gown rather than added over it, so nothing has to be put on for the ceremony and taken off afterwards.

The train is long and it is meant to be seen. It opens out as you move, which is why ADEOLA photographs best on stairs, down a long aisle, and in any shot taken from behind. Brief one person in the bridal party to lift it on stairs and lay it out for photographs.

Sizing and colour

Available from XS to 3XL, with the fitted bodice graded across the full range rather than scaled up from a sample size. If your bust and hip fall in different sizes, order made to measure and the gown is cut to your numbers. Check the size chart first, and send your measurements on WhatsApp if you are ordering from abroad.

Shown in white, and made to order in ivory, champagne, blush or a colour you bring to the atelier. That is the usual route for a second look or a court ceremony version of the same silhouette.

How to wear it

Care

Professional dry clean only. Steam on a hanger before the day, store in a breathable garment bag rather than plastic, and get it to a cleaner within a week of the wedding so nothing sets into the fabric.

Questions brides ask