Little Bevan Flower Girl & Pageboy Outfit Ideas for a Summer Wedding

As we are emerge from our Covid-hibernation, as the first blossom is appearing and restrictions are relaxing, I feel it is a good moment to present ideas for our Little Bevan flower girl and pageboy outfits with an ‘english garden’ theme. I shall look at different aspects of our designs in a series of 4 blog articles: firstly considering fabrics & colours; secondly looking at the variety of style details for girls’ dresses (all made-to-order); next an article discussing pageboy outfits; and lastly a piece on shoes & accessories. I hope this helps you plan ideas and orders for your exciting weddings.

Fabrics - plain or patterned; silk, cotton, linen or lace

The most popular luxury fabric for our styles is silk dupion, which is a particularly good choice as it is available in a wide selection of delicate shades to match many wedding themes. It is a child-friendly, natural fibre that feels lovely, allows the skin to breathe and holds its shape nicely. A Little Bevan signature look for girls, which we introduced from the very start of our LB life in 2004, is to overlay sheer organza (or light tulle) over the main silk layer, which gives the dress an entrancing fluidity. For some summer weddings, especially those with an outdoor garden or sea-side location and more informal mood, we can also use crisp white cottons or natural linens, which still work well with a girl’s sash or boy’s cummerbund in a coloured silk.

You might like to choose to have a fabric with pattern. These pictures show a Liberty print cotton lawn (we can source all their current season prints) which we can use for any of our dress styles, and still works well with a big silk sash & bow (the sash shown here in ‘daffodil’). We have a sheer silk organza with ivory embroidered polka dots; or an embroidered silk design of multi-coloured polka dots on an ivory background, giving a fun scattering of colours - then pick out your favourite highlight colour, which we can use for the piping trim and sash.

For extra luxury we can use an embroidered and beaded tulle for the whole dress, or for a skirt overlay – perhaps reflecting the design of a bridal gown lace; or, use a soft Chantilly lace which falls in a more slimline silhouette. Alternatively, for just an extra touch, we can cut and lay applique lace flowers/motifs scattered on the hem or bodice and hand sew in place. For these very bespoke orders, we can source a super selection of gorgeous lace designs - or, work with offcuts from your own couture lace gown.

Colours – leaf greens & blossom pinks for an ‘english garden’ theme

We can use highlights of colour for trims and accessories set on the overall base of ivory or white – pretty colours for silk sashes, bow-ties, cummerbunds, neckline piping and silk buttons: a colour that reflects you and your wedding plan - that perhaps has a relevance to you and your family, and which can be carried over to be used in wedding decorations and flowers.

Alternatively, use a colour for the whole of the child’s outfit, and contrast with a floral print sash, a shiny satin texture, or a lighter shade used in the trims and accessories. Many clients choose a colour, or darker shade, for boy’s shorts, knickerbockers and trousers so that they link in with the groom and ushers - or just for practicality!

Getting back to work at our studio

We opened our sewing workspace when schools re-opened after 8th March. We are busy preparing the first booked orders of flower girl dresses, sashes, pageboy shirts, cummerbund and knickerbockers for May and June weddings. For the next few weeks, we have scheduled Zoom appointments leading up to mid-April. This is a great way of taking up-to-date measurements at home and for confirming order details - some weddings, postponed form 2020, have changes to styles, need different colours, and there are even new babies in the family who now need little matching outfits! We always try to accommodate urgent orders, rearranged plans and small accessory orders, as we all know that life is hard to predict, but, ideally, please contact us by email to begin the process as early as you can - it is best to allow 2-3 months to produce your order of beautiful clothes to treasure forever!

Little Bevan: info@littlebevan.co.uk

by appointment: Unit 3f Hewlett House, 5 Havelock Terrace, Battersea, London SW8 4AS