A bride who discovered a stained wedding dress for just $25 in a second-hand shop has told DailyMail.com how she managed to turn it into the dress she always wanted.
Adrian Bradley, 26, who married husband Ryan Jennings, also 26, in June 2024, found a vintage dress rolled into a ball and painstakingly worked with a seamstress to transform the secondhand dress into the gown of her dreams.
Adrian documented The process in TikTokwhere she surprised her followers with the transformation, going from a 90s dress with bare shoulders and lined with rosettes to a more fitted proposal with a modern pearl brooch.
She told DailyMail.com: “I’ve always loved things with character and a vintage, regal feel,” explaining: “The vision I had for my wedding dress was no different!”
Adrian wanted a unique wedding dress and told FEMAIL: “One of the biggest obstacles was my budget.”
Adrian Bradley, who married husband Ryan Jennings in June 2024, found a vintage dress and worked with a seamstress to transform the secondhand gown.
Adrian ended up finding her off-the-shoulder silk evening dress rolled up in a plastic bag at the thrift store after searching for dresses in boutiques in California.
Adrian went thrift shopping with his sister-in-law while visiting family in Dallas, Texas, one of their favorite places to shop for home decor.
“It was one of those moments where you put something on and you don’t want to take it off,” Adrian said.
Although Adrian saw designer dresses she loved, since she and her fiancé Ryan were paying for the wedding themselves, she felt they couldn’t justify paying over $10,000 for a daytime dress.
Adrian met her current husband when they were in high school and she dated a friend of Ryan’s, and they later reunited when they both went to the University of Arkansas.
Now the college sweethearts, who got engaged in December 2022, live in Berkeley, California.
Adrian began his bridal search in boutiques but was unable to find the right dress, despite trying on 60 dresses during his visits and even flying to Los Angeles to meet with a designer.
Adrian left Second hand shopping with her sister-in-law while visiting family in Dallas, Texas, at one of her favorite places to shop for home decor.
“I asked my sister-in-law to meet me there as she had just gotten engaged and was getting married two months after her engagement,” Adrian explained.
“I had already decided on a dress for my wedding, but I hadn’t sent the payment yet because I had this strange feeling that I had to wait a little longer. I had no intention of searching or finding a dress.”
She ended up finding her off-the-shoulder silk evening dress rolled up in a plastic bag in a corner. Her sister-in-law made her try it on, although there were no fitting rooms, so they put the dresses on in the back of the thrift store.
“It was one of those moments when you put something on and you don’t want to take it off,” Adrian admitted.
Unfortunately, the dress was stained and yellowed under the armpits and after having it professionally cleaned, the flowers on the neckline were damaged.
Adrian had a seamstress she began working with cover the bodice with new fabric, which better suited the style and covered the stains.
“Even the cashier looked at me strangely when I said this was going to be my wedding dress, but I knew it had to be part of another beautiful story,” said Adrian, with the finished product above.
Adrian had a seamstress she began working with cover the bodice with new fabric, which better suited the style and covered the stains.
Unfortunately, there was one small problem. “I immediately FaceTimed my mom and she wasn’t as excited as I was,” Adrian said.
“The dress was badly damaged and the floral design on the top had frayed and faded edges. She thought I was crazy.”
“Even the cashier looked at me strangely when I said this was going to be my wedding dress, but I knew it had to be part of another beautiful story.”
The dress was stained and yellowed under the armpits, and after I had it professionally cleaned, the flowers on the neckline were damaged.
“I didn’t realise how bad the stain was until I sent it off for cleaning and got the photos,” Adrian told FEMAIL. “It’s pretty much all gone, but the yellowing of the armpits hasn’t gone away.”
Adrian had a seamstress she started working with cover the bodice with a new fabric that better suited the style and covered the stains.
She also purchased a veil on Etsy that was hand dyed to match the dress.
Adrian purchased fabric for $75 and added detachable sleeves to the dress, spending $3,330 total on the dress after purchasing a pearl brooch and altering the dress, which was still under her $4,000 budget.
Adrian purchased fabric for $75 and added detachable sleeves to the dress, spending $3,330 in total on the dress after purchasing a pearl brooch and altering the dress.
The pearl brooch she placed on the front of the dress matched the buttons on the back of her vintage wedding dress.
Adrian believes that two other women wore this dress first and that it was possibly handmade, as it appears that rods and flowers were added over time.
After sharing the transformation on TikTok, one viewer said she thought it was a Jessica McClintock pattern, although she couldn’t find the pattern online.
Adrian believes that two other women wore the dress before her and then over time added embellishments and flowers.
She is considering donate it again for another bride to find, but said, ‘Right now I just enjoy looking at it and appreciating the life it lived to get to me.’
After sharing the transformation on TikTok, one viewer said they thought it was a Pattern by Jessica McClintock, although I couldn’t find the pattern online.
Viewers following the event loved the sustainable journey, calling the dress “beautiful, classic and timeless” and comparing it to the dress Aurora wore in Sleeping Beauty.
There was no tag on the bag of clothes, but Adrian would love to find the original owner and said: “Knowing the journey it took to get to me would just make it that much more special.”
