About the Dress

Original Karen Willis Holmes Anya Gown, size 6 US/10 AU, worn for my New York City wedding. This was the most exquisite dress I'd ever seen. It was a dream to wear- shimmery, elegant, lightweight for a sequin gown, and extremely comfortable. The lining has a nice stretch to it, which makes it easy to move around- also makes it adaptable to many figures. The Anya gown comes with a removable belt, which ties seamlessly into any one of the KWH overlays. (I wore the Genevieve overlay- second to last image- no longer available for sale.) Note that the gown's train has been altered to a shorter (chapel train) length.

Details from Karen Willis Holmes Website:

Anya Gown: $2890 USD
Anya is the ultimate sequin wedding gown. She is iconic to KAREN WILLIS HOLMES and boasts minimal elegance. Delicate spaghetti straps and a completely beaded and sequinned bias skirt give you a stunning form-fitting shape. Anya makes for an incredible reception gown too and the perfect gown to shorten after your wedding. Finished with a fine beaded belt.

- Designed & finished in Australia and hand beaded in India
- Available in Ivory only
- Fully lined with stretch lining
- Stretch fit with centre back zip closure

The fit of this dress is that it looks like a tailored wedding dress, but by beading the sequins onto the bias cut skirt, these dresses have flexibility in the fit and will accommodate many different body shapes. Because of the flexibility of the fit, this should reduce the amount of alteration work required to fit the dress to your liking. Due to the weight of the sequin, this allows the dress to skim the body in a figure flattering way.

*Many more pictures of this gown and the various overlay options - both on models, and on real brides- are available on the Karen Willis Holmes website. All pictures in this listing (except for the last two) are of the actual dress for sale.

Since our wedding was in NYC, I had the gown's train altered to a chapel length so that it was easier to move around in. It still had a train effect, but was much more manageable to enjoy the day. I also had a French bustle installed for dancing. I added removable bust pads, but ended up taking them out for my wedding day. The spaghetti straps were shortened slightly (the original length of the straps was saved inside the seams of the dress, so if you need to take them out again, you can). I also had the straps reinforced at the base (to handle dancing, hugging family, etc) and the length altered to my height: I was approximately 5 feet 4.25 inches (163.2 cm) in my heels.

*Note that Karen Willis Holmes now makes an additional version of this dress as the "Anya Mini" - if you're looking for the shorter length version, this could easily be altered into the "mini" form.

Alterations

Dress altered to my height, train altered to a chapel length, French bustle installed for dancing, bust pads added (but decided to remove them for the big day), straps reinforced at the base and shortened slightly.

Note: There is a slight discoloration to the underside of the lower part of the train and the underskirt. It is largely not noticeable unless you look under the gown (The fifth image shows the train today, at chapel length, as I am standing on a stair in good lighting). There are also some sequins missing towards the bottom of the gown- also not noticeable, but easily could be replaced. In order to best preserve the sequins, the dress has been hand cleaned. My pricing has been reduced to reflect these issues. Otherwise, there is no damage.

I am more than happy to answer questions and send more pictures if interested. I am also open to minor negotiations on price.