A Mother Spent 31 Years Sewing Dresses for Her Daughter, Including the One She Wore Down the Aisle (Exclusive)
- - A Mother Spent 31 Years Sewing Dresses for Her Daughter, Including the One She Wore Down the Aisle (Exclusive)
Ashley VegaNovember 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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Eloise Glover; Katy Durn
Eloise Glover; Eloise and her mother Jennifer Shepherd -
Eloise Glover's viral TikTok shows the dresses her mom has made for her over 31 years — ending with her handmade wedding gown
Jennifer Shepherd, a lifelong dressmaker, says creating her daughter’s gown was “the privilege of my life”
The mother-daughter duo’s creative bond has inspired thousands online to celebrate family traditions and craftsmanship
Under the warm backyard lights on her wedding day, Eloise Glover slipped into a silk gown that carried more than just memories — it carried three decades of her mother’s love, stitched into every fold.
The dress wasn’t bought from a boutique or borrowed from a bridal rack; it was the final masterpiece in a lifelong collaboration between mother and daughter, 31 years in the making.
When Glover posted her story to TikTok — a short video celebrating all the dresses her mother had sewn for her, from her baby bonnet to her wedding gown — the internet swooned. “My mum has been making me dresses for 31 years,” she wrote in the now-viral clip, “and then she made my wedding dress.”
For Glover, clothes have always meant connection. “My mum has been making dresses for me since I was born,” Glover tells PEOPLE. “So naturally, we’d spoken about my wedding dress before — but as anyone who’s been married knows, you never go with what you thought when you [would at] 14.”
The wedding came together quickly after she and her partner bought a home and decided to host their ceremony in the backyard. “I was so excited I sent save-the-dates before we’d even settled,” she says with a laugh. “And then I immediately called Mum.”
That call sparked a months-long creative exchange across time zones. “She lives on the other side of the country in Western Australia, so the ideation process began with sending references back and forth,” Glover says. “I was in LA for work and tried some designer gowns, but nothing quite felt like me.”
Instead, she started with color and texture, not tradition. “I knew I didn’t want pure white,” Glover shares. “I wanted an organic texture.”
Her mother knew exactly what that meant. She sourced silk, tested washes, and hand-stitched the bodice until it looked and felt right. “My mum hand-stitched for 48 hours just to achieve that exact look,” Glover says. “By the end, we barely had to talk — we’d just look at each other and understand the problem.”
Eloise Glover
Eloise and her mom
That quiet understanding had been years in the making. Long before the wedding gown, there were baby outfits, teen dresses and family-portrait ensembles — each one a reflection of their evolving bond.
“I think each of them represents how our relationship has changed,” Glover says. “As a baby, it was all her — she made me giant hats to hide my bald head. By the time I was 16, I chose something dramatic and gothic, and my mum completely let me lead. Now with the wedding dress, it’s become this real collaboration, the most harmonious version of us.”
Jennifer Shepherd has been sewing since childhood, but Glover gave her art a purpose. As Glover grew, so did Shepherd's skill. “When Eloise was about 2 years old, I enrolled in a technical school to learn dressmaking at an industry level,” she says. “It was a three-year course, and my final collection included a wedding gown — I never could’ve imagined then that decades later, I’d be making one for her.”
For Glover, dress-making has always been their shared language. “My mum and I are at our purest form when she’s stabbing me with pins and I’m pulling a face at a neckline,” she says, laughing. “At the time, we were just us. It’s only now, looking back, that I feel emotional — I’m so eternally grateful.”
Their creative process is part design meeting, part sleepover. “We really do just have sleepovers and come up with ideas,” Glover says. “A few white wines, a Pinterest board and a dream.”
“Once we knew the vision for the texture and the shape of the bodice, it just came together,” she explains. “A lot of it was talking and reacting more to ideas than visuals — it was more about a feeling than a silhouette.”
That synergy shows up in every detail. “My mum’s creative vision is all in her head,” Glover says. “And so is mine. We just talk until it’s right.”
One fitting moment still makes her smile. “I had a Pinterest photo of a sleeve I liked and said, ‘That’s it,’ ” she remembers. “When Mum gave me the toile, I said, ‘Double it.’ I’ve always been the eccentric in this duo.”
Eloise Glover
Jennifer Shepherd making Eloise's dress
Shepherd laughs when hearing her daughter retell that story. “Eloise knows what she wants,” she tells PEOPLE. “But that’s what makes sewing for her such a joy. It’s not just about fabric — it’s about watching your child step into who they are.”
Through every stage of life, their collaboration has been about more than clothes. “The dress was a journey that brought us closer together,” Shepherd says softly. “There were many late nights discussing fabrics and styles and life.”
Glover didn’t see her completed wedding gown until six days before the ceremony. “I hadn’t tried the finished garment until then,” she says. “I felt calm, but when I saw Mum’s relief, I started crying.”
The two celebrated that fitting with champagne and laughter. “It wasn’t just a dress,” Glover says. “It was everything we’d built together.”
Shepherd still tears up remembering the moment her daughter walked down the aisle. “Watching Eloise walk down the aisle was very emotional,” she tells PEOPLE. “After all the discussions and fittings, it felt like every stitch had led to that.”
Eloise Glover
Eloise in her bachelorette dress
The viral TikTok captured snippets of that legacy — Glover as a 1-year-old in a bonnet her mother made to hide her bald head, a teenager in a gothic-inspired ballgown and finally a bride in hand-textured silk. “Seeing those moments side by side made me realize just how lucky I am,” Glover says. “People were sharing stories about their own moms, and it made me appreciate what we’ve built together.”
“Growing up with Mum’s craftsmanship taught me to value the time and emotion behind clothes,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s made me appreciate that personal style isn’t about trends, it’s about intention.”
Her mother’s influence has shaped not just her wardrobe but her worldview. “I’ve seen both the fast fashion cycle and the artistry of considered design,” she says. “Watching Mum create everything by hand taught me to value quality and longevity — she’s made so many timeless pieces that I still adore.”
Shepherd's creativity also modeled resilience. “I was a single parent when I went back to school for dressmaking,” she recalls. “Balancing motherhood and study wasn’t easy, but it gave me a career and a connection to Eloise that’s lasted her whole life.”
For all her accomplishments, Shepherd remains modest. “I wasn’t sure she’d want me to make her wedding dress,” she admits with a laugh. “When she asked, I was overjoyed but terrified — I just wanted her to be 100% happy.”
Katy Durn
Eloise and her mother, Jennifer
When Glover cried at her final fitting, Shepherd knew she’d succeeded. “That’s when I knew it was perfect,” she says. “Every bit of effort had been worth it.” Glover smiles at her mother’s humility. “That’s not true,” she says. “She’s the most talented woman I know.”
In the months since the video went viral, messages have poured in from people who see their own mothers in Shepherd. “It’s made me so proud of her,” Glover says. “She’s so resilient, so creative — I aspire to be half the mum she is to me.”
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For Shepherd, the feeling is mutual. “Having a little girl gave me the opportunity to create to my heart’s content,” she says. “But watching her wear those creations — that’s been the privilege of my life.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
