Lucy Can’t Dance – Made to measure for the future of the bridal-wear industry
Ran from a small tropical studio in the heart of Chelmsford, Lucy Roe, owner of alternative bridal wear business Lucy Can’t Dance, sought support from business support service Backing Essex Business to navigate the post-pandemic wedding industry.
A breath of fresh air and a pop of colour, Lucy Can’t Dance creates alternative bridalwear with a retro twist – taking inspiration from the 60s/70s, dresses from Lucy Can’t Dance are handmade, and are full customisable to suit each individual bride’s personality and style.
Each dress is lovingly
handmade from scratch in our tropical little studio by our small team of 5.
Every dress is handmade especially for our brides, and we pride ourselves in taking extra special care with every one of our dresses.”
Eat, Drink, Dance
Always experimenting with funky styles and colours, Lucy Can’t Dance puts inclusivity at its heart. Stocking sizes up to UK Size 26, Lucy’s motto is ‘Eat, Drink, Dance’ – and strives to make brides feel amazing and comfortable on their wedding day, in a dress that reflects their personality.
““We believe that every bride deserves to look and feel amazing on their wedding day. For this reason, we can make a wedding dress in any size and offer a “made to measure” service to ensure a perfect fit.
All of our dresses can be altered to suit the bride’s individual style and shape. We can alter sleeve lengths, necklines, backs, laces, dress length, skirt fullness and much more. Our brand is about making brides feel like the very best version of themselves!””
Something new, and something blue!
From her mum’s spare room to now owning her store in Chelmsford, Lucy Roe had never imagined herself creating bridalwear. After starting her career in a dressmakers shop who were seeking out interns, she fell in love with pattern cutting and creating her own everyday pieces, and turning her love of vintage style into her own collection.
Come 2015, after creating a dress for a photoshoot, she had the honour of making a bespoke dress for a friends wedding – and Lucy Can’t Dance blossomed.
“Breaking away from the traditional mould of bridal wear, these are dresses designed to eat, drink and dance the whole night away in.”
From that first dress, it was evident that Lucy Can’t Dance filled a previously unfilled gap in the wedding industry. Brides wanting a dress that reflected them was ‘in’ – and here to stay. As interest grew, so did the repertoire of Lucy Can’t Dance - from ombre styles of dyeing dresses whatever colour fit their theme or personality, to funky veils and 2-in-1 pieces that could transition from ceremony to reception.
““It’s such an amazing feeling. Brides come in and you get to make them feel good, then you get to see their lovely wedding photos. Just that feeling alone is worth it.””
Turning heads an understatement, Lucy Can’t Dance won a grant from The Prince’s Trust in 2016 based on her plan for the business and new designs. With the grant and a loan, Lucy had the funds to support the launch of her first bridal wear collection – which was an instant success. Fast forward to 2023, Lucy Can’t Dance has gained momentum and has been in several publications and television features – Vogue, Rock & Roll Bride, Channel4 and Rock My Wedding to name a few.
Continuing to grow the business, 2019 saw Lucy Can’t Dance move into its home in Chelmsford. A tropical pink and neon heaven, the studio exuded the fun and personality of the brand, catering to non-traditional brides and wedding-goers.
A changed industry
The arrival of COVID-19, like much of the wedding industry, brought difficult times for Lucy Can’t Dance. Adapting to the times, Lucy and the team conducted wedding dress showings and fittings over Zoom, but with weddings and events called to a standstill with social distancing measures in place, there was only so much that could be done.
““We were closed for 6 months during the pandemic. We had 6 employees to look after too, and I had a baby, so it’s been a very interesting couple of years!””
Post lockdowns, the wedding industry was playing catch-up to make up for lost time. Lucy and the team were working overtime to get dresses made and serve brides that had had postponed and cancelled weddings, as well as those planning them.
The pandemic had meant a changed industry, where the future was uncertain – attitudes towards having a costly wedding had changed, in addition to financial hardship felt across the UK with a rise in the cost of living. Rises in energy costs meant that customers for every industry felt the pinch, while businesses struggled with a subsequent loss of sales and rising operational costs.
Lucy Can’t Dance had the same challenge. To secure the future of the business, Lucy sought support from local organisations to see if there was any funding available or practical help that could see the business through the tough times.
“It’s a scary time to have a business but everyone is in the same boat, hopefully we can get up to the same level as pre-covid or better. The wedding industry got hit big time.”
Lucy was referred to Backing Essex Business, a business support service fully funded by Essex County Council, to find out about the options for her business. Put in touch with Business Manager Robert Laurie, she was able to receive expert advice on how to prepare and navigate the business for the times ahead.
““Robert was good. It was good to just chat to someone and offload. He helped me go through all the cash flow and see where the monthly payments were so we could prepare for the winter energy prices going up, as well as anything we could get rid of monthly to make payments a bit easier, and helping us to tie off any loose ends with debts etc.
It really helped to look at the cashflow and see what we needed to take in each month.” ”
As for the future of Lucy Can’t Dance, this year is looking promising. With COVID in the rear-view mirror and the postponed weddings from 2020/2021 out of the way, it’s hoped that the industry might settle into a ‘new normal’, which might also lead to more and more people turning to a bridalwear brand that really reflects their personality and style – which will hopefully mean we see more of Lucy Can’t Dance in the future!
Find out more about Lucy Can’t Dance - https://lucycantdance.com/
