Skip to main content

Jillian Fellers

By

Jillian Fellers spent the morning steaming dresses after traveling to New York’s Bridal Fashion Week.

It’s easy to tell that Jillian is comfortable when she’s surrounded by her gowns. How could she not be? They’re elegant and romantic silhouettes made of imported lace and silk, sewn together in a detailed and yet gorgeously simplistic way.

It’s her work, her creation and something she never really expected to be doing. She’s the owner of Jillian Fellers Bridal, and having her name on the sign and her own branded business cards is still a bit of a shock to Jillian.

Like a lot of South Dakota country kids, Jillian said she grew up in 4-H. Her mom taught her the basics of sewing so she gravitated toward sewing projects, showing off her skills at county and state fairs.

In high school, Jillian helped the costume manager by sorting and fitting costumes for the drama performances, building on her basic skills before heading off to college at UNL. She wanted to work in the fashion industry and was confident that getting a textiles and design degree would help her do just that.

It was a big step. Jillian is the oldest child in her family and was the first to leave home, and pursuing a fashion degree seemed a little risky. She soaked up all she could in school, learning the finer points of fashion, sewing and design.

Jillian also met her husband while she was in college and the two got married while she finished up school. They lived downtown in a small condo where there was no room for her sewing materials, so she rented out a space to do custom sewing. She had an ad printed in the yellow pages and started taking orders for projects, the bulk of which ended up being prom, bridesmaids and bridal dresses.

Jillian was especially drawn to the intricate details of bridal gowns and loved getting to talk with brides about their ideal dresses. There was just something so special and personal about working on a custom design.

While things were going well for Jillian, she took a step back from her studio from 2008. She wanted to be a stay at home mom to her two young boys, but she also wanted to keep her hand in the fashion world.

She started an Etsy shop to sell some small accessories, but for the most part she was in full-time mommy mode. Jillian said she liked to work in a quick design over nap time or in the evenings when her boys were asleep, but the break was a good breather for her.

In 2012, a friend asked her if she’d ever consider showing a line of dresses as part of Omaha Fashion Week. Jillian hadn’t really considered ever doing this, but thought it might be worth a try. She spent the next six months designing dresses to show at the spring fashion week. It was thrilling to be back in the world of fashion again, but it was also a lot to take on all at once. Turing around 6-8 dresses in just a few months with two young boys was no small task. There was designing, ordering, fitting and styling that all needed to be done for the show.

But somehow it all worked out and Jillian watched her dresses walk the runway at Omaha Fashion Week. Six months later she was back for the fall fashion show with another set of dresses that she’d whipped up in record time.

From there, things moved forward slowly. Jillian moved her sewing machine from her living room table to the basement of her house and eventually she outgrew her basement and moved into a studio. She was contacted by stores from around the country and asked to do trunk shows and send out samples of her gowns. Jillian started selling online, doing collaborative photo shoots, receiving a lot of positive press and was mentioned on some notable wedding blogs.

The whole thing seemed a little unreal. After all, Jillian said, she’s just a one-woman shop. But now, she’s a one-woman shop that’s about to release her fourth collection of wedding dresses and start in on designs for her fifth.

It’s been quite the adventure, for both Jillian and her family. The whole work-life-balance thing is hard, she admitted, but she does her best. She tries to be present when she’s at home and keep work in her studio, but the reality is that’s not the way it always works out.

There are deadlines, missed birthdays and last minute trips that need to be made, but that’s part of running a small business. Her name might be the one associated with Jillian Fellers Bridal, but she has lots of people cheering her on behind the scenes, namely her husband and her two sons.

Jillian’s story is a lot like her dress designing process – it’s ever-changing. The early sketches and inspirations evolve with each step and most of the time the end product looks nothing like Jillian had intended – it’s even better.

Close Menu
Follow along and be the first to know about our work, story series and general happenings.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.