Trash The Dress - Fairfield

Fairfield, WA

You might want to check Google maps for it!

It's a charming town full of brick buildings, lively colors and things that have aged beautifully.

Sarah has a great story about this very unique Trash The Dress session, I hope to post it very soon.

Sarah wanted an edgy look: a little antique, a little modern, a lot of fun.

Sarah is definitely full of spunk!
And funk!
And.... uh... did we run out of words?

Hard to know if it gets more beautiful than that lovely face!


Here is Sarah's story....


My name is Sarah Moss, and I had my Trash the Dress session on July 24th, '09. I've never been a terribly photogenic person, usually I am the one either taking the pictures or hiding behind one of my children for the pictures. NEVER do I pose for pics myself. And when I do, I am usually the one making a funny face, or closing my eyes, or morphing into Jaba The Hutt at the last milisecond. Needless to say, a portrait session of all me was not really my cup of tea.

However, when my husband and I got married, I was very overweight, had already had two children, and we had a very simple, downplayed wedding with just a few guests and a tiny reception. The dress I wore was a blue dress that a friend had sewn for me, because traditional white wasnt my cup of tea, all things considered. So I missed out on having nice pictures taken at my wedding! The years following our wedding, I popped out two more kids, back to back, and so most of the photos from the last four years involve me either being hugely pregnant, having just had a baby so I am swollen and red and sweaty, or in the middle of breast feeding, so I have wet stains on my shirt, or a ridiculously large and unattractive chest. So when Nickie asked me if I would like to do a "trash the dress" session, I jumped at the chance! For once, I would have nice pictures of myself that my husband could have in his office and show of with pride...as opposed to shame.

I was nervous, to say the least. First of all, my dress no longer fit. I have lost 35 pounds since marrying my husband (with 37 more to go, mind you), and the blue dress was swimming on me. (Picture me, dancing with joy) This was alright with me, as traditional trash the dress sessions are done with a "bridal" theme, and my blue dress was very non-bridal. I thought about using my traditional gown from my unsuccessful first marriage, but I was incredibly thin back then, and unless wearing the dress on one of my thighs was an option, that particular dress was out. So my friend and I hit the second hand shops! Other than the fact that we were shopping with six kids between us, it was a great experience. There it was....my dress! Five dollars, never worn, satin, ankle length, scoop neck. Perfect. I bought it, and my friend helped me to pair it with a beat up old sweater (to hide my lumpy spots), some heels, fishnets, and a flower for my hair. Essentially, the very non-traditional, funky get up I would have worn if I'd had enough time and money to create the wedding of my dreams to my husband.

Next Nickie asked me to scout out some locations for my pictures. I decided I wanted to do something unorthodox, somewhere sort of run down, dated, aged. I wanted dirt, and rocks, and essentially I wanted a not-so-pretty location, so that I would (in theory) be the "beauty" in the shot. I chose my hometown, Fairfield, which I'd run screaming from 16 years ago. Its an old farming community with train tracks, tractors, fields, old houses, a worn down playground, silo's...you get the drift. When Nickie and I drove out there for the session, I was just sitting in my seat praying that it wouldnt be an awful waste of her time to drive 30 miles out of town to Fairfield for these shots, and that she would "get my vision". And the cool thing was...she DID! The look I wanted was a modernized "old" look. I did very 50's style makeup, with a bright red lip and heavy liner on my top lid, then I had the dress from the 40's, with the stockings, and a flower in my hair. Very old world hollywood-ish. I had my usual hair, with is flippy and spiky and messy, kind of my trademark, and Nickie commented that I looked like someone out of a musical, which was another tone I was trying to set. So I was pleased.

The session was great. I was nervous at first, but Nickie talked me through it. She made me laugh a few times, so all of the smiles in the pictures are completely genuine. And she was very aware of my body placement, because she knew how insecure I felt about my shape, etc. She she was very in tune with my dress and body and how it was looking in each shot. I told her I wanted to get dirty, so at the end of the session, she had her assistant drive the car up and down the road, so as to kick up dust for me to stand in. We went to an over grown cotton wood tree, where we were pretty sure a transient lived, but since he wasnt home at the time, we were able to get some incredible shots in the trees. I just had to let go and follow her direction. Sometimes I felt sort of silly in the positions she had me in, but her vision was on point, as the pictures turned out wonderful. We took some lying on train tracks, which were in the center of town. I could hear cars slowing down to watch, but just ignored it, and it was sort of fun to be completely removed from everything around me. We even found an old, beat up truck in the most amazing color of teal that I posed near. It was awesome! I just felt like that truck meshed so well with my "look".

My outfit turned out great. Wedding gown with non traditional accessories, which is so, totally me! It felt odd to be surrounded by people who were dressed normal, and to be honest, I am fairly used to wearing sweats with a burp cloth on my shoulder all of the time, but I got used to it. After about a half an hour, I felt somewhat comfortable with myself, which is rare. :) It was funny to see some of the randome "small town details" that were really exciting to throw into the shots. There was a dead, mummified frog stuck in a gas pump, some bags and things left behind in my trees by a transient, and a hugely pregnant woman cursing out an overly friendly pit bull. Ahhhh...rural America. Gotta love it.

When I saw the sneak peek of my pictures, I literally gasped. I didnt expect them to be as incredibly vivid and artistic as they were. I told her I wanted "avante gard" and thats what I got! She heightened the color on some of them, and captured the silo's in the background, and they turned out exquisite! I told Nickie this, but never once, in the 17 years I lived there in that small town, did I ever consider it to be a beautiful place. But she has convinced me. It really is a beautiful place! I was almost moved to tears to see my hometown in the background. The cotton wood tree is a place I used to escape to during some rough times as a little girl, and to have captured such incredible shots there...really touched my heart. The park and slide where some of the pics were taken is the very park I played in as a child. The truck I posed near is a truck once owned by my old childhood friends' father. The railroad tracks I posed on were the tracks I would follow for miles and miles out of town as a kid, daydreaming about getting the "heck out of that town". Isnt it funny how I came back for the photo shoot? Like I said, Nickie has sold me. Fairfield is a pretty old town. I will treasure these pics, as will my husband (he likes the one by the truck the best) and my parents (they were tickled to hear I"d chosen Fairfield for my TTD session!) forever. I encourage every woman out there who might not always feel beautiful or desirable, because they are ankle deep in diapers and laundry piles, to dig out their wedding dresses, and have a session for themselves. For about 3 hours that night, I honestly felt.....beautiful!