Inside Tab Vintage: Alexis Novak on Filipino Heritage and the Art of Vintage Bridalwear

In an industry known for excess, Alexis Novak offers an alternative: vintage gowns restored with care and rich in history. Through Tab Vintage, she brings sustainability and soul to bridal fashion.

Alexis Novak’s red hair might not give it away, but she’s quick to affirm, “being Filipino is a part of me.” The founder of Tab Vintage, a Los Angeles-based boutique known for sourcing rare archival designer pieces worn by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Amal Clooney, and Kendall Jenner, is one-quarter Filipino. Her mother was born in the Philippines, and her great-grandmother came from Pampanga in Central Luzon. It’s a culture she holds close, especially for the values it imparts. “I love the bayanihan spirit. The idea that alone you cannot move an entire house, but with the support of the community it can be done very quickly. It’s a metaphor I think that applies to a lot of elements of life.”

That spirit: collaborative, resourceful, and inherently powerful, runs through everything Novak touches, especially her highly sought-after vintage bridal collection. Launched after her own search for a dress came up short ahead of her wedding to Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine, Novak began curating a small bridal edit out of her home. “I got married two years ago, and I had already started Tab Vintage. I sourced dresses all day long, and I was having trouble finding a dress, a vintage dress for myself,” she shares. “There were a few options out there to try on vintage dresses, but not too many. And so I thought, maybe I’ll do a small edit and just see what people think of it.”

That debut drop sold out in no time. “I converted my dining room into a showroom for a little while…I’ll do a little bridal pop-up, and that sold out literally in like two seconds.” The response convinced her to make it a permanent part of the brand. “It’s become a pillar of our business. Now people come from all over to come to the studio and see our bridal offering.” 

“What you think of a traditional bridal gown didn’t speak to me,” she says. “I didn’t want what you would think of as the gorgeous cupcake, which is gorgeous when other people wear it. And it’s their sensibility. I love it as a person who’s at the wedding to see it. But for me personally, that wasn’t really who I am. I’m a little bit more understated than that. And I tried to infuse that in the bridal collection.” Her selection includes designers like Azzedine Alaïa, Prada, Yohji Yamamoto, Celine, Chanel, and Versace, all reimagined as options for the contemporary bride. 

“Maybe it’s a white Galliano slip dress that went down the runway. Someone could wear it to the red carpet. But it also could be a really elegant option for a bride as well.” Even her own wedding look embodied this approach “I got married on Valentine’s Day. And so I wore a sort of ivory off-white 1930s dress to the ceremony. For the after party, I wore a red Halston dress. And then I made a pink veil out of this Dries Van Noten tulle that I had.” 

Each piece in her bridal collection is discovered with care. “There’s nowhere I won’t look for vintage bridal,” she says. “It’s online. I am constantly looking at all the selling platforms: eBay, Poshmark. And then estate sales, auctions. I’ll travel all around and go to different consignment shops.” With time, more people began bringing dresses directly to her. “People will say, ‘oh, you know, my mom has this dress.’ Or ‘I wore my wedding dress and now I want to give it another life.’ And so that’s another avenue that we have access to that’s really exciting.” 

Once a garment arrives, Novak studies it like a relic. “Everything I source has to evoke a feeling. It’s instinctual, I’ll look at something and think, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’” That instinct is followed by cleaning, mending, and deep historical research. “We clean every single piece that comes to us. We work with tailors to make sure that all the beading and everything is all as pristine as it can be. And then from there we do meticulous research. That’s one of my favourite parts. It’s like Nancy Drew. I get to solve a mystery in a way by investigating the piece.” 

She recalls an extraordinary moment when a woman who had worked for Vivienne Westwood got in touch. “She said, ‘I have loads of things, but I can’t send you pictures. I’m not going to list them online. I’m very busy.’” Novak was invited to her home in Manchester, a story she later shared with Jasmina on TikTok. “She had an entire room full of all of this vintage Vivienne Westwood that was from people who used to work [with her]. And one of which was that bridal set with the veil.”

The corset had been worn by a bride in 1994, and had been altered by Vivienne herself. “She herself had put the sleeves on the corset. So this long-sleeved corset wasn’t designed. It went sleeveless on the runway. And then she added the sleeves to it. It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it.” Her response was to buy an additional suitcase from the high street retailer Primark, acquiring a large portion of the private collection.

Another prized piece is a white Madame Grès from 1953. “It did have some yellowing over time, but we worked with this company that does restoration, we did chalking on it, made it look good.” Novak believes that part of the rise in vintage bridalwear is due to the saturation of fast trend cycles. “With the access of the internet, where everything is just at our fingertips, and we just see so much of everything. It’s taking away our individuality or creativity. Trends are on steroids.” Vintage offers something timeless and singular. “I think the individuality is where you’re not going to be wearing something that someone else is getting married in the same season.”

It is also a more sustainable option. “The wedding dress industry does create waste in the fact that they create these big, huge dresses and then people wear them once and they go into storage.” Tab Vintage bridges the gap between sustainability and luxury. “People wouldn’t shop vintage, especially for like the biggest day of their life… because you wouldn’t want to go into a shop and it’s smelly and there’s holes or there’s random stains.” Novak’s goal is to remove those barriers. “I was hoping to remove [them] so people could have the same experience that they would have at a luxury store, but it’s all vintage.” 

Brides are welcome to try on dresses in the studio by appointment, and though most prefer fittings, some take a leap of faith online. “We put detailed measurements of the entire garment so that people can compare. But it’s still, I was so impressed.” One bride bought a wedding dress outright from the website and worked with her tailor to perfect the fit. “It turned out beautiful.” Novak also keeps a ‘tab’ on modern designers whose work may become tomorrow’s heirlooms. “Danielle Frankel comes to mind, she feels like our generation’s version of what Vera Wang was in the ’90s.”

As for Novak, the work remains deeply personal. She estimates she has dressed over thirty brides to date, and treasures the photos that arrive months later. “These gorgeous pictures emerge of them in the dress, having the best time. And that’s what makes it so much fun.” With each gown, Alexis Novak continues to build something greater than a collection. It is a space of memory, cultural pride, and personal expression. “I wanted to take time to clean everything, to make sure that it is super fresh, curated and clean. And then people can just relax and enjoy the offering and pick out something that speaks to them.”