The Flatiron Building is Atlanta’s oldest standing skyscraper, a triangular oddity and symbol of the city’s turn of the century emergence.

It’s no ordinary building. Anne Barge Clegg was no ordinary bridal designer, and Margaret Mathews was no ordinary bride.

It’s fitting, then, that their story begins in that sliver of land wedged between Peachtree and Broad, a most unusual launching spot for a new bridal line that would eventually be known around the world.

Clegg was 50 when she set out on her own after nearly two decades as a retailer, setting up a modest, temporary office inside the Flatiron Building.

“We didn’t even have a fitting room,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mathews was 40 when she fell in love with a well-connected political consultant named Terry. Engaged in February 2000, with a wedding set for August, she needed a dress. 

Terry introduced Margaret to his friend, Stella Williams Bailey, who knew exactly who to call: her childhood friend from Cordele, Anne, who had just launched her own label.

The three of them met in the Flatiron Building one day in May. 

“There was a tiny mirror that looked like it came from Walmart, maybe the Dollar Tree,” Bailey said, laughing. “We had to prop it up.”

Mathews wanted something elegant and sophisticated. Almost immediately, Clegg pulled out an elegant A-line dress with intricate beading and sequins. 

“There was no question this was the dress,” Mathews said. “It was just so absolutely beautiful. It was like being Cinderella.”

Just a few months later, at St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Atlanta, Mathews walked down the aisle as possibly the first bride to wear an Anne Barge dress. Thousands more would follow.

Instant bond

The Cinderella reference is fitting, considering Mathews describes her own journey to marriage as a “fairy tale.” By the time she met Terry at a party in 1998, most of Mathews’ friends were married with kids.

“We started talking and everybody said we kind of forgot what was going on at the party,” she said, laughing. “It was just kind of an instant bond.”

Within a year, Mathews moved from Waycross to Atlanta to be closer to Terry. About a month after Terry proposed, he introduced Mathews to his friend Bailey, a vivacious political consultant, career coach and wedding director.

Both natives of South Georgia, Mathews and Bailey had plenty in common, including being graduates of the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

“We instantly became friends,” Mathews said. “She started calling me her sister.”

Bailey volunteered to direct the wedding, leaving just the matter of the dress. Having already delivered “hundreds” of brides to her friend Anne over the years, that part of the wedding planning was settled just as quickly.

“Anne always said she wants the bride to feel very, very special,” Bailey said. “And I just love networking and putting people together, so it gave me a chance to participate. I loved it. I felt like I was helping the bride and helping Anne.”

While Clegg had not yet moved across town to a showroom at the luxurious Four Seasons when Mathews showed up, her commitment to creating a personal touch for brides was already a hallmark from her years as a shop owner.

“I really tried to make every girl feel like she was the most beautiful she could possibly be,” Clegg said. “It’s the one dress they’ll never forget and their picture’s on their mother’s mantle forever.”

‘A storybook wedding’

Clegg’s friend and celebrated photographer Denis Reggie took Mathews’ bridal portraits. Bailey directed the wedding, which Clegg attended.

“It was beautiful and fabulous,” Bailey said. “Just a storybook wedding.”

Clegg sold the label to longtime employee Shawne Jacobs in 2014, and it still enjoys international acclaim for its “modern classical” aesthetic.

Clegg remains active in retirement. One of her philanthropic efforts included donating several dresses and other materials from her career to the FACS historic clothing and textile collection, now named in her honor. 

The gift to their alma mater has special meaning for Mathews and Bailey.

“We’re very, very proud that she’s got that kind of involvement with our college,” Bailey said. “That’s just really cool.”

Now more than two decades since that spring afternoon in downtown Atlanta, Mathews, a bride at 40, still marvels at the path her life has taken.

“The interesting thing is they were these lifelong friends,” she said, “and then I came along and they just took me right in as their little sister.”