Feature
The Non-Traditional Bride
Colette Smith
There is a new bridal culture ripping itself from tradition’s tight clasp though. This sub-culture (for lack of a better term) includes pockets on dresses, short dresses with a long chiffon train, layered gowns for the Marie Antoinette look. The various non-traditional gowns are beginning to reflect individual personality and evolving tastes. Some attribute it to the unknown that is found in the term Generation-Y, but that unknown was also part of Generation-x. The x’s and y’s may be crossing paths.
Bridal gowns are now seen as less of a reflection of tradition and more of personality. One of bridal designers Edgardo Bonilla’s gowns include material made from denim with an overall strap and pockets on the back and to the side of the dress pictured to the top left.
Another gown featured at online store (yes the shopping has gone online) are the strapless a-line designs being sold at bridalchalet.com that’s less convention and more unorthodox. While there’s nothing new about strapless a-line gowns, the designers go out of their way to create a look that is not duplicate of anything anywhere and more an original one-of a kind gown. The accents are not what one would see as close as 10 years ago. Designers are using feathers in headpieces to give a couture look to the once standard bride. Other accents on the gown itself include jewelry, bedazzler items and even floral prints. (see photo to the right)
Why is the industry going to the left? Wedding stylist Emma Jones offers up this perspective: “women see the photos of their mothers in gowns from years ago and although they are sentimental and love their mothers, they don’t necessarily want to look like thier mothers.” She continues, “In extreme cases, I see women taking wedding gowns and making them into mini-skirts with long trains. There are also women who don’t want the muss and fuss of a long train so they wear a slinky dress with the slightest of tails.”
Wedding stylist Cindy Trovato states that “there is no standard anymore. you can wear your wedding dress with white sneakers if your heart so desires…my last wedding featured a woman wearing silver ringlets around her waist as an accent.”
The advent of online shopping has made picking out a dress an easier endeavour as well. Sites like Theknot.com and wedalert.com gives brides to be the ability to look for wedding dresses and select one from hundreds of retailers. They provide trend reports, items of interest and planning help. Although ordering online is still taboo for some women looking for the perfect wedding dress, Kleinfeld’s (a family operated business out of New York City) reports that they get hundreds of thousands of visitors monthly who are ready to buy dresses off of their site (though they do not accept complete online orders.)
Where is the future of non-traditional wedding gows headed? The seasons are cyclical and fashion falls into the cyclical pattern. The non-raditional gowns may one day become tradional and designers may begin to push the envelope again if they begin to feel cretive.
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