Although most wedding-gown retailers wish it were otherwise, women don`t as a rule flip through the pages of a glossy bridal magazine and exclaim: ”My god, the dresses are gorgeous this season. I really must get married.”
To some observers, that`s proof that the Big White Dress exists in its own alternative universe. And they`re partly right, says Rachel Leonard, fashion editor for Bride`s and Your New Home.
”The wedding gown is one of the most meaningful, most symbolic garments a woman will ever buy,” Leonard says. ”You want to appear timeless. You don`t want to look back at your pictures years from now and say, `Ugh, I looked like 19-whatever.` ”
Although you can`t expect to see any formal brides in plaid this spring, there are two striking similarities between wedding gown design and what has been happening to the rest of fashion:
Simplicity. Fewer brides will resemble crystal chandeliers this spring. Although bridalwear may not be as rudderless as mainstream fashion, it, too, is scrapping elaborate details and emphasizing clean lines.
”At the shows, I saw gowns getting smaller and smaller,” says Julie Nagel, the buyer for Margies, the largest bridal retailer in the Midwest.
”Everybody`s scaled down their sleeves and their trains.”
You won`t find ”a bit of lace” anywhere on Christian Dior wedding gowns, boasts Bonnie Temperly, vice president of sales for Alfred Angelo, which holds the license for the couture label. ”It`s been very well received,” she adds. ”Women want dresses that don`t carry all that razzmatazz.”
Those designers who haven`t banished lace and beading are exercising more restraint-instead of overloading the dress, they may dot or trim the bodice, sleeves, skirt or hem. Beadwork is ”more controlled, more like jewelry,”
Leonard says.
This moderation has also created a taste for the finer things: When lace is used, it is often the heavier and costlier guipure, Venetian or Battenburg- all if which, not coincidentally, have turned up in lingerie-look evening wear. The standard Alencon is often embellished with gold and silver thread. And more dresses are being made entirely of pure, textured silks like brocades.
The second similarity to mainstream fashion is femininity. Overall, the wedding dress has become so light and airy that it seems appropriate to retitle the traditional wedding march, ”Here Comes the Ballerina.”
There are ultrawomanly looks with nipped-in waists and full, flaring skirts. Organza has floated over from ready-to-wear and evening wear collections and can be found in bridal sleeves as well as over bodices and skirts.
”Designers are trying to get away from all the tried and true looks,”
Nagel says. ”They want something fresh and springlike.”
A few designers are even showing-gasp!-real spring pastels on bridal gowns, mostly in sashes, ribbon work or other detailing. But bridalwear mavens think the idea of color on a gown-other than a pale blush or frost pink-is still so shocking that it`s being used mostly for label image.
”Even the forward bride doesn`t want to be that far out from tradition,” says Donna Gervase, store manager for Exclusives for the Bride.
Some designers are hedging their bets, not unlike their counterparts who show runway skirts at mid-thigh and then ship a few inches above the knee. Scaasi, for example, is offering the multicolored beaded gown pictured on the next page in an all-white version.
And with femininity rampant, floral motifs are blossoming: in lace and bead patterns, appliques and dimensional flowers on shoulders and neckline. It was once common to find a large bow at the back of the bride`s waist. Now there is often a lavish floral bustle. ”The girls go crazy over it,” Leonard says.
It should come as no surprise that all the bridal experts think it`s a great time to be a shopping bride-to-be. But there really is more than mere industry boosterism in their enthusiasm.
With top designers entering the field, couture styling is filtering down to moderately priced gowns. In other words, says Gervase, brides are getting better design for their money.
