Here Come the Brides : In Styles Not Wedded to Convention
Picture these unusual scenes from modern weddings--and don’t worry that you’ve fallen through the looking glass:
A sweet, young bride walks down the aisle wearing a traditional wedding gown--except that it’s backless, or at least it bares her shoulders.
A career woman marrying for the first time dresses in a fantasy of white marabou feathers--even though she’s 35 years old.
A stylish grandmother chooses a suit for her third wedding. It’s short, tight and white.
Unconventional brides are shocking the starch out of the traditional wedding dress code. And it’s particularly apparent in the wedding fashion news for spring. Among the unexpected trends, shades of white are now favored for brides of all ages, no matter how many times they’ve been married. (Rules of etiquette once dictated that older or second-time brides only wear pastels.)
As for shapes and silhouettes, fantasy gowns are the leading look, with cathedral trains, sweeping veils and details that recall medieval maidens, ‘20s flappers, blonde-with-pearls socialites, even classy showgirls.
By the way, the median age for all brides is now 27 years, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. And this year, in 40% of all weddings, at least one partner will not be marrying for the first time. Changes in the profile of the modern bride are causing big changes in the wedding party. It isn’t unusual for a mother to walk her daughter down the aisle if a father or father figure cannot. An older groom will ask his son to be his best man. And a daughter will act as matron of honor at her own mother’s wedding.
This free-spirited approach is having a bold effect on bridal fashion. Even for small, informal weddings, dresses have a new look. Most often short, they don’t cut short the personality. Designers are showing a wide variety of colors, including white, with ruffles, overskirts, tight torsos, fitted jackets--a full range of high-fashion details. Fabrics such as chiffon and organza are featured to emphasize a soft silhouette.
“There have never been more choices,” notes Barbara Tober, editor in chief of Bride’s magazine, after reviewing a spate of spring wedding fashion shows. Tober also oversees a massive, annual survey of trends in weddings.
Above all, she finds, “brides, especially older brides, want dresses that reflect their personality, whether it’s romantic or citified. Even if you’re 30 or 35 years old, it doesn’t mean you’ve got to hide behind a barrel.”
Something else is changing the shape of wedding wear: Marriage itself is back in fashion, after close to 30 years on the out list. Indulging every romantic fashion fantasy is just another way of expressing the new mood.
Men seem enthusiastic about all of it, Tober’s research proves. Many of them want to wear wedding bands, and most say that family is more important to them than career. And grooms now help pay for their weddings and receptions, as do many brides.
Despite today’s grand-scale attitude, most men still seem to prefer traditional attire for their weddings. Bright suspenders sometimes peek out from under black tuxedo jackets, but elegant classics prevail: cutaways for morning weddings, strollers for afternoons and black tuxedos after dark.
Stylist: Claude Deloffre; assistant: Denise Assad; hair: Lorenza Andarza / Giuseppe Franco Salon, Beverly Hills; assistant: Tim Sweeney / Celestine-Cloutier; makeup: Jeffrey Beaton / Celestine-Cloutier; assistant: Kim Carrillo / Celestine-Cloutier; flowers: Chris Slack / Chris Slack Flower Artist, Los Angeles; models: Sheri Congdon / Nina Blanchard, Elizabeth Newborn / Wilhelmina West, Meg Haskell / Elite, Robyn Sumners / Click, Daniela and Mirka Tuveri / Prima, Tom Grenon / Click, John Rice / Cunningham, Jon David Gepp / Company, Peter Murnik / Click. Photographed at Our Saviour Episcopal Church, San Gabriel.
