FASHION : Romancing the Old West : Wedding attire is attracting a ‘fringe element’ ranging from jeans and tuxedo shirts for men to bouffant gowns for women.
Does Ventura County like Western themes? Are blue jeans blue?
When folks in these parts hold a celebration, they like to add a few country trappings--especially when it comes time to walk down the aisle and tie the knot. The romantic image of the Old West never seems to fade--and weddings bring out the cowpoke in many of us. Especially in the garb.
“They’re wearing their jeans, the black or the blue, a tuxedo shirt, maybe a short tuxedo jacket, the hats. There’s the Western wedding dress with fringe on it, or beaded fringe,” said Jennifer Morton, merchandise manager at The Wharf in Ventura.
That’s the informal look. Then there’s formal Western style. Both looks have spread from horse country to urban America--enough so that the wedding industry is turning out attire worthy of bang-up Bonanza-style nuptials.
There’s a Western tuxedo. Lord West, the nation’s largest men’s formal wear company, has come out with special jackets to meet the demand: a waistcoat with or without Wyatt Earp-style tails, and a full-length cutaway style, called respectively, the Sundance and the Laredo.
They sell and rent mostly in the Southwest, but the Midwest likes them, and even the East wants a few, said their marketing director. They make up about 5% of sales nationwide, and the share’s growing.
A California wedding gown designer, Loralie Originals, makes about five gowns that fit the Western theme, particularly bouffant styles with puffed sleeves, ruffles and lace and “pickups” on the skirt. These dresses double as the “Southern belle” style in other parts of the country, a spokeswoman said.
Victorian gowns fit the theme too, said Diana Lunde, owner of Fancy Things Boutique in Ventura. Also, a gown with an “up and down” skirt (shorter in front) is popular for a Western look. “It looks really good with the granny boots,” she said.
Lunde also sees the trend building. “The companies have discovered that there’s a need, so this year they’re coming out with all of the cute things,” she said.
To extend the motif, there are a number of sites in the county that lend themselves to outdoor ranch-style weddings, and there’s at least one horse-drawn carriage service to bring couples from church to reception in style.
“It adds a little romance,” said Connie Morgan at Morgan Carriage Works in Oak View, where couples choose to ride in a surrey or larger Victoria carriage, “. . . and it shows the bride off better than if they get into a limo.”
Bridal couples add their own touches to the Western theme. When Marcie and John Cook of Camarillo were married in January, the wedding party dressed in black Wranglers, black boots and hats, the bride in a traditional gown with her everyday black cowgirl boots and bridesmaids wore black and silver dance hall dresses.
“Our exit song was Garth Brooks’ ‘Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House,’ ” said Marcie. “We both agreed we wanted something real casual. My husband was raised on a farm and trained horses all his life. He won’t wear tuxedos.”
A month before, Diana and Frank Wissler of Westlake were married Western style--she in a Cinderella gown, he in a Western tux, boots and cowboy hat. Bridal attendants wore floral prints and “acted kind of like can-can girls,” while groomsmen dressed like the groom, wore sheriff’s badges and put on side arms for the reception.
“I didn’t want it to be traditional because traditional gets boring. People have been to a million weddings,” the bride said.
At the end of a barbecue dinner and dance, the couple sped away in a special promotional car borrowed for the occasion.
“It was a white Cadillac with (longhorn) steer horns for the hood ornament. They go across the whole front, “ Diana said.
“It was all silver dollars inside. It’s great. The gear shift is a gun, the door handles are guns. There’s a saddle in the back seat.”
As a final touch: “When you blow the horn, it makes cow sounds and horse sounds.”
And so the couple rode off into the sunset, presumably startling traffic along the way. Just another day in Ventura County, land of the new West.
* COUNTRY ROUNDUP: Country-Western themes gain popularity at area weddings. 12
