Simply Romantic
There are wedding dresses--and then there are designer wedding dresses.
The difference? Vast, if it’s a sleekly feminine Badgley Mischka gown vs. a shiny, over-embellished cream puff of a dress. Designers such as Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Badgley Mischka and Jessica McClintock aren’t bound by trends, following instead their personal and unique vision for how brides should look. And it doesn’t include leg-o’-mutton sleeves or 10-foot trains.
If there is any influence of opinion, it is from the customers, whose likes and dislikes can subtly affect a collection. This season, for instance, brides are favoring sleeveless, strapless and short- or cap-sleeve styles; empire waists; luxurious fabrics and finely detailed, yet restrained, embellishments.
Antique Angle / BADGLEY MISCHKA
A hint of nostalgia is what the design team of Mark Badgley and James Mischka bring to their bridal collection.
The two borrowed this crucial element from their ready-to-wear collection and used it in their bridal gowns, done in shades of white, ivory and candlelight.
“We’re very much into an antique look,” says Badgley. “Clothes have a slight vintage feeling--not costumey or retro, but a little bit that adds a touch of glamour.”
That’s not surprising, considering the team’s bridal collection grew out of their evening dresses. Explains Badgley: “We’d do trunk shows and women would say, ‘I’m getting married, I’d love that in white.’ ”
For their wedding dresses this season, “silhouettes have even gotten simpler,” Mischka says. “We love little cap sleeves and open necklines, with really tight [bodices], and the skirts are A-line, so that there’s just a hint of that big bridal skirt. The modern bride loves that silhouette. And we love empire; it looks great on a lot of different body types and has a nice hint of vintage and real dressmaking, and most women aren’t wearing it in their day-to-day lives. It conveys innocence as well.”
While shapes are becoming simplified, fabrics, Mischka notes, “are getting more complex. We’re working with panne velvets, crushed velvet, cut velvet. Satin is still by far the most popular fabric. We’re doing one that looks almost like a hammered satin. And we work with a lot of failles and satin-faced organzas--always double or triple organzas, not that wimpy organza. And we’re adding embroideries, which we think are very important, and antique baroque pearls.”
One thing both Badgley and Mischka agree upon is that their bridal gowns don’t need a veil.
“It’s a controversial thing,” Badgley notes, “but we find more and more that women aren’t wanting veils. I just find it distracting. By the time you’ve got the gown going, and the hairstyle, the shoes and the flowers, you don’t need it. Not wearing a veil is a way of simplifying the silhouette a little.”
A Film Influence / JESSICA McCLINTOCK
Jessica McClintock has been spending a lot of time at the movies lately--and it’s showing up in her bridal collection.
“Probably the Merchant-Ivory films have had a tremendous influence,” she says from her San Francisco studio. “I watch all the young people who come in, and they love those things. They’re missing them and loving them. There definitely is an indelible kind of impression that clothing of that era leaves, and I think younger people relate to it.”
They’ve been relating to McClintock’s Victorian-esque gowns (ranging from $300 to $2,000) featuring corset-shaped bodices--an incredibly popular style since their introduction a few collections ago.
“Every day I come in and say, ‘What kind of new corset are we going to do?’ ”
McClintock, who got her start designing “hippie looking” clothes out of muslin and linen, has certainly evolved her look over the years, without losing her feel for feminine, romantic dresses (First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wore a McClintock wedding dress in 1975). The muslin has been replaced with satins, chiffons, brocades and crepes, the jute trim with elegant embroidered lace.
For spring, bare is the key word--most of her styles are sleeveless, with many variations of corsets, plus cap sleeves and halter-like bodices. McClintock puts the emphasis on the bodice, with cutout lace panels, embroidered illusion and beading. Some skirts are full, while others have a graceful A-line or empire waist with a narrow skirt.
“Knits are also going to be extremely strong,” she adds. “The future is knits, because the American bride wants comfort, but also she wants sexiness--she wants it all.”
Watch for McClintock’s recent moviegoing experience to show up in her fall collection: “I went to see ‘Titanic’ and I was up all night thinking about the movie and sketching. I’m trying to modernize it, take it to the next level, something that would fit a modern woman.”
Accent on Classic / CAROLINA HERRERA
Carolina Herrera believes that less is more when it comes to bridal gowns. Her spring wedding collection includes luxe touches such as re-embroidered lace accented with pearls, and rich fabrics such as silk gazaar and satin-faced organza. Silhouettes range from billowy chiffon skirts to empire waists and A-line shapes, the variations a nod to varying tastes as well as different body types.
When it comes to designing gowns, Herrera believes “there shouldn’t be trends in bridal. It’s a very classic way of dressing. It has to be demure and innocent, and it cannot be very sexy, because then it’s not bridal--not all that decollete.”
Despite her distaste for trends, Herrera concedes “you have to try new ways and new ideas; they just cannot be so drastic.”
This season that translates into sleeveless and strapless dresses--paired with little jackets that can be removed for the reception.
Herrera also believes in adding what she calls “luxury details” to her gowns: “embroidery on the inside of the skirt, something that makes the bride feel very special. It’s a nice thing to do.”
To veil or not to veil? Veil, says Herrera, who outfitted Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg on her wedding day.
“I think they’re so beautiful. It finishes the look, whether it’s long or in tiers. They make the girl look so romantic.”
Simply Romantic / VERA WANG
Vera Wang’s spring bridal collection diverges into two distinct looks: British monarchy-inspired styles and dresses infused with an East Indian feeling.
“I based one part on a lot of the European royalty, but particularly focusing on the English, because that’s what we think of when we think of royalty,” Wang says. “The dresses we did were very grandiose, very beautifully draped, in a very couture fashion, shown with tiaras and real jewels.”
Wang, a former figure skater and Vogue editor often credited with bringing style and sophistication to the bridal market several years ago, was inspired by a photograph of Princess Diana in tiara and strapless dress months before Diana’s death.
“She was the vision that I could relate to,” Wang explains. “It wasn’t even her wedding picture, it was a picture of her at a ball with a real tiara.”
The Indian influence, she explains, translated into narrow dresses, “done with beading and chiffon panels, which was very Indian-inspired. It sounds pretty strange related to bridal, but it was a way I could bring a mystery and a sensuality to the narrow clothes. It was a hint of that feeling. I did some in a stretch matte jersey with connecting bias panels so that they looked like kites coming off of the body.”
Her skating background still factors into her wedding creations, which have been worn by Mariah Carey and Karenna Gore. “It’s hard for me to conceive of clothes that have nothing to do with the body. I don’t like things that are skintight, but ones that move along with the body.”
