Thirty-odd years ago, when my sister married, her dress was a cascade of lace and ruffles, reminiscent of Scarlett O’Hara.
When my turn came, only a couple of years later, I felt like a princess in a heavily beaded and appliqued white satin sheath, which flowed into a mermaid style train.
Fast forward another ten years, and my youngest sister wore a simple yet elegant satin gown with an A line skirt, shoe string straps, and a band of crystals at the top of the bodice.
My brother had a beach wedding a few years after that, and his bride wore a clingy white backless number – and no shoes, which was understandable given the location.
Over the past ten years we’ve seen a surfeit of strapless wedding gowns but at last styles are moving on …
Now it’s my daughter’s turn to go wedding dress shopping, and it seems that pure white is no longer the fashion – in one bridal salon we visited, there was only handful of dresses in this shade! The majority were in cream, ivory, alabaster, even palest blue and blush shades – but the biggest trend is sheer (white) lace, worn over a mocha or almond layer of fabric.
At one wedding I attended recently, the Chinese bride wore a red dress which is traditional in her home land.
There’s one other trend I’ve noticed, and I have to say I’m not a fan … sheer lace in places with nothing underneath. One gown my daughter tried on was transparent in the bodice apart from the bust area; I’ve also seen brides in long flowing lace gowns, with the underskirt barely reaching their thighs.
And good luck to you if you are after a demure gown. Apart from the sheer designs I’ve just mentioned, most gowns are either backless, low cut, strapless or thing straps, or all of the above …
It’s not a look I’m loving but maybe I’m just old fashioned!
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