As promised, here’s a mini wrap-up of our trip to the Las Vegas Bridal Market, and things to look for in finding the best fit with your wedding dress. Major trends we saw for fall were:
- Ballgowns with POCKETS: Yes, ladies, we love them, too, but few manufacturers were making gowns with pockets in them (and those that did make them didn’t carry our size range). So we’re excited to see lots of options for fall (because who doesn’t need a convenient pocket to prettify your pucker on the go?!). One wedding dress maker called them “baby doll” ballgowns due to the high waist, which often sported a flower or beaded detail. This can make your waist look smaller, as a focal point, but brides who are very long waisted may feel their shoulders look really exposed. We’ll be looking for gowns that have a large enough bust area for full coverage.
- Overlays: Tulle, organza, point d’spirit… Our heads were spinning as layer after floaty layer came down the runway. Look for overlays on ballgowns, which are lightening up with overlays instead of satin. Ladies, every bride can wear these styles!
- Layers: Ruffles, ruching and ripples. We saw flouncy gowns of all shapes and materials. Just look for a ruffled bottom that gives you good proportion, as some of the wedding gowns simply have too much material at the bottom for petite brides.
- Flowers: We saw flowers everywhere–on hips, shoulders, hems and more. Some wedding dresses had flower accents while others sported flowers all over the skirt. Even if you don’t think you’re a “girlie” bride, give flowers a shot. And if there are too many on a dress you like, remember that many times you can remove some embellishments without damaging or changing the integrity of the gown.
- One shoulder designs: Have you been watching the major awards shows? We confess we like to watch for the fashion (disasters) mostly. Just like we’ve seen on the red carpet, we’re seeing wedding dresses with one shoulder options. They are sleek and sexy, ladies. We have a couple of options in the store already from Allure and look to bring in more for fall. You don’t have to have perfect shoulders to wear these, but you also don’t want to cover them with a jacket or bolero.
Most of these gowns won’t be shipping for several months and are best for brides getting married late this year or in 2011.
We loved seeing the upcoming wedding dress collections. A couple of things noticeably absent were gowns with pickups on the skirt (some of you call them “scrunches” or “bunches” or think it looks like a down comforter–yep, those are “pickups”). We also didn’t see a lot of sleek, simple, un-embellished gowns. Don’t panic–it doesn’t mean you can’t find those styles. It simply means wedding dress manufacturers aren’t making new styles of those, but you can often find those in past seasons.
As always, we want to emphasize that finding a wedding gown for your big day is really about what looks good on you and makes you feel pretty. So don’t think you have to get a one-shouldered baby gown ballgown dress with flowered-covered tulle overlay on the skirt. Let’s just find something that makes your groom able only to mutter one word when he sees you: “wow”.
