By Roderick Ng
Foreword
Wedding preparation is a very exciting time for a bride.
With proper guidance and help from seasoned professionals,
planning your wedding fashion can be an enjoyable and
memorable experience.
Even with a multi-billion dollar industry catering to all
your bridal desires, wedding preparations can still be
stressful dealing with the smoke and mirrors of the
bridal industry.
In my articles below, I hope to offer some insights on a
few fashion myths and some simple hints on how you can
achieve maximum bridal glamour with minimum fuss.
The insights collected below represent many years of
experience Eleni and I have gathered in the fashion,
retail and couture industry.
The examples illustrated below are in fact real events;
experiences we have encountered through the years,
working in the fashion couture industry. No names
were used in illustrating the examples below.
Important note: The articles below are only to be used
as light entertainment and as a general purpose guide
to readers interested in the world of bridal fashion.
The author wrote the articles below in good faith and
wrote it without consideration of the reader's personal
circumstances, budgets and aesthetic preference.
Where do I Start?
1. Wedding personality.
The bride and the groom have their own unique qualities, outlook on life, philosophy and aesthetic preferences. Through careful consideration of both their traits and beliefs, the personality of the wedding can be outwardly expressed.
When you are able to articulate your wedding personality in a concise manner, you can make decisive actions in planning your wedding. From choosing the right music to choosing the right fabric for your bridesmaid's dresses, it helps to have a strong vision of your wedding personality before you commence planning for your bridal fashion.
2. Bridal Diary.
For the twenty-first century bride, choices are endless. In fact your knowledge of bridal planning and bridal options are only as limited as your appetite is for businesses offering bridal services.
It is easy to be overwhelmed and confused by the great amount of media focusing on
selling bridal products. Before you do anything else, I would recommend a bridal diary for all you brides to be.
If you do not have one, I would recommend you buy yourself a beautiful bridal diary today! Consider an A4 or a more generous size/style bridal diary. There are a multitude of companies offering elegant diaries in varied styles and sizes. Some even customise Wedding diaries to fit your needs. You might consider a leather bound diary with an option for embossing your names. Your diary might be in classic ivory or in any colour you wish.
Upon commencing your bridal research, you are sure to find fantastic images of gowns you love! Print them out from the web or tear them out of fashion or wedding magazines! Paste these tearsheets (industry jargon) in your bridal diary. Write notes next to them. Write down in detail why you love the gown ? What is it about the style of this gown that you appreciate? Elaborate. Describe which part of the dress you did not care for. Perhaps you wish for it to be in another colour. Maybe you might like this style of dress with a smaller train. The options are endless!
These notes you compile will help you form a clearer picture of how you envisage your wedding. Before long you will have a whole diary of bridal notes and images that help you determine your very own wedding personality!
Inside your diary you can also compile inspirational speeches, proverbs and poems. Write down your vows and jot down thoughts and paste other cut outs like floral arrangements, bridal photography and images of your future honeymoon.
When you have a bridal diary, not only will it help you filter out all the noise and bridal services you do not need, it also creates beautiful memories for you and your family.
The Search Begins.
Ready-to-Wear Bridal Gown.
When shopping for your gown for the first time. It is wise to have your sister, your mother and/or your maid of honour with you. Just because it is in fashion doesn't mean it would suit you and your body shape. When you bring someone close with you, someone whose opinion you trust and respects, you can get an outside perspective. Similarly I would advise you to bring your bridal diary with you.
Having done your research, your bridal diary should serve as the reference point for your wedding gown. If you have worked on your bridal diary for a while before you go around trying on gowns, you would have some ideas already which style of gown you would like for your wedding day.
Handy Hints: When you are trying on dresses and gowns, bring the right undergarment and shoes with the right heel height. Always bring full briefs in nude/skin tone with no lace or trims and a few option bras for the fittings. While full briefs might not make you feel like the sexiest bride when undress, it does give you the seamless finish that you require when in your bridal gown. This is also a respectful and hygienic practice that enables you to avoid any public embarrassment while shopping for your perfect gown. Do avoid wearing G-string or a thong when you are shopping for gowns.
It is also wise to avoid shopping for gowns when you just had a spray tan or after you just had lunch. Food, oil and spray tan stains are not uncommon occurrence during fittings. It is a very embarrassing situation that can cause a lot of stress when trying ivory gowns.
Bras
When trying out Wedding gowns, Eleni recommends wearing classic plain bra that is both comfortable and fits well with good support. Should you need a particular bra for support, especially if you have a fuller bust line, I encourage you to bring this favourite bra in nude for your gown fittings. Wearing the correct undergarment is the foundation to fantastic looking fashion. When it comes to your big day, undergarment should be the first thing you get right before you try on any gown.
Without the right support whether it is the brief with girdle or your special bra, your wedding day will just see you constantly trying to adjust yourself in your gown.
If you have to wear your wedding gown all day and through all the photographs it is wise to rate comfort at the top of the list.
Shoes
When shopping for a ready-to-wear bridal gown, it is handy to bring a pair of shoes with the correct heel height. Even if it is not your chosen wedding shoes, it helps to bring the right height of shoes for fittings. How do you know it is the correct heel height? On your wedding day you might expect to pose for pictures and dance. You might be on your feet for 6 to 14 hours. You need to find a comfortable heel height that you enjoy wearing. This should give you an idea of which heel height you intend to wear on your wedding day. This also determines what the final look would entail. It makes shopping for your gown more concise hence saving you more time and effort.
Bridesmaids
Based on my experience bridesmaids come in different shapes and sizes with their own unique personality. Finding dresses which satisfies all your bridesmaids perfectly can be one of the most stressful tasks leading up to the big day. But not all hope is lost, we here at Master/slave have put together a few pointers to assist your decision making when it comes to that all important bridesmaid dress.
Bridesmaid's dresses- Where do I start?
Keep it simple. When it comes to bridesmaids dresses simplicity is best. It projects a modern and timeless image. The bridal gown should be the centre of attention not the bridesmaids. Framing the bride's gown is the role of a great bridesmaid dress, keeping them simple will pay off in the wedding photos.
Ready to Wear or Couture?
A question no doubt you
have all asked yourselves, “do I just go out and buy four identical dresses or
do I get the dresses made to fit each of my bridesmaids?” I am here to
tell you, It’s hard enough trying to find 4 dresses to fit 4 different body
types, however its almost impossible to find 4 bridesmaid's dresses "off
the rack" that would fit 4 unique individuals.
Ready to wear:
-
- Buying four dresses of the same style on
impulse at a designer label clearance sale will cost you more in the end,
as each dress will have to be altered in order to fit each one of your
bridesmaids.
- The purchase price of one designer label dress plus
alteration costs will equal or most of the time exceed the cost of a
couture gown which has been made to fit perfectly the shape of each
bridesmaid.
- The idea of all your bridesmaids wearing the
same dress is considered by some to be an archaic notion. Not including
the likelihood of all four or five of your bridesmaids suiting that one
style of dress you have purchased off the rack being awfully slim.
- A word of caution: It is not uncommon for us to experience brides buying off the rack dresses in advance before a relative arrives from overseas only to discover it doesn’t fit.
-
Time and again, I hear
the brides tell me they are on a budget and the wedding budget has been blown.
They don’t want to spend so much money on bridesmaids dresses because they are
only going to wear it once.Why would they get it made?
Couture:
A couture dress can be designed and made to suit each individual bridesmaid and flatters each of their body shapes. Based on our experience the bride and bridesmaid’s dresses are organized many months in advance. When you purchase these dresses off the rack to save time and stress you could be surprised to find that in the end you will end up with more work.
This
is due to a multitude of reasons, either the bridesmaids or bride could change
in weight and dress size before the wedding. This a very real situation.
When
you get your bridesmaid’s dresses made, we do multiple fittings leading up to
the wedding. The dress is perfected over time on calico and it will only be cut
on fabric and sewn up one or two weeks before the wedding.
-
We find that this way the bridesmaids are completely satisfied with the dresses and if there are any last minute alterations we still have plenty of time to make these changes. -
Colour
To achieve a unified look for your bridal party, try using colour. Using one colour for the whole bridal party is a great way to save money and stress. You save money on your bridal party when you purchase one fabric and in one fabric colour. You can also avoid plenty of stress when you buy only one fabric since you do not have to be concerned with the fabric being discontinued.
While it is wise to consider one colour for all the bridesmaid dresses, it is also a challenge when trying to find that colour which will suit all skin colours and complexions. So how do we get around this issue?
Handy Hints: Eleni
recommends rich solid colours like deep purple, midnight blue,
Hemline.
A question I am often asked when considering the design of bridesmaid's dresses is the length of the hemline. Hemline is a fantastic way to differentiate all the bridesmaids’ dresses giving them individuality but still in keeping with a unified look. The correct hemline can also highlight the positives in each body shape. Listed below are a few hemline options and how best to wear them.
1. Above the knee:
From experience, we at Master/slave do not recommend having the hemline above the knee unless the wedding is unconventional in nature or not held in a church.
- 2. Knee length:
This is a modern look, especially suitable for women with short and long legs.
This hemline creates focus on legs and calves. It is particularly suitable for tall women.
- 3. Below the knee:
This length is both modest and classical for bridesmaid's dresses. It presents a more youthful appearance. This hemline also provides you with the appearance of greater height. Suiting all shapes, sizes and ages a below the kneehemline is the fail safe option.
4. Calf length:
Calf length dresses have a place in fashion but not all things fashionable suit us. Calf length hemline presents a more mature outlook. It projects a shorter height appearance. Its one hemline to avoid.
5. Floor length:
Floor length dresses are extravagant and beautiful. It’s a great way to achieve a formal look. It suits all body shapes and height. Elongating the body giving you greater appearance of height and length.
Buying fabrics for your Bridal needs.
It pays to be prepared when you are choosing the right
fabric for your bridesmaid's dresses. Making your decision on the fabric and committing to that
decision helps you buy the fabric while its still available.
Handy Hints: Unless you buy fabric wholesale, and you buy each fabric quality in 50 metre rolls and above, it pays to get a professional like Master/slave to purchase the fabric for you. Doing this also saves you money on cutting charges as the fabric wholesaler will charge you through the roof if you decide to go it alone.
Added Value Service: Did you know that when you get your bridal and bridesmaids couture designed and made at Master/slave, as an added service if we are not able to get the fabric in Australia that
