I dream in color

It was love at first sight, I still remember the first time I stumbled upon a photo of a bride in a gorgeous ivory ball gown with a bright purple crinoline peaking from underneath it; love at first sight I tell you. There's just something inexplicably stunning about it! Maybe its the stark color contrast of white and ivory tones matched with a bold splash of color? Maybe its the element of surprise, because no one expects to see bright colors under the garment? Or  maybe there really is no good reason for my infatuation with this trend, The heart wants what it wants.. what more can I say?

A dyed crinoline is an excellent way for the bride to incorporate color into her ensemble, it makes for great photographs, and gives the bride a good excuse to pick up her skirt and show off her shoes at the same time. And while we are on the topic of shoes.. I simply must comment that while I do love bright colored crinolines, and bright colored shoes worn separately, I think its a big no-no to wear them both together. The whole beauty of adding the color to the shoe or crinoline is to have it pop out against the white/ivory gown If the shoes are dyed the same color as the crinoline it looks too matchy and belongs in fashion jail.

Chime in my darlings and share your opinions on the matter.

xoxo

After all is said and done..

The much awaited bridal fashion week has come and gone and it definitely lived up to expectations. The Highlights article gives a break down of the latest trends from fashion week which all revolved around texture, texture and more texture.. did I say texture?  Say hello to the interesting fabrics of the future of bridal fashion.  The latest gowns feature super size helpings of 3D embellishments similar in style to gowns already on the market today and yet bigger, better and bolder.

Below is a photo recap of the main trends from bridal fashion week

Trend #1: SEQUINS  These are the last thing you would expect to see on a wedding gown but sure enough,  the gowns below show that sequins and wedding gowns can get along mighty fine.

Ines Di Santo

Ines Di Santo

Vera Wang  sequined skirt

Vera Wang

Angel Sanchez sequined side panel

Theia all over sequins

Trend #2: TEXTURE Raised, layered and ruched fabric appeared many times on the runway creating an interesting pattern effect that transforms the gowns from fashion pieces to stunning works of art. Such gowns photograph amazingly well up close as well as from a distance.

Vera Wang

Marchesa

Rivini

Angel Sanchez

Trend #3: 3D FLORAL EMBELLISHMENTS This is a continuing trend from last season, but the floral details have gone super size! 

Marchesa

Simone Carvalli

Christos

Trend #4: DOTTED FABRIC There is something ultra soft and feminine about this sheer dotted fabric, it may not appeal to every bride, but its definitely a favorite among the bridal designers for the upcoming season.

Christos

Christos

Priscilla of Boston

Priscilla of Boston 

Trend #4: PEARLS, PEARLS AND MORE PEARLS Nothing says class and sophistication like a string of pearls and the designers did not hold back. Some of their gowns were covered in strings of pearls and yet somehow managed to look lightweight and effortless

Priscilla of Boston all pearl bodice

Priscilla of Boston

Ines Di Santo all over pearl little white dress, pearl cuffs

Ines Di Santo string of pearls dropped waist

The conclusion of the matter is that bridal fashion week was fabulous as usual and has given me fresh material to drool over. 

Until next time my darlings.. xoxo

It's Bridal Fashion Week in two days! And here's a sneak peak at sketches

[In the order in which they appear: Watters, Angel Sanchez, Elizabeth Fillmore, Rivini, Jim Hjelm, Temperley London]

Bridal Fashion Week is here!! I feel giddy with excitement at the thought of it. In less than 48 hours I will be drooling over the latest collections by my favorite bridal designers. My latest article has all the  details of how to get front row seats to nine of the runway shows without even stepping out of the comfort of your home; thanks to live coverage offered by The Knot TV on Demand.

I will be posting pictures of gowns that stand out the most during the fashion weekend. One more great reason to thank God that the weekend is nearly here

The LONG and SHORT of it

[Gown information: In the order in which they appear- Romona Keveza L190, Oleg Cassini CT326, Amsale Aurora]

All brides want to be unique and different, and this is great, but being unique doesn't have to involve a  treasure hunt to find unusual ways of doing things. Not at all.. the most unique ideas are right before our very eyes but we miss them time and time again because we are trying too hard to find them. [Fashion rule 101 if you try too hard, you fail ] The hi-low hemline which was the focus of my examiner article this week,  is one that we are all familiar with even if we don't call it by that name. At one point or another I believe we've all owned a  hi-low skirt or dress with a slightly shorter hem in the front than the back which we thought was the height of fashion at that time, well its back and its better than ever. The hi-low hemline is turning into quite a hit on the bridal scene and its pretty obvious why. It is dramatic, it is sexy and its the best excuse to spend hours searching for the perfect wedding shoes, because unlike most wedding gowns the hi-low hemline really puts the shoes on display!

Stay stylish
xoxo

Disney + Alfred Angelo = Stunning new bridal collection

Cinderella dress

Ariel dress

As I was growing up, I loved The Little Mermaid, I just wanted to grow a tail and swim into the sunset to find her.  Although I did like Cinderella and the other princesses,  none of them came close to Ariel. Having said that, I'm sure that many other women grew up loving one of the disney princesses and for those women they get to take that love to a whole new level.  Disney and Alfred Angelo joined forces to create a chic  new collection called Disney fairy tale weddings by Alfred Angelo. The collection features seven gowns, inspired by the life and style of the following seven disney princesses.  Ariel (The Little Mermaid, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle  (Beauty and the Beast), Cinderella, Jasmine (Aladdin), Snow White and Tiana (The princess and the frog)
I must be honest,  when I first heard about this idea I thought uh-oh, because every time I hear the word princess mentioned in the same sentence as wedding,  I get a little nervous. I immediately envision giant tiaras of the pageant kind, cloud size ball gowns and an over dose of the cheesy sparkly glimmer that generally surrounds "princess weddings" But  I should have known better. The gowns in this collection are stylish, effortless and best of all affordable! 
The video below shows a sneak peak of the gowns, my absolute favorite is the Snow white gown.. 

Vera Wang & David's Bridal live happily ever after...

So let me get this straight, the gorgeousness of Vera Wang at the affordable prices of David's Bridal? Sounds too good to be true, except for one thing.. it is true! A new collection WHITE has been launched featuring the usual chic sophistication that can be expected of Vera and best of all these gowns will range in price from $600 to $1400... Have I died and ended up in bridal heaven?  Those who tuned in to the Oprah show today got a sneak peak of the gowns that will be in that collection  and they are just as gorgeous as high end gowns by Vera, you can see some of the gowns here
For more information on this collection read the full article on my examiner page

Sneakers at a wedding?

PHOTO CREDIT//Leo Djiwatampu Photography

So I can imagine the mere mention of sneakers at a wedding is enough to cause nervous breakdowns for many brides. Surprisingly enough, there are increasingly more weddings that have the groom and his grooms men wearing formal pants, or even a full tuxedo paired with sneakers. The most popular sneaker of choice being the classic Chuck Taylor Converse All Star. I'll take a moment to say that I have a serious weakness for the Chuck Taylor collection so I may be severely biased on this matter. I feel that at certain outdoor weddings, where there is an overall semi-casual theme that runs through all elements of the wedding and all outfits in the bridal party, the converse sneakers can look hot. BUT and this is a big but, where it is a formal wedding with bride decked out in full ball gown, cathedral veil and the whole shebang, she'll look mismatched standing next to a groom in sneakers, as though they fell out of two different weddings at two completely different locations. Also while I do understand that not everyone likes Converse sneakers, I find that they are they tend to look much better than other sneakers; wearing bulky basket-ball sneakers with tuxedos just never looks to right to me...  again this could be mainly because I'm biased in favor of converse shoes.

Read more about contemporary looks for modern grooms here.


xoxo

The white controversy

The photo above is a snap shot from my most recent article on Examiner, discussing both sides of the white controversy.  The notion that a guest wearing white will compete with the bride is one that I don't particularly agree with. Although I do agree that it is distasteful for guests to do so, it isn't by any means the end of the world. My view is that a guest could show up in a full white ball gown complete with veil and gloves and still not be able to steal the spotlight from bride, unless she allows herself to be rifled by this non-incident.

Tie it up or take it off?

The article Wedding gown bustles vs reception dresses shows the different options that a bride has for transforming a formal gown with a long train into a party dress that is easy to move around it. The little white dress movement is slowly catching on with more and more brides opting for a second mini dress for their reception, BUT how do you feel about that?
Personally its hard to wrap my mind around the reason why a bride would spend so many hours and so many dollars on a gorgeous wedding gown just to quickly change out of it into a mini dress for the reception. The way I see it, you can wear that mini dress any other day for the rest of your life, but how many more times can you get away with wearing a formal wedding gown. I say savor every moment you can keep that dress on and figure out a stylish bustle or wrist loop for the reception! To see photos of different types of bustles read the full article here




xoxo