The number one most important thing about a wedding gown:
it must be flattering!! The gown could be utterly breathtaking in its artistry and craftsmanship but if it doesn't flatter the bride wearing it, it might as well be a dirty burlap potato sack. A lot of people fall in love with a gown based on how it looks on the model or how it looks on the mannequin and then refuse to accept that it doesn't look the same way on them. This is BRIDAL DENIAL! {giggle} Case in point the dropped waist ball gown and dropped waist A-line. These gowns only look good on a select few people, at least 90% of those select few people are models whose job it is to make the gowns look good. But for some reason brides cant seem to resist buying this gown. I tried on a dropped waist ball gown by Casablanca and even though I am 5ft 11", I looked like I'd shrunk into an oompa loompa.. seriously.
At the royal wedding of Zara Phillips {grand daughter to Queen ELizabeth} she also wore a dropped waist gown.. you be the judge
Moral of the story: these gowns are difficult to pull off; you've got to be tall or atleast have long legs to balance out the long torsos of this type of gown.
I love Kenneth Pool, I adore the bold yet delicate crystal detailing he uses on most of his gowns, but I'm pretty sure this love is not mutual because Kenneth Pool has a sworn love for the style I like the least: The dropped waist ball gown. Below are some of the gowns from his collection.
Casablanca
Casablanca
Pnina Tornai
And while we are on the subject of waist lines, the other increasingly popular trend is the high waist ball gown. Some of these are quite deceiving because they appear to sit at the natural waist but are actually empire waists in disguise. I love empire waist garments especially for floating summer dresses and shirts, but when it comes to wedding dresses, empire waists can be hard to pull off too. The best empire waist gowns are fitted gowns or floaty destination dresses such as this Vera Wang WHITE dress.
On the other hand, empire waist ball gowns can be a little trickier depending on how wide the ball gown is. The perfect example would be the Galina T3039 shown below. I love this gown and I'm not too bothered that its a copy of a more expensive dress. But when worn with a crinoline this gown is just not that flattering on most brides especially from the side view.
My favourite natural waist/high waist ball gowns are by Amsale. Their ball gowns are just to die for, especially the ones that have pockets. The main thing with this style is to avoid the skirt looking too wide and poofy.
xoxo
