High-profile fashion designers are taking the plunge and designing bridal attire that could have stylish women strolling down the aisles like it’s a Paris catwalk. Among them: Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Robert Danes, Badgley Mischka and Giorgio Armani.
But brides won’t necessarily find their creations in the bridal department of their local department store.
Some mainstream fashion designers are crossing over into the bridal realm with dresses that can be worn for evening or for a wedding ceremony.
Carmen Marc Valvo, a New York designer who dresses Oprah, Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jessica Lange and others, is offering his clients the choice of many dresses within his couture and collection lines that translate from the runway to the wedding aisle.
To find them, brides-to-be should scope out evening wear stores, not traditional bridal stores.
“My approach to bridal is unconventional,” said the designer, who burst on the fashion scene in 1989.
“I don’t design any of my gowns specifically with a bride in mind.
“I just create gowns that can be worn for evening or for the bride who wants something nontraditional, a bit more sexy and definitely not laden with layers of tulle.”
But Valvo’s Web site does feature a bridal section filled with about a dozen elegant, streamlined gowns in porcelain, ivory and winter white — perfect for the modern bride who wants a chic look without all the gilded frills. And who knows? You might even be able to wear it again. What a concept.
Diane Delaney, author of “The New American Wedding” (Viking, $40), echoes the sentiment of many modern brides.
“In dozens of weddings I’ve attended, the bride always looked like a bride,” she said.
“Ten days after the event, I could not tell you what her dress looked like.”
She cites the likes of designers like Valvo and her favorite, Ralph Rucci, as mainstream designers who say they don’t make wedding dresses, although many of their designs are special enough to “break the mold of our expectations.”
Some of Rucci’s creations would “definitely be examples of a new thinking for bridal dressing,” Delaney says.
She cites short white chiffon ruffled dresses, a wonderful satin evening coat over a pearl-encrusted top and satin skirt, a silk tunic under an embroidered caftan and worn over silk pants and a satin suit with a beaded stole.
“This could be the answer to so many issues we harbor,” Delaney said.
Her own wedding ensemble was made by one of her favorite designers, Zoran, a choice of many non-traditional brides.
“There is no doubt that for so many women, The Dress is far more than a dress,” she says. “It stands for things we wish we always were and things we’re proud to be.”
But the times they are a-changin’, she says. More fashion designers today “take their cues from perfectly cut sportswear, coordinated separates, and from the lives of real women who know that to be truly stylish, one must be true to one’s own nature.”
Whether you choose to dress like a queen or for a wedding at the beach, here are a few of Delaney’s wedding rules:
• Dress like an actress in a movie about you.
• Dress for the theme of the event rather than the part of the bride.
• Dress as if you’re performing in the same show as your guests. At the same time, dress like the star, not a member of the chorus.
• Whatever you wear should have some degree of luster — choose fabrics that reflect light.
• Be careful of following fashion at the expense of taste or a flattering cut. You will be looking at those wedding pictures decades from now.
• Try to find something that reflects your personality and your established sense of self. If you tend to wear sportswear and athletic clean lines, showing up in ruffles may not make sense.
• Choosing a wedding dress that is “real” doesn’t mean the absence of style. It defines the essence of true style.