What’s happening on the Bridal Front?
Catherine and Pippa Middleton
2018 is set to be another watershed year in wedding fashion. The marriage of Prince Harry of the UK to American Ms Meghan Markle, is bound to influence future brides’ choice of apparel for a number of seasons, as was the case with the groom’s late mother, Lady Diana Spencer, and bride’s compatriot, film star Grace Kelly before her. Sarah Burton’s design for Catherine Middleton in fact strongly echoes that of Helen Rose for Grace Kelly (In the instance of Kate Middleton, the dress worn by her maid of honour sister Pippa, commanded almost as much of the attention as the bridal gown itself!)
Design sketch of Grace Kelly wedding gown by Helen Rose
Design sketch of Diana Spencer wedding gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel
It is not unexpected, then, that Royal Wedding counts among the trends emerging at New York Bridal Fashion Week 2019 (11-14 April 2018). A number of designers showed the demure, full-skirted dresses typically associated with such an event.
- Royal Wedding (Reem Acra)
2. Classic Ballerina skirt (Hayley Paige)
3. Lingerie-inspired Corset tops (Temperley)
These last two are perennial favourites. There were, however also a few new design directions.
4. Silver/metallics (Galia Lahav)
5. Minimalist/understatement (Romona Keveza Collection)
6. Short fluttery sleeves (Jenny Packham)
7. Bubble sleeves (Gracy Accad)
8. Capes (Anne Barge)
Hardly surprising, the biggest excitement was reserved for the newest innovation:
9. Bridal jumpsuit/pant suit (Francesca Miranda)
“Two-looks-in-one”, featuring detachable trains, skirts and even sleeves also emerged.
10. Transformative (Naeem Khan)
Embellishment-wise, noticeable trends were
11. 3-D Florals (Viktor & Rolf)
12. Statement Bows (Viktor & Rolf)
Well there you have it, 12 trends to choose from. But be aware that these may only be valid until 19th May 2018, when the Meghan Markle-effect comes into operation!
More images at these websites
https://www.brides.com/gallery/wedding-dress-trends-2019
https://www.vogue.com/article/spring-2019-bridal-fashion-week-trends
https://www.instylemag.com.au/bridal-fashion-week-trends-pantsuit-2018?category=News
https://www.glamour.com/gallery/2018-wedding-dress-trends
https://www.brides.com/story/wedding-dress-trend-predictions
https://fashionista.com/2018/04/bridal-wedding-dress-trends-spring-2019
https://www.standard.co.uk/fashion/wedding-dress-trends-2018-new-york-bridal-week-a3815841.html