Modern wedding dresses are often influenced by particular styles of key decades. With the adage ‘everything old is new again’ lets take a look through the wedding style files and see how you can replicate the look and feel of your favourite decade.

Lets start with The Roaring 20s!

Vintage 20s Brides

The 20s were typified by the ‘Flapper Bride’, think of films like The Great Gatsby where glitz, glamour and drop waisted gowns were all the rage!

This was the age where Juliet headdresses were made popular (cap style veils), so-called because of its similarity to the Renaissance headdress of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.

Dropped waist lines were also a key feature where the hips can be further emphasized by adding a knotted sash or a corsage.

With such simple silhouettes, 20s brides made ornate beading popular. Often in quite elaborate and ornate Art Deco styles.

So how do you add 20s touches to your modern day wedding?

If your wedding gown has a simple and elegant style, try adding Art Deco influenced crystal or embroided motifs on your shoulders or on your hips. For an subtler approach why not wear your very own Juliet style veil – choose something with some ornate beading to give it that WOW factor!

Alejandra de Bourbon

One of my favourite 20s interpretations is the 2008 wedding of Spain’s Alejandra de Bourbon  - daughter of Alfonso de Bourbon, the second cousin of King Juan Carlo. She wore a gorgeous understated 1920s inspired Chanel number. Don’t you just love the unconstructed style, a dropped waist, the whimsical tasseled belt, and those luxurious, long ropes of pearls around her neck. Then there’s that long, flowing Juliet-style veil . She is the epitome of 20s perfection!

Are you wondering if the 20s are right for you? Why not come in store to try the look on your self? The Haiku gown by Hilde Heim exudes the romance and nostalgia of the 1920′s but with a modern and contemporary edge.

Contact us today for an appointment!

Till next time, xx

Real Bride Daniella in 'Haiku' by Hilde Heim

Late last year we wrote about the Top Ten Bridal Fashion/Style Terms and we hope you enjoyed reading it and learned a thing or two! Now to expand on that, let’s focus especially on fabrics, arm yourself with enough info before you start bridal dress shopping to make an informed choice for your big day.

Fabric VS Weave

Satin is not a fabric..satin does not refer to the fabric material itself, satin is the weave (the shininess of the fabric). So you can take silk thread and make that into satin, or you can take polyester and make it into satin. Ask your bridal stylist what the fabric is; if they say satin, ask, “silk satin?” If it’s “just satin” that’s code for “synthetic fibers that won’t breathe and makes you sweat more than in a sauna”.
Same goes for organza, taffeta, and tulle (more to come on tulle in a second), they can all be made out of silk, or the cheap stuff, so ask about silk.

Bobbinet=tulle

Bobbinet is machine made tulle, and unless it costs $4000 a meter and you can tell it’s hand woven, the tulle/net/whatever on your dress or veil is bobbinet. What does that mean? Well, not much. But if someone is trying to sell you on something tulle vs. bobbinet, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Yes, there are varying levels of delicateness of tulle, but it’s all the same thing.

Not all silks are equal

It’s true, silk is silk, but has it been treated with chemical dyes? Have they been spun paper thin? Too thin to hold its shape or stand up the the structure of the garment? Trust your hand and your eye. If there’s a soft natural glow to the fabric, you’ve got a good quality silk there. Too hard or chintzy a sheen, it’ll look striped in pictures. And fabric should feel good – so if the wedding dress feels good against your skin and moves well as you walk then you’re onto a winner there!

Ivory is Arbitrary

There’s buttery ivory, golden ivory, blush ivory, crisp ivory, strong ivory, pale ivory, deep ivory, light ivory, true ivory, rich ivory, soft ivory…and none of those mean anything either. Especially in bridal fabrics (the same colour from the same manufacturer could even have different colour ivory silk satins depending on the batch!), trust your eye and the colour of the wedding gown in store, does the colour suit your skin tone in store, do you like the way it looks? If so, ignore what the colour of the fabric is called and just ask for a fabric swatch to match your shoes and accessories.

xx