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The Showstoppers Brides, get ready for your star turn. Glamorously embellished new gowns for spring promise every woman her own Hollywood-style, red-carpet moment.  Designer Alvina Valenta keeps things soft and romantic by framing the neckline with spaghetti straps and brooches. Sirens of the silver screen of yesteryear are today’s muses for brides-to-be who are looking to channel their inner Rita Hayworth as they splurge on gowns redolent with glamorous accents. Whether it’s cascading swirls on the backside of a gown from Reem Acra or beaded necklines and seams in Amsale’s decadent creations, a bride wearing a Spring 2008 gown will be anything but invisible. This summer’s poster child for the look was Eva Longoria, who wore a mermaid gown by Angel Sanchez made of silk wool with silk gazar metallic embroidery and a long train at her July 2007 wedding to basketball star Tony Parker. The trick, designers say, is to create showstoppers without summoning up visions of Vegas showgirls. “I’m looking at my wall of sketches and it’s about Old Hollywood styles,” says Victoria McMillan, a couture designer for New York-based Alvina Valenta. “It’s a balancing act, however, to remain tasteful. I always ask myself if Grace Kelly would wear this gown.” “Quiet elegance” is the mantra at Los Angeles-based Monique Lhuillier. “Monique makes it edgy, not overdone,” says Lori Weil, sales director for Monique Lhuillier. “She stops before the showgirl aspect of it. The neckline is low but never garish. Embellishments are always feminine but never loud.” Indeed, when one mentions embellishments on gowns, many in the industry recoil at the thought of empty design and meaningless gilding. Designers are keeping it soft and romantic with pleated tulle sleeves and chiffon ruffles on the neckline. Instead of heaping directionless beading on the gown, designers are strategically placing adornments to highlight the bride’s features, such as Amsale’s jeweled bustlines and Lucite-inspired beading at the waist and Alvina Valenta’s beaded spaghetti straps and brooch framing the neckline.  ‘Quiet elegance’ is the theme for Monique Lhuillier’s gowns, whose embellishments ‘are always feminine but never loud,’ says sales director Lori Weil. “Proportion is very important when using certain silhouettes,” says Amsale Aberra, who’s also the designer for the Christos label, which is sold, at Saks Fifth Avenue, Kleinfeld in New York and Stanley Korshak in Dallas. “An empire gown emphasizes the detail on the top as well as framing the waistline.” Adds Michael Shettel, head designer for Alfred Angelo Bridal: “Embellishments can add a lot of unexpected drama to a dress, but in a very subtle way… [they’re] a wonderful way to add more contour to a waistline or give a little extra lift or the look of volume to the bust.” The push for such exquisite detail dovetails with the escalating cost of gowns. Brides spend an average of $1,500 on a wedding dress, according to theweddingreport.com, nearly double the price paid 10 years ago. Rising cost may be prompting designers to pile on the extras, perhaps in order to ensure that their patrons get their money’s worth. They’re even taking chances on more adventurous fabrics, beyond the world of silk and tulle. Junko Yoshioka, for example, incorporates faille, velvet chiffon, Italian shantung organza and subtle brocades in her collection. “If brides are spending more, they want to see more elements in the gown,” says Kirstie Kelly, a couture designer based in the affluent Los Angeles community of Brentwood, whose dresses have appeared on film and television. Brides are definitely getting more for their green at Monique Lhuillier. The designer’s $12,000 lace dress with a tulle overlay embroidered with flowers and beading is “selling like popcorn,” says Weil. Floral touches are one way embellishments are looking springtime fresh. A Vera Wang strapless mermaid gown features a floral waist corsage; an off-the-shoulder sheath is punctuated with a flower. The motif has wended its way to Lazaro, where the designer is incorporating crystals in floral patterns on belts and embroidered chiffon flowers on the gown. At Alfred Angelo, floral hip appliqués attached where the draping intersects provide a sassy twist. It’s a design element that gives the dresses texture, say the designers.  Embellishments add drama to an Alfred Angelo gown. “Creating beading on flowers gives the dress a more dimensional look; it’s not so flat,” says Kelly. Another defining feature of the gowns is the use of jewelry or jeweled effects in their styles. Taffeta sashes with a crystal brooch on an A-line gown at Vera Wang and Angel Sanchez’s silk tulle gown over gauze with an inset of dramatic silver embroidery create a sparkling halo for brides. Those styles are inspiring brides to look for similar looks at slightly lower prices “Our customer is very interested in what stands out,” says Lynn Medoff, owner and designer of Lena Medoyeff Bridal in Portland, Ore., where bridal gowns range in price from $400 to $1,200. “Customers are requesting that type of embellishment that allows their individuality to shine through.” How brides wear the embellished gown can be an even more important decision than deciding on their milestone dress. Some designers encourage their brides to have fun and go for the gusto when it comes to accessorizing their dream dress, especially if they’re given heirlooms or jewels by their fiancé, says Alfred Angelo’s Shettel. “My personal motto has always been: ‘Do whatever you feel is right for you and do not let fashion dictate what you should wear,’” says Rani Totman, designer for Dallas-based St. Pucchi, whose gowns are known for intricate embroidery. Others worry about sensory overload or the gaudy factor. Lazaro suggests opting for a clean neckline and no necklace for a bride’s red-carpet glide down the aisle. “The bride just needs pretty earrings or hairpins or a veil,” says Barbie Roberts, buyer for the bridal department at Julian Gold in San Antonio, Texas. “When a dress has embellishments, brides need to scale back everything else.” |
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