Are brides turning away from the traditional wedding gown?
You could certainly argue that there has never been a better time to be a bride. With the rise of social media, inspiration for planning the perfect day could not be more at our disposal, while the choices for what to wear are better than ever as designers and luxury retailers expand their offerings of bridalwear, catering to the most modern and unique nuptials.
This month alone, Browns and Matches Fashion, two of the biggest luxury retailers in the UK, have announced the launch of their own wedding edits, while Net-a-Porter quietly unveiled a bridal drop on their site a few seasons ago, after seeing a significant growth in demand from their customer.
“Bridalwear has been growing continuously for the past few years, with an increase in sales of 17 per cent in 2019,” Elizabeth von der Goltz, global buying director at Net-a-Porter explained to us, while a similar story was being told at Matches.
“Recently we have seen a rise in sales of our eveningwear and modern tailoring categories particularly in monochrome tones,” global buying director, Natalie Kingham said. “We also received feedback from our private shopping teams that our customers were looking for unique outfits and accessories for special occasions and contemporary weddings. It felt fitting for us to curate these looks into one shoppable edit to ultimately make life easier for our customer.”
And at Browns, buying director Ida Peterson says that her team saw a new and growing demand for more adventurous bridalwear.
“Over the last few years, white has become one of the most important investment colours for us across both clothing and accessories. The feedback we’ve received from the store managers is that women are coming in in increasing numbers looking for something that goes beyond your typical wedding dress and has a fashion edge to it.”
What is clear across all three retailers is that brides are not looking for traditional wedding dresses – they want something that either has a unique feel about it or is more casual than a conventional bridal gown.
Designers such as Alessandra Rich, Brandon Maxwell, Rosie Assoulin and Danielle Frankel make up part of what Net-a-Porter is bringing to the table as a “redefining of the modern bride” with “incredibly editorial” wedding options. Matches’ approach (which launches today) caters to six customer muses, from oversized bows at Emilia Wickstead to a sheer lace maxi dress with feather cuffs from Christopher Kane. The Browns edit is filled with unique accessories and party-ready pieces from the likes of Alexandre Vauthier, Rotate and Roksanda. When looking at these collections, there is no denying that these customers are moving away from what we once thought of as wedding attire.
But where does this desire to shun the traditional wedding gown come from? In part, it is because many brides now want more than one dress.
“We have noticed an increase in our customers wanting a spectrum of different outfits to get married in – weddings often span several days so the bride may want classic for the ceremony, but glam for the party,” Kingham says.
Von der Goltz agrees: “Brides are no longer looking for ‘the one’ wedding dress. Instead, they are coming to us to shop for all events surrounding the wedding day, such as the engagement party, the registry office, the rehearsal dinner, the big day, the afterparty – and even multiple white pieces for the honeymoon.
“Our edit allows our customer to maintain her personal style and wear the brands she knows and loves. She isn’t interested in the traditional bridal shopping experience and wants her outfit choices at her wedding to reflect her own everyday style, so she is becoming much more experimental.”
Ultimately, these brides are looking for dresses that cater to each part of their celebrations, but they also want their wedding style to reflect their personal tastes. What retailers are tapping into is this desire to get married wearing contemporary pieces from their favourite designers – and this is something that may not have been possible before.
“The attitude to wedding-dress shopping is changing,” Peterson adds. “There is a level of experimentation that’s happening that wasn’t there before. Additionally, as women are increasingly looking for alternative venues and unconventional choices for their ceremonies, the need to dress up or spend all your money on a ‘wear once’ piece has become less desirable.”
Much of this shift can certainly be attributed to the impact of social media, which has allowed brides much more of an insight into the weddings of the rich, famous and influential. Here, we have seen fashionable brides flaunting their seven-outfit nuptials, others choosing to go low-key and even royalty and A-list celebrities opting for second dresses or less traditional designs.
“Social media is having a huge influence on bridal trends, as customers now make decisions based on what they see on influencers and celebrities – such as having an ‘after-party’ dress,” von der Goltz says. “The second dress has seen the biggest growth in demand, spearheaded by Meghan Markle and resulting in an ever-increasing demand for sexy party options.”
The retailers are catering to this with their party-ready pieces, with Net-a-Porter even carrying the exact Stella McCartney dress that the Duchess of Sussex wore for her evening reception.
But this isn’t the only trend to have made its mark. Von der Goltz adds: “The resurgence of the jumpsuit has also been a major trend and is fast becoming one of our bestselling bridal silhouettes. Sophie Turner, Solange Knowles and Kaley Cuoco prove that a bridal jumpsuit is an elegant yet effortless choice for the big day.”
“Social media has definitely had an impact and with a lot of key players choosing a non-traditional dress for their big day – the trend is trickling down,” Peterson adds, perhaps referring to brides such as Danish model Emma Leth, who wore a sheer, beachy dress with an enormous Jacquemus hat for her wedding, fashionista Olivia Palermo tying the knot in shorts, actress Emily Ratajkowski doing it in an orange suit or influencer Caroline Brasch marrying in ever-so-cool Cecile Bahnsen. The desire to do something unique has never been stronger.
A post shared by Caroline Bille Brahe (@caroline_brasch) on Feb 14, 2019 at 7:55am PST
But, of course, another reason that brides may be choosing something less formal (which is in contrast to the desire to have more than one wedding dress) is due to the impact of sustainability. Many brides may be choosing less prim or traditional gowns so that they can wear them far beyond their wedding day – and lose this ‘wear once’ approach.
“Similar to the trend that we are seeing in everyday shopping, our brides are taking a more considered approach to style,” von der Goltz explains of the Net-a-Porter customer. “Investment dresses mean that brides are shopping more responsibly, purchasing outfits to celebrate now, as well as for years to come.”
Matches too has seen this pattern with its customer, which is part of the reason its new wedding edit has such a diverse range of pieces, from tops and skirts to jackets, mini dresses and more.
“The key element is that all the pieces across designers are created to be celebrated and worn again and again for all sorts of different events – not to sit in your wardrobe for ever after.”
This jump is pretty significant. Not so long ago, it was not unusual for every bride to spend more money on her wedding dress than anything she had ever bought, to then keep it at the back of her wardrobe, never to be worn again.
The changing nature of weddings, fashion and the impact of sustainability has certainly lessened the appeal of buying a traditional wedding dress, if only for the more fashion-forward bride. And in many ways, this is a great thing – there is less pressure on finding that one dream dress, brides have more opportunity than ever to have fun with their style, and with so many designers and retailers catering to this new approach, the modern-day bride has never had so much choice.
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