Manolo for the Brides

My mother took me out to breakfast this morning, and we ended up dining in one of the nicer hotels in Boston. Their dining room had a lovely robin’s egg blue and tan color scheme. At one point, my mother fielded a business call and I had plenty of time to admire the decor. Alas, the popularity of blues in general has made finding the true subdued (and slightly green) robin’s egg a little problematic. Of course, even among the actual eggs, you will find a great deal of variation, so that’s one problem solved

In case you wondering, here is a picture of an actual robin’s egg:

Now, we can parlay that into a favor:

An invitation:

A bridal party theme, as displayed by the lady to our left:

And an expression of gratitude:

I’ve come across a lot of these Western-style wedding dresses and skirt sets (like this one fromRenton Western Wear) lately…and it’s not by choice, believe me. But there must be a market for this sort of thing. I’m just stymied as to what that market is. Theme weddings? Second weddings? Rodeo weddings?

I stumbled across a wonderful article on the history of the wedding dress today, written by Elizabeth Davies. While the piece is quite comprehensive, what really makes it shine are the hand-drawn illustrations. Here is a sample:

A well-to-do middle class woman (like Giovanna Cenami in 1434, right) would aspire to velvet or silk fabrics, and because she could not usually afford mink or sable, she would wear fox, or rabbit fur to impress her friends. The poor bride’s dress would be of linen, or fine wool, instead of the usual coarse homespun, and she would use as much fabric as she could. For an everyday girl, clothes would normally be as sparingly cut as was decent, so a gown with flowing sleeves or a train was a big status symbol.

Those forced by economics into wearing a dress that would soon become regular daily wear would adorn it for the day with temporary decorations. Up until the nineteenth century ribbons would be tied into bows, or “love knots” and loosely attached to the dress. These “bride laces” would be pulled off by the guests during the post ceremony festivities, and kept as wedding favours, or souvenirs. This custom gradually died out, being replaced by flowers instead. This custom has, of course, remained to this day - most brides, no matter how simply dressed, will have a flower or two somewhere on their outfit! When Charlotte Pennell (left) married George Hill in 1910, she was nearing 40, and had no intention of wearing a “once only” dress. She did however, decorate her fashionable ensemble with a posy of flowers in her hat and a matching bouquet.

Sleeves were the big feature of seventies dresses. After twenty years of tight sleeves cut to a point over the hand, Princess Anne led the way with her extravagant Tudor sleeved wedding gown, and the brides of this decade followed suit with sleeve styles culled from every era.

Yeek! What is it about the 70s, anyway? She could stow the flower girl or two in her sleeves and have room left over to tuck away a few bottles of bubbly for the afterparty!

If you want more pictorial wedding dress history, check out The Bride’s Book: A Pictorial History of American Bridal Dress, Foreign Brides from Antiquity, or The Royal Wedding Dresses, all three of which are absolutely chock full of wonderful illustrations of gowns throughout the ages!

Did you know you that Fergie will happily ice you out for your nuptials or any other special occassion? No, not that Fergie. I’m talking about Sarah Margaret Ferguson, Duchess of York. While at the gym this morning, I came across an advert for Sarah’s Jewelry, a partnership between K&G Creations and the former Princess Andrew.

Sarah’s Jewelry is all Moissanite, all the time, set in yellow, white or two-tone 14K or 18K gold and designed by Charles & Colvard. The site also features the Sarah Ferguson Limited Edition Signature Series — a collection of jewelry that is vintage inspired, hand crafted in 18-karat gold, and produced in limited quantities, etc., etc.

I don’t know about you, but I like ‘em! Not so much the pricetag, though. There is no reason, IMO, that Moissanite needs to be so pricey.

Here’s another luscious gown, this time from Domenica Couture:

I love the detailing on the shoulders because it’s sexy without being quite strapless. Want more info? The gown features ivory metallic lace over silk satin, a drop waist A-line silhouette, and metallic tulle cap sleeve with a back sash. Ooh la la!

This is just a heads up for those of you who happen to enjoy the occasional bit of offline wedding info, as passed on to me by Xen. The February-March issue of BUST has a brilliant piece on the evolution of the bridesmaid, from “esteemed protector to badly dressed lackey.” The article, Bridesmaids Revisited, crams a lot of info into a four-page piece, touching on cultural factoids and the rise of the modern “traditional” wedding.

If you can get get your hands on BUST (har har har), check it out!

If your honey loves nothing more than to stand at the sea’s edge for hours in the hopes that some unthinking fishy will decide to take booby-trapped bait, Reyes del Mar has the wedding bands you’ve been searching for.

All I can say is, “Heeeeeere fishy, fishy, fishy fishy! Heeeeeere fishy, fishy, fishy fishy!“