Pnina Tornai in two sentences or less
By Never teh BridePnina Tornai is an Israeli designer with a flair for over-the-top bridal fashion. She eschews both convention and proofreaders — the best sentence on her site has to be “In the last to years Pnina has expended herself over seas.” Is there anything left? Let’s have a look!
I, too, would adopt a sullen expression if I were forced to walk a runway with a bouquet of dahlias affixed to my skull. A similar bunch of blooms appears to be sprouting from the model’s right shoulder.
The outfit above gives me an idea for a new reality show: My Ghetto-Fabulous Mother-in-Law. For some mysterious reason I just can’t see a bride wearing this…I wonder why!
I won’t lie — this dress takes me by the throat and forces me to love it. Yet I know I would automatically fear the bride who chose it, for she must be as fierce as a tigress and as dark as the outskirts of the universe.
What can I say? Would you believe me if I said that Pnina “borrowed” this idea from Frederick’s of Hollywood shortly after she “expended herself.”
I kid, I kid! It’s because I love! For every horrorshow Pnina Tornai creates, she whips up a stunning gown to balance it out. I don’t know why I’ve been so obsessed with the not-so-great lately — think wedding sneakers and bridenapping toppers — but I’m making a mental note to focus more on all things beautiful in the future. Really…I promise.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:56 am
Mmmm
There are no words
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
Pssst! NtB! It’s “bouquet of dahliaS.” It’s plural, not possessive, so no apostrophe. Thanks!
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
Arrgh! My eyes!
I’ve been tortured enough by this woman’s designs while watching “Say Yes to the Dress.” If I never see another see-through boned bodice, I can die a happy woman.
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
I think every bride who appeared on Say Yes to the Dress was contractually obligated to try on that last gown. I kept waiting for some grandmother to start hyperventilating and screaming ‘WHORE! WHORE!’ at the bride when she showed it off, but somehow even ancient women of unquestionable propriety grew misty-eyed at the beauty of a woman proposing to get married in a church while displaying her corsetry boning to the world.
But I must admit, I think I might find a few episodes of My Ghetto-Fabulous Mother-In-Law kind of amusing. It beats my first thought of Really Married to the Mob.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Eek, thank you for pointing that out, La BellaDonna! Every now and again one of my fingers decides it wants to throw in an erroneous apostrophe (or letter or number) and I’m left sitting red-faced at my desk.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
OMG- Wow. When you said over the top- you weren’t kidding! But the last dress- i I am having a LOVE hate relationship with.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Flamenco dress for the win!
I’d wear the black and white number in a *second*.
…and wear it out regularly to the goth club for as long as I could fit in it.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
As the apple shape, I could not wear the elongated torso shown on most of these gowns. The black/white/goth would bedazzle the eye so much no one would see my figure flaws, The MOB (Te he he… mob! Mother of the bride, MOB ! sorry….) Dress is definitely on the other side of F’d up but would stop all comments of being out of shape in case I was hiding an ouzzi in the tulle…
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:39 am
oh man, these are actually pretty modest compared to some of the Israeli wedding fashions I’ve seen (I first saw the see through boned bodice back in ‘04) – most of the dresses out there look like you forgot to put your dress on over your corset and crinoline. Just check out Galit Levi’s collections (www.galitlevi.com). One of her dresses looks like it’s being modeled by a 9 year old (fairytale and ‘art’ collections).
July 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Thank you for posting on this designer. After going to look at her other stuff, I’ve put her down as one of my options for my wedding dress. Some of the more subdued stuff is divine.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Pshaw! And also? I too would wear that black-and-white lace dress in a heartbeat. I’d wear it for my wedding, and for every other occasion on which it could even be marginally considered appropriate. It is fabulous. I do blink a bit at the prospect of exposing the boning in my gown to the multitudes; in fact, it caused me quite a bit of anxious work in order to bone embroidered organdy for a wedding gown so that it was NOT visible.