Gather Ye Skirts While Ye May

It’s no secret that I love gathered ruched skirts on wedding gowns. Twistie, on the other hand, longs to grab the nearest iron! But my love does come with a few caveats… the gathers have to look sort of natural, rather like one has been enjoying an impromtu picnic in one’s wedding gown on the morning of the ceremony. And the skirt itself must be full enough to facilitate that aesthetic.

There is another sort of gathered ruched skirt (usually found on the bridesmaid) that I’ve come to hate, if only because it does not fulfill my requirements for a messy-but-not-too-messy full skirt. Take a gander at these bridesmaids’ dresses from Raylia Designs:

gathered_bridesmaid_dress_2gathered_bridesmaid_dress

Now is it just me, or do these skirts look like someone put a tube sock on a ferret and let it roll around for a while*? You know what I mean — the ferret does a little breakdance and the sock gets all skootched up around its midsection. It’s not very attractive on the ferret or on the bridesmaid!

*Dear PETA: Don’t hurt me. I swear the ferret was having fun.

7 Responses to “Gather Ye Skirts While Ye May”

  1. Twistie says:

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Those skirts AND ferrets in the same post????? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME NTB?????????*

    *I have ferret issues. So sue me.

  2. Elaine says:

    I really like the turquoise one on the right. Strangely though, I don’t like the same scrunching on the longer skirt, and I can’t imagine that dress in any other color. I REALLY don’t like the dresses in the left photo.

  3. Melissa B. says:

    Oof. No. I’m not a big fan of scrunchy skirts, so I’m biased already, but these are flat and sad and lazily done.

  4. Emma says:

    To be fair, the ferret would look heart-breaking adorable in the tube sock. Unless the tube sock came with an ugly hat. http://cuteoverload.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/11497210-c894fb9a4817c7d46c64f3d6b49cee79-4a2dc4d6-full.jpg Then the poor thing would just look homicidal.

  5. La BellaDonna says:

    “Ruched” would be the technical term for what’s been done to these skirts. Or even “swagged on the sides”. (The disadvantage to my knowing the technical terms is that I get very confused when other people describe how something is made: I was envisioning actual gathered skirts: i.e., many tiny tight folds at the waistline, resulting in a very wide hem.)

    I actually like both gathering AND ruching, but I find these dresses to be very … tepid.

  6. La BellaDonna: In that case, put me down as a BIG fan of gathered skirts, but not so much of the ruched ones.