I just looked at Jennifer Lopez, married today at 53. Wearing the classic bridal dress we women always fantasise from the moment wedding dreams enter our cinderella story books. But it has occurred to me many times how unaffordable wedding dresses are for most women. I am reading the prices of mortgages, which have gone up, and the gas and electricity prices that are booming thanks to inflation. For me personally, a wedding dress is the worse fashion investment a woman can ever buy. I actually sold mine back to the designer. So my bespoke wedding dress was made from satin and silk way back in the nighties. End up costing me a mere, three hundred pounds. Which when looking back was a lot of cash.
So how can a future bride look and feel like Lopez minus the bank account for 2022? This is me way back in 2007, two months after my daughter was born. We decided to do a wedding shoot and give the wedding dress an upcycling vibe.
Jennifer Lopez Versus Dior
Why opt for a white dress anyway? Why not buck the tradition and go for a colour that presents the bride, soul? Other cultures do like India.
Recently, Chiara Ferragni Dior’s wedding dress which cost her $420,000 was worn. So think about the saving if you get your body into a vintage Dior. To get inspiration from other vintage fabrics her, white ceremony dress had a lace bodice and tulle skirt.
For the reception, she changed into a cream tulle gown with a corset top and embroidered images of lions, hearts, and lyrics to Leonardo’s song. Embroidery can be very personal on a dress. And reused for other occasions, like your first year anniversary.
Angelina Jolie also allowed her kids to draw on her wedding dress.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Miami Wedding
Another money-saving buying tip is if you have access to a grandmother’s bridal dress that is in excellent condition or a vintage Dior. How special, rare and niche is that for a new bride?
Eunice expressed that she wanted to wear her Grandmother’s Dior dress that was originally worn down the aisle in 1953. Named after her Grandmother, Eunice just so happened to fit perfectly in the now French Vanilla Ivory gown.
Wearing your grandma’s wedding dress was already an idea worn by Princess Beatrice. The design, which once featured a full-skirted silhouette with layers of petticoats, was altered to feature softer ivory peau de soie taffeta, a duchess satin trim on a shorter hemline, and short puff sleeves added for a more contemporary look. Undertaken by the Queen’s longtime dressmaker Stewart Parvin, the project was top secret until after the nuptials in Windsor on July 17. If you have access to a Queen’s wardrobe, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.
Double Breasted Dior
Being a celebrity Las Vegas bride is a 2022 trend from JLo marrying BenAffleck. Jlo opted for a vintage dress too. Lily Allen recently married David Harbour, an actor from Stranger Things. Her wedding gown is the perfect intersection of the classic and nontraditional dress.
It’s not easy (or really comprehensible) to pull off such a balance, and yet, the “Smile” singer did in her Dior mini dress.
The double-breasted Dior dress featured a boatneck silhouette with a thin belt around the waist and cost 3,300 pounds. For Lily, the outfit proved to fill multiple needs, from a ceremony led by an Elvis impersonator to In-N-Out burgers with her new husband and her daughters, Marnie and Ethel.
Be inspired by this idea for your ensemble from her wedding day.
So did Anna Bey during Lockdown chose to wear a Dior dress that could be worn on many other occasions. Especially months later without a mask!
Sustainability
Buying and spending so much money on a wedding garment that is worn only for a few hours. Is the worse investment a woman can buy. It’s a dress than rarely gets worn again. It sits in the cupboard for years collecting mould. And on most occasions becomes a depressing gown. For a mere reason including me, the bride never is able to get into ever again. I am 13kg heavier now than when I got married at 26. There is no way I would ever fit into this dress. Looking back I didn’t really like it that much. How many of us buy a wedding dress that we regret later? Think about renting a wedding dress. Thousands can be saved such as food on the table or a deposit on a flat.
Upcycling
I wore this tulle skirt which is originally from a bridal dress fifty years ago. So if you do manage to buy a wedding dress. Think about how you could upcycle it.
I dyed the tulle which resulted in this. Many heads were turning in the streets of Lucca when I wore it. So mentally upbeat for tough inflation times such as now. Clothes need to impact your happy state of mind.
How To Make The Dress Memorable?
If you are going to buy a wedding dress, head to a charity store first. I have seen new wedding dresses never worn handed in. You can upcycle it or add your own personal embroidery touch to it. All of this at a fraction of the price. When it’s all over you can either return it or reuse it by cutting the dress into other styles. All of this means you are creating a very personal dress at a low-cost price.
The key is here, it’s easy to buy a wedding dress off the rack. Opt for a deeper meaningfully gown that can be worn all throughout your married life.
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