Behind the Dress – Issue 02: Love, Vera‏

Hollywood. This week’s featured wedding dress, Joan, reflects the polish and sophistication of cinema’s most fashionable stars. Vera offers her insights on the design inspiration behind Joan.

INSPIRATION

A modified A-line wedding dress with bias cut bands, a strapless bodice and bows down the back, Joan is a classic Vera Wang. Over nearly twenty years in wedding fashion, my vision has naturally evolved. Yet even as I push the boundaries, I keep these classic design elements and signature fabrics in sight.

Joan is a tribute to Hollywood fashion of the 1930’s through the 1950’s, a period noteworthy for the siren dresses and slinky charmeuse slips of its starlets. Women like Jean Harlow, Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe epitomized an important transition in the uniquely American woman. I am inspired by the tension between femininity and independence that these women embodied.

Like these cinema stars, Joan is classic in form yet seductive in personality.

On a wedding dress, the combination of silk organdy and duchess satin fabrics creates a polished sheen that is ultra-sophisticated. Satin adds glamour to any look.

Keep in mind, create a consistent look with a hairstyle that draws from the same period as the wedding dress, but be careful not to choose one that overpowers the dress. The classic films featuring these glamorous stars are a great source of ideas and inspiration. A satin shawl or wrap is a perfect complement to Joan.

FABRICS

Satin is the long-established preference for formal wedding dresses because of its shimmer and weight. Plain or embellished, satin looks lavish and important. That said, the impact is not simply in the choice of fabric but also how that fabric is used in the design of the dress. Organza is one of my fabrics of preference for wedding dresses because of its lightness and ability to be folded and manipulated.

FOUNDATIONS

For the wedding day, choose foundation pieces that provide functional support for your chosen wedding dress. For example, a slip that skims the body, but does not ride up, reduces transparency and prevents the wedding dress from sticking. Save lacy lingerie for your honeymoon trousseau, an age-old tradition that remains an important wedding ritual even today.