YouLookFab » Wedding Wear

Reminiscing about wedding day style

Angie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:52:44 +0000

Thirteen years ago today, Greg and I were married in Cape Town, South Africa. The church service was held in one of the oldest remaining stone churches in the country and we had the reception at a restaurant right on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Like most wedding days, it felt perfect in every way even though it was over so, so fast. It’s astounding how much preparation can go into a mere eight hours of your life.

Because the day is over so quickly, my late Mum suggested that I try to enjoy the process of planning the wedding event instead of getting all stressed about the details. This was brilliant advice and I ended up enjoying the planning process as much as the day itself. The best part was thinking about my frock. I designed my own wedding dress and knew exactly what I wanted from the word go. I wanted to be “a modern vintage bride”, which is a contradiction in terms, but it made sense to me.

I always saw myself walking down the aisle in a veil-free, fairly narrow-fitting gown with vintage detailing and lots of pearls. So I worked with an experienced, rather deaf and stubborn, eighty year old seamstress to make this happen. She was fabulous. The dress was vintage in styling, but the fabric was modern (an off-white stretch bridal satin). The back square neckline was cut low and had thirty covered rouleaux loop buttons and a train that was almost double the length of the dress. It had special loops sewn into the hem so that I could loop the train around a few fingers when I walked so that I wouldn’t trip over it. I had vintage lace attached to the neckline and wore my Mother’s long drop pearl earrings. And that was the last day I wore earrings. I also wore my very first real pearl necklace and bracelet, which my boss at the time gave to me as a present.

You can’t really see my shoes in the picture below, but they were almost the best part of the outfit. I managed to find chunky, retro, strappy matte gold 70’s sandals with huge square ankle buckles. I loved how they were an unexpected element of surprise each time I sat down and crossed my legs.

I had very little to do with Greg’s wedding outfit. How’s that for trust and love! His instructions were (1) to surprise me and (2) to make sure that he wore good shoes. My sweetie did a superb job and I wouldn’t have changed a thing about his outfit.

This picture of Greg and me is my favourite wedding picture because it captures a perfectly down to earth and fun moment. I’m pulling a face saying something to the effect of: “I think a rose petal went down the front of dress”, and Greg thought that was hilarious.

I only realized much later that my wedding dress ended up being very similar to my Mum’s 1963 wedding dress. Crazy. If I could do it all again, I would probably design a very similar dress and still walk down the aisle without a veil.

Your wedding dress style is very personal and there is no right and wrong in my book. In fact, I’m all for non-traditional wedding attire. As long as you feel beautiful and dress appropriately for the dress code you choose for the big day, it really doesn’t matter what you end up wearing. If it’s not a timeless silhouette, that doesn’t matter either because you’ll look back on it and remember that it was trendy at the time.

I’d love to hear about what you wore on your wedding day, the preparation that went into your wedding style, and how you felt about the outcome. And if you haven’t yet walked down the aisle, but have some thoughts about what you would like to wear should the special day come around, I’d love to hear about those too.

Nothing to wear!

Angie — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 13:35:58 +0000

We’ve all been caught with nothing to wear at some point or another. It’s immensely frustrating to be rushing around at the last minute trying to piece together an outfit for a fabulous bash. The simple solution is to keep a few fairly classic dressy basics in your wardrobe. That way you’ll be spared from disappointing shopping sprees, and prepared for last-minute invitations.

Dressy basics to keep on hand:

Little cocktail dress which doesn’t need to be black.
Beaded top that you can wear with slacks, a skirt or a suit.
Dressy pants in either satin, crepe or velvet.
Dressy skirt that’s preferably a-line and knee length for maximum versatility, in either taffeta or raw silk.
Dressy shoes in mule, sandal or sling-back.
Perfect clutch that’s small and says something about your personality.
Dressy wrap that’s a similar fabric weight to the dress or top it will accompany.

The next time you shop and fall in love with dressy items that you think you won’t need – think again. Build a capsule of dressy items over time and don’t get caught! This can be cost effective, organized and less stressful in the long run.

Grace Kelly-inspired little black dress and fancy satin sling-backs from Bloomingdales.

Gold clutch from Nordstrom.

Dropping the tie for formal functions

Angie — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:07:30 +0000

Women are fortunate when it comes to dressing for warm summer weddings and occasions – breezy dresses and open toe sandals without hose is perfectly acceptable attire. Gents, on the other hand are expected to swelter in shirt, tie, jacket, socks and closed shoes unless otherwise stated on the invitation. Are there cooler dressing options for men for formal occasions? This has been a frequent “Ask Angie“ over the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, if the dress code is formal, men will still have to bring a dinner jacket, and wear socks with dressy shoes. They can, however, drop the tie:

The Prada look: An ultra trendy look of black pants, black pinstripe shirt, black jacket and no tie. Alternatively, try an iridescent navy, brown or burgundy shirt instead of a black pinstripe one. As long as the ensembles’ palette is dark and monochromatic, they’ll look formal enough. Tom Cruise often wears this look on the red carpet. It’s a super look for formal evening functions.
The light suit and bright shirt: A tan suit with any brightly coloured shirt usually works best for this look. It’s always festive to wear a bright colour in summer which makes this ensemble especially suitable.

Dressy collared shirts will allow gents to look formal enough without ties. With a spot of luck there will be air conditioning as well.

The Prada look from Nordstrom, and Light suit with bright shirt from Macy’s, both formal, but without ties.

The Wedding Dress Code Primer

Angie — Mon, 15 May 2006 14:22:44 +0000

Many of the questions I receive are about wedding-wear. This isn’t too surprising – weddings nowadays take many shapes and sizes and along with that comes an abundance of dress codes. A simple description of some of the popular wedding dress codes will hopefully make things easier. And remember: if you are still in doubt – it’s always safer to dress up then to dress down.

Casual beach wedding:

Ladies – a cotton knee length dress, flat sandals that you can take of easily in the sand, small clutch bag and your sunglasses. Take along a cropped cardigan for when it starts to get chilly.
Gents – a plain short sleeved cotton or linen shirt (un-tucked is perfectly acceptable), paired with cotton or linen casual flat front pants and leather slip on mules.

Informal wedding:

Ladies – a festive knee length dress and strappy sandals matched with a small bag.
Gents – a plain or printed long sleeved shirt (un-tucked is again an option) paired with flat front cotton or linen pants and closed leather shoes.

Jeans are still inappropriate for even the most casual wedding. Wedding casual is not the same as stay at home weekend casual.

Semi–formal / Dressy Casual:

Business Casual for both ladies and gents is the order of the day. Skirt and pant suits, a dress or separates with heels for her; and a long sleeved shirt (tucked in) with dress pants, belt and dressy shoes for him. This is the trickiest of all dress codes – ask the bride and groom if you are still unsure about the level of formality they have in mind.

Formal Daytime:

Ladies – a smart knee length dress or dressy suit separates with heels and accessories.
Gents – a dark or light suit with white or pastel shade of shirt and matching tie. Tuxedos are inappropriate for daytime formal weddings unless specified.

Formal / Black-Tie (for evening weddings):

Ladies – cocktail dresses, dressy evening separates, dressy suits or long dresses are options. Heels, wraps and accessories are a must and so is a small elegant evening bag.
Gents – Tuxedos are optional unless specified. Dark suits with dark shirts and dark ties are best. Trendier versions of tuxedo jackets with black shirts and no tie are also acceptable.

Ultra Formal / White-Tie (this is Oscar night!):

Ladies – Glitz and glamour galore! Only your best long ball gown, accessories and highest heels will do. Hair is best up or left loose with structured curls.
Gents – Three-piece full dress with waistcoat, white tie, shirt, cumber band and shiny shoes.

Congrats to the bride and groom, have fun at their joyous occasion and above all, arrive with style!

What to wear to a “Spring Morning Wedding”

Angie — Mon, 01 May 2006 08:13:41 +0000

On April 25 (“Wedding Appropriate”) I said that Wedding-wear needs to be smart, relatively modest and any color but white. Today I’m going to be a bit more specific – what does one wear to a Spring morning wedding?

There are lots of options, but here are my top 4 (in order):

A “floaty” summer dress – there is nothing more elegant, feminine and chic than a pretty knee length summer dress that flatters your body type and has movement when you walk. Add a dainty little clutch bag, vintage jewelry and strappy sandals and you’ll be the second best dressed person there.
A Knitted dress – a printed knee length knitted wrap dress (which you hopefully already have in your cupboard) makes for a more retro and funky alternative. Add chunky jewelry, high-wedge peek-toe shoes and a patent clutch and you’ll look fab.
Dressed up walk shorts – match a pair of knee length walk shorts with a lacy girly top, pearls and pointy toe shoes for a new and easy combination.
Jacket and skirt separates – marry a cropped short puffed sleeve jacket with an A-line or pencil skirt for a more versatile option. Add a broad waist belt for a bit of current edge. The jacket is a good investment as you’ll be able to wear it over jeans or pants to another occasion.

Floaty elegance from Macy’s and Bebe. Summer dress with movement, and knitted wrap dress, both from Bloomingdales.

Walk shorts from Macys. Jacket and skirt separates from Nordstrom.

Bear the following in mind with any of the above options:

Keep your bags small – you’ll ruin the elegance that you’ve created with anything big.
Avoid wearing black from head to toe – it’s a morning wedding, not going to a funeral. Rejoice with the newly weds and wear a cheerful colour.
Wear your heels as high as you can go – it’s appropriate, dressy and more flattering with any skirt, dress or walk short, but…
Don’t wear thin heels if the ceremony is on a lawn – pulling your heels out of the dirt isn’t very stylish!

I’d love to hear your wedding-wear suggestions as comments on this entry.