CHECK OUT TREASURY WEST . . .

Some beautiful items today on Etsy. Treasury West is featuring several sellers--moi included! Such a surprise to wake up this morning and find the photo above on my favorite site.

Best Tiered Wedding Gowns

Here is another hot wedding dress trend to timepiece out for in spring 2009! Top wedding dress designers are adding layers and layers of tulle, organza, and extra dreamy fabrics to generate ruffled skirts wedding dresses. Think of it as a current twist to the princess ball gown or the mermaid outline.

Tiered wedding dresses will look wonderful on tall brides or pear-shaped brides, but petite brides should stay away from this trend because the layers will draw too much thought to the bottom and break off the vertical lines a petite bride should be annoying to achieve.


Read more

Best Wedding Kisses

I have been thoughts a lot about wedding kisses lately. Can you do a very big kiss? Or should you keep it minute and grandparent-friendly? Here are a little lovely wedding-kiss moment.



Read more

ODE TO THE MERMAID

JLM Couture

Thanks to a few designers like Vera Wang and Elizabeth Fillmore, mermaid silhouettes have been enjoying a rebirth within the last few years. From skirts that flare gently around the knees to pouf versions, they're all back to stay this time. Like the legendary creature herself, the mermaid is half and half: half sheath, half ball gown. Fitted long and snug to the knees then POW! Either a full flared skirt or tiers of ruffles complete the look, sometimes falling into (no pun intended) a fishtail train in back. Big glam look in the 1950s in heavier, highly polished satins. Bombshells like Jane Mansfield donned some high voltage, kitchy-chic with this cut.

JLM Couture


Pronovias
Most of the drama of a Mermaid is not only in how the skirt flares but what it's made up of . . .

Mariane Lanting Couture

Vera Wang

Pronovias

Suzanne Neville

Amanda Wakeley

Vera Wang

Mermaids are great alternatives for shorter brides who love the ball gown look but can't wear it for it's all consumingness.

Johanna Hehir

Amy-Jo Tatum

Vera Wang

Caroline Parkes

Vera Wang

David Fielden

Elizabeth Fillmore

Becky launches her line wedding dress

TV personality Becky launches on Tuesday her wedding dress new product “BCK message,” featuring own design. Becky unveiled several wedding dresses feature both Western and Japanese designs. Asked the required question about her wedding plans, Becky said, “Right now, I’m more interested in having a good time than marriage itself. But if I get married, I’ll give you all souvenirs, such as T-shirts featuring me and my groom.”



Read more

MODERN ROMANCE: Confessions of a Bridal Designer

Okay, so all you boomers know Modern Romance used to be the most popular confession pulp back in the 1960s. Lately though I've been stalking Christine Gorman's Etsy site as well as top notch blog of the same name, Modern Romance. I'm totally taken with her wrap chic. Once I tracked her down I just had to ask her from when and where her muse (or muses) first visited. Here's what she said: "Inspiration for this line started with a friend who was getting married. Since their budget was tight she bought a simple dress and was having an impossible time finding a wrap or a scarf to dress it up. I started messing around with some silk I had and my first shoulder wrap was born!"

"My head was spinning with ideas after that and so I just kept creating. The fabrics I like to use for the wraps are dupioni silk and silk organza. I love dupioni because it has a wonderful texture that adds interest to the simple shapes I like to use in my designs. As for organza, what's not to love about the ethereal quality of billowing ruffles. I also am adding a crushed velvet cape to my site which I am mad about. I decided to make the lining with the velvet as well so that the bride can be enveloped in it. It is such a wonderful fabric that it seemed a shame to only have it on the outside! "

Christine, based in Portland, Oregon also creates lucious headpieces and birdcage veils. Handmade silk florals are one of her top specialties and these little flowers look almost real. A visit to her site is gaurenteed tol truly inspire you . . . .

Best 2009 Trends: Two-Tone Wedding Gowns

This is a best two-tone wedding gowns are hottest thing off spring 2009 runways and a very elegant way to take a wedding dress beyond the indispensable glance without doing anything too extreme. Two-tone wedding dresses generally have two different but subtle colors, just like as ivory and white and ivory with champagnes.

Another easy two tone concept is to add a different sash to a spotless silhouette, and wear accessories that match color of sash. For example, if you have an ivory-colored gown with a peach sash, look for pearl bridal jewels in sunglasses of rose or go red.

Decide a veil that matches main color or any trim to deeper shade of wedding dress. For instance, if you are the wearing a champagne wedding dress with an ivory sash, decide a champagne-colored veil with an ivory bias trim on limits.

Two-tone wedding dresses are a big way to indulge in a runway trend without look too avant garde, and its delicate effects will absolutely stand test of time.

Read more

IN SIMPATICO: The Lowdown on Dressing As a Duo

Stewart Parvin

Relax. There are no hard and fast rules you have to follow anymore when it comes time for you and your groom to coordinate your look. Only that the bride and groom’s look should be in simpatico. This means if you're in a Reem Acra with a cathedral train and veil, the groom can’t show up in a casual linen suit without setting your unity as a couple off-balance. Realize this day is symbolic; you’re creating the harmony you hope follows the rest of your life.

If you happen to like tradition and want to follow the rules to the letter, below you’ll find them outlined; on the other hand, if you wish to add a twist on those traditions to demonstrate your creativity or make a statement, go for it.

selix

HIGH DRESS FORMAL - Pictured above. Generally when the bride is in a formal gown with a long train and corresponding veil after 4PM, the groom is in white-tie and tails. Think symphony conductor in full dress and you’ve nailed this look. The overcoat is black and can be single or double breasted. Shorter in front, it narrows down to two tails hanging to the knees in back. Typically a white pique shirt and white vest are worn underneath with white bow tie. White gloves and a pocket silk or boutonniere really complete your appearance. So what if you want to go white tie before 4PM? As long as the bride’s gown is formal enough and you both feel better in full dress at noon, do it. selix

Vera Wang
FORMAL- Both photos above. Time of day (11AM-4PM), location and size of the guest list usually distinguish this from the High Dress Formal wedding. The bride wears a gown with a train and the groom is usually in a tuxedo. Single or double-breasted, the tux is worn for formal and semi-formal weddings with matching trousers that have a satin stripe running down the outside leg. Under the jacket is a wing tip or spread collared shirt, vest or cummerbund and bow tie. Contemporary versions with vests can be worn with necktie replacing bow tie. An alternative to the tux is the traditional morning coat, once standard for formal daytime weddings. To picture this look think Ascot. You know those races in England with all the guys in top hats? Like tails, this coat is short in front, tapering to a long split panel in back. Can be in black, but gray is the traditional shade. The coat is worn with corresponding gray or gray pinstripe trousers, a gray vest and white spread collared or wing-tip shirt, topped off with an ascot tie.

Cavalli

Ulrich Engler
SEMI-FORMAL - Pictured above and below, typically the bride is still in a formal gown, only she dons a shorter train or ball gown sans the train. This less traditional wedding gives you both the flexibility to tone down the formality of your attire. Here your groom can go with a different shade or unconventional cut tux like a Nehru jacket. During summer months, how about a white dinner jacket with black trousers, matching cummerbund and tie? This Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca look is great for West Coast or island weddings—compliments beachy/evening gown silhouettes so trendy now.

Le Spose di Jo

Caroline Castigliano

INFORMAL-For an informal wedding your groom can wear anything stylish from his best suit to something more laid-back like a navy sport coat or silk shirt and khakis. Clothing here follows the simplicity of the celebration, and one of the most important things you and your groom need keep in mind is, informal weddings are brief and the attire though stylish and even elegant, is never formal.

Catherine Walker

Cymbeline
Temperley London