Bride Chic

I have probably designed more wedding gowns inspired by the 1930s and 1950s than by any other eras . The 1950s gave us architecture—sculpted bodices, tiny waists and skirts engineered into beautiful shapes—but the 1930s offered something entirely different. It was a decade of extraordinary transition. At its beginning, bridal fashion still carried traces of the romanticism of the late 1920s: softer silhouettes, fluid fabrics, Juliet caps and veils, and gowns that followed rather than constructed the figure. By decade's end, the bride had acquired a new confidence. Shoulders became stronger, waists more defined and the overall silhouette increasingly controlled and sophisticated. Hollywood provides a wonderful pair of bookends for that transformation. In 1932, Adrian's costumes for Joan Crawford in Letty Lynton created a fashion sensation, most famously through the extravagant ruffled white organdy gown whose enormous sleeves were copied everywhere. The influence of cinema on f...