Wedding Dress Wednesday

Today I’m bringing you a designer who actually doesn’t design bridal gowns.

He is more of a butt kicking, in your face formal wear designer.

His name is Naeem Khan, an Indian born designer that I would like to introduce you to.  His style is unreal and this is one of my favorite “wedding” gowns.

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of good images.  I wish you could really see how awesome this gown is!!

This gown blew my mind!

It’s part of his 2012 PreFall Collection and it’s super luxurious.

I see this gown at an estate wedding, the bride looks beautiful with large pearl stud earrings and her hair in a simple and sleek low bun.

You can pre order this gown at good ol’ Neiman Marcus and remember friends, you get what you pay for and you are getting incredible beading and luxurious fabric with this one.

Do yourself a favor and check out this designer’s website here.

Look Out World!

A little busy today.

Why?

Boom!

 

Yeah.

It’s kind of a big deal.

Inside Edition is filming at one of my stores, so I’m not going to be able to blog today.  I hope you can forgive me.

The long and Short of It

There are a few words and phrases I hate

1. “At the end of the day.” (Overused)

2. “Fabulous” (Only people who are not fabulous and are trying TOO hard to be fabulous use this word)

3. “I could care less” (This means that you DO care a little. The phrase “I COULDN’T care less” is correct)

4. “Moist” (No explanation needed)

5. “I know, riiiiggghhtt?” (The worst offender. I know it’s super cute to say, but to me it is like nails on a chalkboard)

Barf

What does this have to do with Weddings or dresses, you may ask?

Nothing.

It was just on my mind today and I had to get it off of my chest.

Anyway, one of my favorite readers wrote to me after I posted about Drew Barrymore’s wedding dress. She wrote “I was wondering why you didn’t do a blog post on Kelsey Grammer’s prego wife’s wedding gown?”

Well, here is why

What the…

For me, there are no words.

How do you feel about her choice of dress?

Wedding Gown Wednesday

I know we all love texture.

About five years ago I was at a show for a designer at Market and I remember seeing a gown with out of this world texture (or what I thought was “out of this world” at the time).

whoa.

That was all I could think.  I had fallen hard for this whole texture thing.

Fast forward five years.

Texture is everywhere.  Every designer has at least one textured piece in each collection and they know that it will sell well.  It’s kinda easy to design a textured gown now.  Just bunch up some fabric, put it on a skirt, sew the skirt onto a ruched bodice and call it good.

I’ve grown to appreciate real, thought out, beautifully executed texture.

So I turn to Oscar de la Renta.

This gown is really almost a crocheted lace.  It is soft, buy also offers a punch in the face when it comes down the aisle.  A good punch.  Not a Katy Perry punching Prince Charming in her new “Wide Awake” video kind of punch.

Take that Russell Brand!  I actually kind of liked this music video…

Maybe more like a refreshing slap in the face when you’re tired.

The gown is a trumpet cut, which means it’s a fit and flare where the flare starts at the hip and not the knee.  This fit is much more forgiving than a mermaid cut and can look good on most figures.

If you want to see this gown and more by Oscar de la Renta click here.  Oh and while you’re there, check out their new 2013 line.  Pretty edgy… and when I say edgy I mean Pioneer-y.

What are you thoughts?

This is a Wedding, Not a Funeral!

I have heard this statement spoken to me by countless Brides and MOBs.

Why do they say this, you ask?

Well, it’s when we are talking about colors that the Bridal Party should wear and I suggest black.

They normally give me some sort of version of this face

Look.

I know that as little girls we grew up thinking we were going to wear a bright white, sparkly ball gown for a dress and our Bridesmaids would either wear lavender or burgundy.  You may have noticed while planning your wedding, that it doesn’t normally end up the way you dreamed it would when you were 8.

You grow up.

Your taste becomes more refined.

You choose an Ivory silk shantung mermaid dress instead of the big white sparkly ball gown.

Maybe you don’t get married in Cinderella’s Castle, but at a Four Seasons.

You don’t dance with your father to “Butterfly Kisses” but to an instrumental version of “The Way You Look Tonight”.

And hey, to any of you Brides that chose to do any of the above things, kudos to you!  You are committed to your fantasy of your wedding as a young child and I think that should be celebrated, but let’s also remember to keep an open mind.

Why black?

First off, it makes your wedding more formal.  If the men are wearing a classic Tux (and I’m talking James Bond, Black Bow Tie classic.  Not colored cummerbund, The Wedding Singer classic) why not stream line the party with all black.

I loved how a few years back the style for men in weddings turned to simple suits in grays and browns, but I do have to admit that I’m craving the good old Black Tux. I mean, COME ON! LOOK AT THIS!

Secondly, everyone looks good in black.  Believe me, your Maids will thank you.  Oh and so will the Mothers!

Third, it will make you, the Bride, stand out in your Ivory, White or Blush colored dress.

Fourth, your flowers will POP!

Fifth, you will never look back on the color you chose for your Bridesmaids and think “What the Hell…”.

Do I need to go on?

I will if you want me to.

Look, do I think that everyone should chose black for their line?  No.

Do I think when Brides choose other colors that it’s tacky?  Of course not!  I’m a Bridesmaid in a wedding this summer and I get to wear beautiful nude colored dress that I’m super psyched about and that will look beautiful with all of their colors.

I just don’t think you should rule black out.

It’s stunning, sophisticated and lovely.

And yes, I did black for my wedding.  It doesn’t mean I’m biased.

Well, maybe just a little…

Here are some examples and I want you to notice that most of these Brides let their Bridesmaids choose (with the Bride having the final say, of course) her own style.  Black is the perfect color to do this with because it will not look over the top.  Also, black is black.  No funky shades to worry about.

Cute POP of color

See how the Bride stands out? Get it Guuurl!

Drew Barrymore’s Wedding Dress

This has been a hot topic in the fashion industry and it’s been pretty split on whether people like it or not.

It’s hard to find a good photo of her dress and by looking at this photo it looks like there might be some interesting texture going on around the train and hem of the skirt.  Karl said that the gown is embroidered with flowers and feathers, which sounds dreamy to me.  I guess we won’t know what it looks like until other photos come out.

Drew was married in a traditional Jewish Wedding Ceremony where the Bride wears a more modest gown with sleeves.  The gown was designed by Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld.  Now this in itself is a pretty big deal seeing that The House of  Chanel doesn’t really design wedding gowns, so Kudos to Drew for getting that arranged!

You can see in this photos that the fabric is pleated throughout the bodice and has a small ruffle on the edge of each sleeve that matches the large ruffle around the neckline.  I’m not really a fan of black on wedding gowns (even though black is my favorite color, I don’t think it has a place on a wedding gown.  That’s just my opinion) but having said that, I love the black ribbon around her waist.

Don’t even get me started on her headpiece and veil!

It is stunning!

So, I’m sure you can tell that I love this gown.  I love anything that is unexpected and that looks effortless and I feel like Drew’s look embodies both of those things.  To me, it looks like a gown her Grandmother would have worn for her wedding gown.

Even Karl said he love the dress!

He told InStyle online:

“I think she looked beautiful and it fit her strong personality,” Lagerfeld told InStyle.com of the dress this week. Barrymore customized her gown — which featured a skirt embroidered with tulle flowers and feathers — with a black satin belt. “She wanted that,” Lagerfeld added. “I loved it. I love her.”  

Oh, but don’t let that nice talk fool you.

Karl is a diva and had to put one little dig in

Really Karl? This is coming from someone who dresses up his rat in a suit and sunglasses?

Seriously, if he wasn’t a genius I would hate him, not that being a genius gives you an excuse to be a jerk.

I want to hear your thoughts on the gown.  What did you like or what did you hate?

Wedding Dress Wednesday

Are you one of those Brides whose style everyone LOVES?

You’re not afraid to wear something different.

Your style is modern with a touch of vintage.

You’re not afraid of consignment stores and repurposing old furniture to make it your own.

You get my drift?

Well, let me introduce you to Claire Pettibone.

I’m in love!

Her gowns are stunning. The fabrics are luxurious, the beading is clear and bright and the designs look effortless. They truly are show stoppers.

Here is my favorite gown that I want to spotlight today.

Could you just die?

This gown is called Eloquence and I couldn’t think of a better name for it. It’s a silk sheath with a scalloped lace overlay. This gown would be beautiful for any kind of wedding. Because this gown is so thin it can be a little unforgiving, so I don’t care if you’re a size 2 or a size 222, make sure you have a killer body slimmer like my good friend Spanxs here so that the dress will drape your curves the way it’s supposed to.

I think we have all thought this at some point

If you want to check out this style and all of Claire Pettibone’s incredible designs, click here.

The Serial Wedding Dress Purchaser

I told you I would tell you about this Bride.

It was amazing.

Look, I don’t think it is weird to have more than one dress on your wedding day.  I mean, I had two dresses myself, so I think it’s actually  kinda fun.

But this… THIS was ridiculous.

Let’s call this Bride Britney (there are so many Britneys out there that she won’t even know it’s her).

Pretend this is Britney

Britney came into my store looking for jewelry.  She had actually already purchased a gown from another store, but my stores are known for our jewelry so even if Brides don’t end up getting their dresses from us, they always come in for our accessories.

While I was showing her around our jewelry case I could see her sneaking a glance at our dresses.  She was very distracted by a certain gown.  After a few minutes she said “I know this sounds weird and that I don’t have an appointment, but would I be able to slip on that gown?”  She looked super sheepish like she knew she shouldn’t do it and she was right, she shouldn’t.  I explained to her everything that I explained in this post, but she really wanted to and I had a few minutes to sneak her in between appointments so I grabbed the dress and let her in the room.

I knew she was in trouble when I saw this

She loved it.

She explained to me that the gown she already has was $7,000 dollars and that the store had a no return or exchange policy (most of us do, I’ll explain that later), but she loved this one so much more.

She told me she was calling her mom to get her “Daddy’s” credit card information and will be purchasing this dress.

What was I supposed to do?  Tell her no?

Here is my philosophy, if you are adult enough and mature enough to get married than you should be adult enough and mature enough to make your own decisions.  I shouldn’t influence you.  (I have had some Brides and MOB’s tell me that philosophy is wrong.  Really?)

Oh, and I know that this Bride sounds like a rich snob and she is rich, but not at all a snob.  She was one of the sweetest Brides I have every worked with.

Ok, Ok.

So, Daddy buys the dress and we set up an appointment to get her dress fitted and she gives me a hug and leaves.

Fast forward two weeks.

Britney’s back for her fitting.

As she is walking back to her fitting room, she stops short.

She sees another dress.

If you want to know what happens next, scroll to the top of this post and read.

Yes, she bought another dress.  We make another appointment to alter this new dress.

She comes back in a week later for the fitting and the same things happens.

This whole thing happens one more time after this until she has bought 4 different dresses from me.  That means she has purchased 5 wedding gowns!!  (This girl needs to get a hobby)  After the 4th dress, I told her that I was going to blindfold her every time she walked in my store.

Britney thought I was kidding.

I was serious.

Look I’m not complaining because this was great for my store.  I mean, she ended up spending around $20,000.  I wish every Bride bought 4 dresses!

This is Britney just makin’ it rain up in my shop

It’s just that I felt bad for this Bride.  I could only imagine how indecisive she was with all aspects of her wedding.

Anyway, I hope this drives home my reasons for not ” just looking around” after you have purchased your dress.

Don’t be a Serial Wedding Dress Purchaser.

Don’t be this Bride.

I love her, but don’t be her.

Wedding Dress Wednesday (Friday)

Man, I am really struggling with this whole “Wedding Dress Wednesday” thing.

I just keep forgetting.

So to apologize, here is some eye candy that comes in the form of a beautiful dress.

This gorgeous thing is brought to you by JLM Couture (Jim Hjelm)

You know how I feel about peplums and so when I saw this pleated one with ombre organza, it took my breath away!

This gown is perfect for that beach, outdoor or even Vegas wedding (and I’m talking elegant Vegas wedding.  Not a drive through chapeling, Elvis marrying, 52 hour Britney Spearsing wedding.)

Wow.

This gown is so feminine, soft and different.  This gown is for that Bride who is very stylish and not afraid to be different (my favorite kind of Bride!)

So, if you want to check out this dress and many more by Jim Hjelm click here.

My Favorite Movie

Well, one of them at least.

500 Days of Summer

I guess the reason I like it is because it’s pretty realistic.  The whole time I was watching I was thinking “Yes Summer, I get you.  I understand what you’re saying”, that’s when I would feel the person next to me tensing up.

The person in question is my Husband.  In certain points of the movie I would hear my husband scoff and tsk.  It was normally around the parts where quirky Zooey would say something to the effect of “but I just want to be friends” and then start making out with him.

We have had many discussions about that movie and how I’m on Summers’s side and he is on Tom’s.

Best part of the Movie

SHE TOLD HIM IT WAS JUST FOR FUN!!  It’s his fault for falling so hard for her (I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt though).

So, when I saw this engagement video, I was jealous.  WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF DOING THIS!

Sorry, there’s a lot of shouting in this post.

Well, here it is for your viewing pleasure.