Unless you are Julie Sabatino or Jackie Weppner, the chances are that passing a fashion exam on all the newest trends at the most recent Bridal Fashion Week (showing Spring 2016) isn’t going to have deep impact on your bottom line. Still, you are a wedding professional and you want to seem “with it” and aware of what looks will be coming your way in the coming seasons (remember you won’t see these until NEXT year- mostly…).
Plus falling in love with these gowns will inform the look and feel of the weddings you are planning, shooting, designing, etc for the next couple of seasons… (all images from WWD.com)
Later this week, I’ll do a post on the hot “new” designers you need to be sure you know about so that you don’t sound lame when brides say who they are wearing and you give them Deer in Headlights 
But for now, a shorthand to trends I noticed!
There will be Ballgowns Galore!
I haven’t seen this many ballgowns since the mid-aughts…But this is a reinvention, which is nice. They are BIGGER and ball-ier than ever in some respects (rumor has it Ramona Keveza’s had hoops in them- a la Gone with the Wind. Yet somehow they are lighter and airier than ever before… I used to watch brides dragging these heavy silk satin things around and feel badly for them, being so weighted down, but designers have really been paying attention to what brides want now.. it’s less to feel like a princess than to spend a day in a fantasy, and somehow that involves the incongruous notion of running through an open field, but in a giant ballgown… and these are dresses you could do that it. Below from Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta and Ines di Santo:
Impressionism and Le Belle Epoque influences Will Be Everywhere…
From water-colored patterns to drop shoulders to opera gloves, there were influences of the Belle Epoque (or it’s American variation… the “Scarlett O’Hara look) EVERYWHERE. Be it mimicking the art of the time or the fashions, clearly designers were influenced by the romance of this era, so soon will our brides be too. For years’ we’ve been watching colored gowns desperately wishing more brides would boldly wear them, and I think this Romona Keveza (which caused a mild sensation on Instagram) is going to be the gown the turns the tide…. Below that a watercolor look from Naeem Khan, and a totally Opera ready Ines di Santo….
Of course, my absolute FAVORITE of this “look” is this Marchesa, which no one can convince me wasn’t inspired by the impressionist portrait that hangs at the Met- Madam X by John Singer Sergeant. What do you think?
Necklines will Vary in Fun and Unusual Ways!
There will be a lot of stunning deep V’s with illusion fronts, tons of mock necks and faux halter necks… We’ve come a long way since your choices were Strapless and Strapless (thank Goodness) Below, a shortie from Oscar de La Renta with a ruffle mock collar, a beautiful illusion halter from Honor by Stone Fox Bride and yet another Romona Keveza with the most gorgeous plunging illusion neck (I just loved her collection this season).
Which of these trends is your favorite/ do you find most inspiring?
