Wedding Dress and Gown Styles -- What’s Available for the Bride?

There are so many styles of wedding gown to choose from, which makes it difficult when deciding which type of gown is for you. What type of bride are you? Vintage couture, Romantic plush, or Simple elegance, what ever you fall under there is a gown out there to suit your style.

Vintage Wedding Gowns

Vintage gowns come in many styles from the medieval princess look, The Charleston swing era, or the Bohemian gypsy girl gown. The medieval dress is very popular usually designed around the Old English look in mind with wide bottomed sleeves and a high-banded waist, think Maid Merion and Princess Gwenevere. There are some very traditional gowns to choose from with the rich golden earthy colors with embroidered Basques and detailed designs. You can also take this style back to the 21st century with clean crisp simple white gown with a high waist and beautiful chiffon wide bottom sleeves.

Charleston Era Modern Wedding Gown

Another fashionable era that is being transmitted into the modern wedding gown is the sexy Charleston era of the roaring 20s. These styles are very flattering to the bride with the slighter physique. The Design is looser at the waist and tighter around the hips showing plenty of skin around the chest, back and arms. The Hemline is typically Asymmetric with floating fabrics creating an illusion of long and short. Another beautiful option for the more daring bride would be a cloche hat, with the hair pulled back from the face the hat is tight around the head, embroidered beads around the face and forehead equentuates the eyes, a very pretty alternative to the traditional veil very Coco Chanel.

Gypsy Girl Dress Styles

For those brides that are thinking more along the lines of Boho, laid back beauty the gypsy girl styles would be very alluring. Romany Romance pretty, flirty, and feminine, these wedding gowns ooze free spirit and gypsy chic. Think floating skirts with chiffon and lace. A more simplistic slightly beaded gown with chiffon wrapped around the head bandana style with long a floating tail would be a chic alternative to a veil. This style is for the more adventurous bride with confidence and style to carry off the look.

Romantic or Fairytale Bridal Gowns

These are the wedding gowns you dream of as a little girl. Valintino comes to mind when picturing a fairytale gown, full of romance and glamour. If you want to be a fairytale bride you will have a wonderful selection to choose from, no bridal store would be without a romantic, plush bridal gown.

Plenty of lace corsets and big tulle skirts are a staple of this type of gown with luxurious fabric and lots of it. Its not a big mystery as to why these gowns are popular among today’s brides as they are flattering to every figure, the large floating skirt will hide a multitude of sins, and the more structured bodice will give a flattering silhouette to the upper body.

A major staple of today’s design is the large flower. It’s being used more and more in magazines and on the catwalk. Large flamboyant skirts made from lots of luxurious fabric being held in various positions by a large romantic rose. This is a very beautiful design and is being copied to many designer collections. The Demetrios collection has this style in many of its designs.

Tight structured corsets and Bodices appear as a major factor in these designs. Lace covered bodices look well with the simpler skirt, the more elaborate skirts go well with plainer fabric corsets.

Tiaras and Long Veils

Tiaras and long trailing veils are a favorite of the fairytale bride. Very traditional and the symbol of the wedding day the veil comes in 1,2 and 3 tiers, depending if you want to wear the veil over the face or trailing along the back of the head. Some gowns are exquisite enough on their own you could get away with wearing no veil at all. Tiaras come in many styles pearl and diamond encrusted, large intricate designs and smaller simpler head bands the choice is yours.

The Simple Yet Elegant Bride

The less fussy, simple and elegant style of gown would draw inspiration from dresses worn by Jackie O and brings to mind the style and class of Audrey Hepburn. With classic simplistic designs and clean lines, less is sometimes more when trying to look amazing.

The simple gown should be designed to draw attention from the dress itself and allow the beauty of the bride to shine through. The simple dress should not differ from the beauty of the bride and take center stage itself, remember the bride should wear the dress not the other way around.

Classic designs include some wonderful gowns from Vera Wang, Sharon Hoey and other popular designers. The simple white silk backless gown always look stunning as worn by Jennifer Aniston on her wedding day. More structured lines with no straps falling to the ground brings to mind wonderful visions of Grace Kelly and that old Hollywood glamour. This type of gown can also be subtly influenced by other styles and eras keeping in tune with the bride’s personal taste. The key here is to keep it subtle and you will ooze class and style on the big day.