<![CDATA[Jezebel: bridal]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png <![CDATA[Jezebel: bridal]]> http://jezebel.com/tag/bridal http://jezebel.com/tag/bridal <![CDATA[ Plus-Size Bridal On An Anorexic Budget: Now At A Mall Near You ]]> torridbridal1.pngTorrid, plus-sized mall-chain extraordinaire, is now moving into the wonderful world of bridal wear, all priced at the very friendly price point of $78-$220. But are the looks any good? Eh, yes and no. After the jump, I evaluate the mass-produced dresses for the supposed curvy girl on a budget.





torridbridal2.pngThis dress seems all kinds of cruel. What's with the random pintucks in the skirt? And why must the bow look so cheap?
torridbridal3.pngI'm typically pro the cocktail-length wedding dress. But not if it comes with a bolero like this.
torridbridal4.pngI swear there is no difference between this dress and ones you'll find in fancy wedding stores. It's not my taste, but it's a look a lotta ladies seem to love.
torridbridal5.pngThis dress fuckin' rocks. To the max!
torridbridal1.pngSlightly "maternity" and you would need a really good bra, but has potential.
torridbridal6.pngNo: Putting a friend in this as a bridesmaid dress is a Crime Against Womanity.

Torrid Announces Plus-Size Bridal Collection [The Budget Fashionista]
Torrid Bride [Torrid]

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Fri, 09 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389048&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Stella McCartney Is Eager To Dress ScarJo In Virginal White ]]> stellamccartney5708.jpg
  • Stella McCartney calls dibs on bride-to-be Scarlett Johansson: "I'm definitely doing her wedding dress. She doesn't know it yet." Awkward. [People]
  • Says Marc Jacobs on the bride-to-be, "I'm really happy for her. She's a great girl. I just think Scarlett is great and I hope she is very, very happy. She's super funny. I love a smart, ballsy, New Yorker and that's what she is. I wish her the best." And by "the best" he clearly means, "Do why didn't that bitch ask me to design her wedding dress?" [Vogue UK]
  • Chris "Mr. Big" Noth has some strong feelings about Victoria's Secret, "I'm not into Victoria's Secret so much. I find it over the top. I like subtlety and I like elegance. I think their things are gaudy and they are really trying too hard. If I could make a fashion statement, I think that Victoria's Secret looks to me like somebody who is putting on too much make-up. It's too gaudy, man. I mean, come on take it easy, you don't have to have a fuckin' bouquet of flowers on your underwear. Sorry Victoria's Secret; I hope they're not one of our sponsors!" [Oh No They Didn't]
  • "You can get diamonds cheap," says Heidi Klum, which is why she's going to start sewing them into the pockets of her Jordache jeans line. Clearly, she has not seen Blood Diamond. [WWD, 9th item]

  • Good for you, Adidas, for winning your lawsuit against Payless shoes for their blasphemous thievery of what is clearly a design that only you own: Stripes. [WWD, sub req'd]
  • Seriously, Suri Cruise does not need custom-made Roger Vivier shoes. I, however, do. [WWD, 1st item]
  • So what did More editor-in-chief Lesley Jane Seymour do Monday night in lieu of attending the Met Costume Institute Gala? (She wasn't invited.) "I dressed up in my best Versace and barbecued on the my outside deck in the suburbs! Only kidding about the Versace! I wore Prada." [Fashion Week Daily]
  • Oh also, Christina Ricci left the Costume Institute Gala in a huff after realizing upon entering that she and her boyfriend had not been seated together. [Page Six]
  • If only I had been trapped in an elevator with Giorgio Armani yesterday. [Wowowow]
  • So Gwyneth Paltrow is all, "I don't get why there's this big fuss about my S&M footwear fetish." [USA Today]
  • Video footage of Gemma Ward trying to slay Liv Tyler: Here. [Fashionista]
  • Video footage of Karlie Kloss doing ballet: Here. [NY Mag]
  • Model and sometimes di Caprio girlfriend Bar Rafaeli sorta needs to pony up and serve in the Israeli Army already. [UPI]
  • Oh of course Jimmy Choo is trying to usurp as much press and glory as they can from the opening of the Sex and the City movie. [Vogue UK]
  • Ksube + Kanye = Pretty cool. [Sassybella]
  • Diet Coke + Patricia Field = Pretty random. [Sassybella]
  • OMG why did The Sartorialist get fired from the new Gap ads as a model already?! Why?! Why?! [Fashionista]
  • Beth Ditto will be entertaining guests at the opening of the Alexander McQueen store in L.A. next week. [Fashion Week Daily]
  • In the midst of economic downturn Barneys New York and Target seem to be entering into one of those "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" sorta things. [WWD, sub req'd]
  • And young design bad-ass Danielle Scutt is designing for Topshop. Seeing a theme here? [WWD, 8th item]
  • The Turks? Love them some Dior. [WWD, sub req'd]
  • Just what you needed: How to dress like celebrities, made easy. And a little stalker-ish. [TechCrunch]
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Wed, 07 May 2008 11:30:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=387994&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Wedding-Planning Polls: Democratic Or Dumb? ]]> pleaseshutup050508.jpgThe Wall Street Journal is reporting that the latest trend in the wacky world of bridal is to replace the wedding planner with an online poll. Why should brides spend time and money making tough decisions when they can turn that responsibility over to the folks who'll be attending? They don't have to worry their pretty little heads about the cake, the first dance song, the booze or even their hairstyle. Of course, a bride is still a bride. It's her day, right? That's why Rachael Buskirk, 25, an engineer from Asheville, N.C. (who met her fiancé through MySpace), plans to ignore her cake poll. See, the guests didn't pick the style she preferred.

One bride who spoke with the WSJ says that her only regret on her wedding day was that she wishes she "had done more polls." Some, however, continue to resist this philosophy. Etiquette writer Anna Post says, "It's a little bit of an imposition if you are sending [guests] every question that comes in your head." Fellow ettiquetrix Letitia Baldrige adds, "To have to ask your friends, many of whom have terrible taste anyway, is ludicrous."

On one hand, as a bride, what makes your friends' taste any worse than a wedding planner you hardly know? (And really: Why the fuck are they your friends if they have shitty taste?) On the other hand, it is a day to celebrate with those nearest and dearest to you; if you find out that 92% of them prefer chocolate icing, isn't that the least you can do? And to FOTBs (friends of the bride): She's gonna ask for your opinion on all this crap anyway. Wouldn't clicking a button in an online poll be easier than having to have the "the flowers you've chosen are hideous" discussion?

iDo [WSJ]

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Mon, 05 May 2008 18:30:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=387312&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Reem Acra Bridal And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ]]> reemacrabridallead.jpgThere is something inherently creepy about the fact that this season's Reem Acra bridal collection was inspired by various children's characters like Alice in Wonderland, Raggedy Ann and Strawberry Shortcake. (Paging Dr. Freud!) And yet — thank goodness for Reem Acra, because, if not for her, we would all have been faced with one of the most boring (if not just plain bad) bridal seasons of recent memory. Acra's gowns explode with color, whimsy, and (what a relief!) point of view. At last, a designer who applies the concepts of high design to the world of bridal design, which is so frequently dismissed as the height of banality. Whether her almost-Lolita-esque designs are your cup of tea is another story altogether, but I can't help but applaud design that tells stories and isn't afraid of a little reckless, feckless imagination. The collection, of course, after the jump.









reemacrabridal04081.gifL to R: If I got married, I would want to do so in shoes like those; Can we discuss the big hat trend for bridal this season?; Fuck getting married: I want that teal duster and turban stat.
reemacrabridal04082.gifL to R: That dress weighs more than I do; I'll pass on the gown but take the pink tights; Doesn't this look like the dress that Kit and Ricky made for the couture challenge on this season's Project Runway? You know - the one Kit got sent home for?
reemacrabridal04083.gifL to R: Puppy!; Where's the wedding, the Moulin Rouge?; I wish the handprint were on the dress itself.
reemacrabridal04084.gifL to R: Pom-poms were my crafting means de rigeur when I was 5, which was also the age I was into Raggedy Ann; More wedding pants?!; I don't know that I think of this.
reemacrabridal04085.jpgYou can't see, but my heart is going pitter patter at the site of rainbow-colored, whimsy-drenched bridal.
reemacrabridal04086.jpgI hope the woman who gets married in this dress also has "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" as her first dance. Seriously.

Final Verdict: If your marriage falls apart, at least you can reuse the dress and run away and join the circus!

All images via Getty.

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Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=381887&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ This Season's Vera Wang Bridal: A Whole Lotta Ugly ]]> verwangbridallead.jpgIs there any bigger name in bridal than Vera Wang? I say no. Hell, the woman has even pimped her brand out into china, crystal, linens and mattresses to continue her monopoly on all things nuptial. But not gonna lie: I'm worried about Vera Wang. Because the bridal collection she showed yesterday is really really bad. There's little coherence to it and the shapes seem purposeless at best; deformed and dated at worst. Okay, there was one look I loved, but other than that it was a whole lot of oy. See for yourself, after the jump.

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Verdict: Row 4, dress 1. That one is beautiful. The rest...well, my mom always told me if I didn't have anything nice to say...

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Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:40:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=381605&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Bridal Season Continues With A Flurry Of Lookalike White Gowns ]]> larahelenelead.jpgMore bridal shows! Yesterday, designers Angel Sanchez and lara Helene both essentially offered up the same old iterations of the same old styles we've seen forever, though props to Sanchez for popping a few short looks in the collection, which I happen to dig. (I just ain't a poofy dress kinda girl.) And since I know you all have strong feelings on the ubiquitous strapless gown, do the feeling stay the same with regards to strapless but short? The collections are after the jump: Go on and weigh in.

Angel Sanchez angelsanchez04081.gif angelsanchez04082.gif angelsanchez04083.gif Verdict: Yawn.

Lara Helene
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Verdict: Sorry, were you saying something?

All images via Getty

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Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=380636&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ This Season's Bridal Wares Continue To Inspire Shock, Awe ]]> delarentabridallead.jpgAnother day, another set of new bridal collections to judge. Lela Rose, Oscar de la Renta, and Carolina Herrera are all noted presences in the (non-bridal) fashion world, each offering their own take on classicism and femininity. As for their their bridal collections, each had varying levels of success. Lela Rose's dresses are good in concept, but the execution is a little meh. Oscar de la Renta (at left) offers something for every taste: Sheaths! Princess skirts! Pantsuits! Cocktail dresses! And while many are unquestionably beautiful, his Scarlett O'Terror look is a bad, bad idea. Carolina Herrera's collection was the most consistent, and definitely had moments of brilliance. But the Three Blind Mice-meets-Dr. Zhivago styling certainly isn't for everyone. (Or maybe even anyone.) The collections for your review, after the jump.







Lela Rose
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Verdict: Sleepy, wrinkled. No thanks.

Oscar de la Renta
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Verdict: Something for everyone (including those with bad taste). I'll stick with the simple stuff (for my non-existent wedding), thanks.

Carolina Herrera
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Verdict: Ladylike and rebellious... Just like us?

[Images via Getty.]

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Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=380042&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Suddenly, Disney Bridal Doesn't Look So Bad ]]> mlbridal0408lead.jpgThe latest season of bridal shows began on Friday, and already we are mildly concerned with what we see. While really big name Badgley Mischka is, um, one of the really biggest names in this market, I found the whole collection to be 1) ugly 2) dated and 3) kitschy. Seriously, the Disney bridal dresses looked better than this shit. Monique Lhuillier, who is what Vera Wang was 10 years ago (aka the choice of "cool" brides who don't have to worry about money), offered a much better showing, her looks markedly sophisticated and tasteful and "modern' on the whole. Maybe it was just the choice of models, but something about it, though, left me with a funny taste of "child bride" in my mouth. The collections for your review, after the jump.







Badgley Mischka
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L to R: Um did they hem this dress a little short?; Look! The gown hurts her heart so badly she has to grab her sides!; Wedding dress? Or New Age straight-jacket?
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L to R: How original; Bling, anyone?; Where's Rami Kashou when you need him?
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L to R: If George Clooney marries that cocktail waitress, I bet she'll wear this; No more mermaid silhouettes, please; Just say no to tiers.
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L to R: Just painful; No more shiny, please; For the pregnant bride, clearly.
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L to R: That has to be the tackiest neckline ever; Stop! The originality is killing me! Sparkly and a mermaid silhouette!

Monique Lhuillier
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L to R: Perfet for Romeo's Juliette — who was supposed to be what? 13 years old?; Ruffle booty!; Someone free her boobies, please.
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L to R: And Prada thinks they own the whole lace thing this season; Lo. Li. Ta: Light of my life, fire of my loins; Has this girl even hit puberty?
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L to R: Why is there something a little good touch/bad touch about this?; Tyra calls this the "couture pose"; The bride is the age of a flower girl.

[Images via Getty.]

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Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=379531&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Our neighbors to the north are bucking tradition ... ]]> mirandawedding0108.pngOur neighbors to the north are bucking tradition when it comes to getting hitched. Canadian brides have realized that, in most cases, (to quote Miranda Hobbes from Sex and the City) "the jig is up" when it comes to the color of choice of "virgins" everywhere. Instead, brides are "opting for darker shades of ivory such as mocha, accents of color that may or may not match their bridesmaids' dresses and even bridal gowns in darker shades such as red, blue and eggplant." Muses Bettie Bradley of Today's Bride magazine: "In Victorian times, it was quite usual for a person simply to be married in their best dress and for the men to go back to work after the wedding." In other words: Even the prudish Victorians weren't retarded enough to think that the color of your wedding dress has any bearing on the kind of marriage you're going to have. [Reuters]

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Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:45:00 EST Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=342269&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Badgley Mischka just showed its bridal line. ... ]]> Badgley Mischka just showed its bridal line. And frankly, it was a little meh! At least BM ready-to-wear, though monotonous, has, well, color. But the old-school white frocks on display on the latest BM runway weren't anything millions of soon-to-be-marrieds haven't seen in cheap bridal mags over the past decade. Though we must say, some the looks did have a certain, drag-queen-esque aesthetic. Even more reason to legalize gay marriage! Gallery below. (All images via AP.)

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Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:45:00 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=314137&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Tell us if we're reading this wrong, but ... ]]> Tell us if we're reading this wrong, but is the latest trend in high fashion slumming it? Cathy Horyn reports that Lanvin's Alber Elbaz is shaking everything up by "bring[ing] clear design integrity to shapes that appear simple, in fabrics like polyester...so that the clothes are hard to copy." Uh, what's so hard to copy about a polyster dress? That's called Target, sans designer label! Is expensive crap the new designer cheap? We scratch our heads, and wonder what that even means. [NYT]

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Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:32:49 EDT Jennifer http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=273139&view=rss&microfeed=true