Jezebel: bridesmaids

A Helping Hand

Anna — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:10:00 EDT

[Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip; July 30. Image via Getty]

Palestinian grooms arrive with young bridesmaids during a mass wedding in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on July 30, 2009. Over 400 couples got married during the event which was sponsored by Hamas. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Maid of Money

Sadie — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Word on the street is, being a bridesmaid sucks. In fact, they've made several romantic comedies centered on just this premise! And in addition to being exhausting, demoralizing and degrading, apparently the honor of attending is, along with everything else, also increasingly pricey. In addition to the usual costs of gifts and (more and more often) travel, bridesmaids "are often expected to buy a dress, matching shoes, and jewelry, not to mention professionally applied makeup and nail polish on the day itself. And well in advance of the "I do's," they usually serve as host for a bridal shower, bachelorette party, or both." In fact, TheKnot.com calculates that before travel, the average bridesmaid will pony up $700. Multiply that by 27! [US News]

Wedding Party Girls

Sadie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EDT

So, if you want to dispel that "slutty bridesmaids" stereotype, you might not want to deck the wedding party out in Victoria's Secret. That's right: Vicky sells a range of bridesmaids' dresses. The good news: by bridesmaid dress standards several of them are pretty wearable, and the under$100 price-tag will come as a boon to 27 Dresses types used to ponying up big bucks. But horrified minds want to know: can wedding gowns be far behind? (Thanks to the reader who sent us this tip.) [Victoria's Secret]

Reminders

Anna — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Don't forget: For the May installment of our 'Past Fashion' feature, we're looking for pics of readers in their best-worst bridesmaid and flower-girl dresses. Send your snaps to photos@jezebel.com.and put "Past Fashion - Bridesmaid" in the subject header of your email and let us know where and when the pic was taken, your thoughts on your outfit (and/or the wedding!) and if you want other individuals in the photo cropped out/blurred. We will be accepting submissions until May 18th. To check out our previous 'Past Fashion' features on African-American hairstyles, Easter outfits and childhood pets, click here, here and here.

Hell's Bells

dodai — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:45:00 EST

A new poll by You & Your Wedding magazine reports that some brides are so concerned about their bridesmaids that they would consider imposing a wedding party version of a pre-nuptial agreement. The contract clauses would require bridesmaids to agree not to put on weight, get pregnant, change their hairstyles, consume more than 10 units of alcohol at the reception or make advances towards "inappropriate male guests." In addition, 48% of brides said they would ditch a bridesmaid who couldn't follow the rules. Are these brides control freaks? Or just wise to be aware of flaky friends? [Telegraph, Daily Mail]

Bridesmaids Dresses Will Always Be Bad

Jennifer — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST

Though most don't know costume designer Catherine Thomas by name, they are no doubt familiar some of the iconographic cinematic looks she has created (Uma Thurman's yellow leather jumpsuit in Kill Bill; Meryl Streep's Little House-goes-Dolly Parton garb in A Prairie Home Companion). But now Thomas created a number of looks that no self-respecting person would ever want to be associated with: The ugliest, tackiest, trashiest bridesmaids dresses imaginable, part of Katherine Heigl's costumes in 27 Dresses, which opens next Friday. Thomas' favorite? A Gone With the Wind inspired frock, compete with hoop skirt, bonnet, and parasol: "I think that was a combination of both someone from the South and a huge 'Gone With the Wind' fan and Vivien Leigh fan who had this fantasy since she was a little girl to be married in that scenario." Ha! What is it about being able to force your friends into matching dresses and denying them any stake in the decision that so warps women's minds?

Though James Mischka of Badgley Mischka insists that "trends today are much kinder to the bridesmaids than they ever were before" and Mark Badgley backs him up by saying, "The look these days is much more casual," I don't believe it at all. (Seriously, have you checked out bridal "guru" Vera Wang's latest maids' concoctions? I threw up a little in my mouth just looking!) Most brides are still shoving their so-called best-friends in pastel confections that you would not wish upon your worst, ugliest enemy. Tom Nardone, the founder of Uglydress.com, points out that, in their state of nuptial-planning hysteria, "Brides will choose a dress the same way they choose the cake, the chair covers and, especially, the flowers. That's why you get necklines that match the contours of the calla lilies."

Some say, that, when it comes to bridesmaid garb, times are changing — "Girls...want more fashion-forward looks," says Francesca Pitera, the chief designer for Jim Hjelm, a New York bridal house — but I can't help but think this is just another version of the same problem. Ok, fine: Maybe you don't have to wear a baby blue damask silk gown which hangs at the natural waist and has crepe flowers blooming out of the shoulders, but are you really going to feel much better when you see yourself in a picture of the bridal party in 20 years time, bedecked in a burnt-orange baby doll dress? Or a royal purple bubble hem? Because while fashion will always yield cringe-inducing trends laughed at in personal snapshots and such, bridal-party wear is well-documented enough that everyone and their mother gets to have a laugh.

27 Dresses: A Costume Designer's Dream [Reuters]
The Bride Made Me Buy This [NY Times]

Rag Trade: Tim Gunn, Just Like Us!

Anna — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:30:00 EDT

Project Runway's Tim Gunn used to stutter. Plus, he's single, not totally rich (he still rents!), and blushes like a girl. [NYTimes]
CoverGirl goes hippie: Drew Barrymore tapped as $1-2 million face of makeup line, releases obligatory ass-kissing statement. [WWD]
Paris Hilton creates own line of clothes, promises to wear them all the time. Hopefully, she's throwing some full-coverage panties into the mix! [WWD]
Nancy Reagan (remember her?) wore Chanel to an Oscar de la Renta-featured event. Plus, Toity Tom Ford's boyfriend Richard Buckley didn't bother to wear one of Ford's new menswear designs to the opening of Ford's new menswear boutique. [WWD, 1st, 3rd items]

Shoe-designer Christian Louboutin to write a screenplay for a film shooting early next year. (??!!) [FashionWeekDaily]
Kimora Lee Simmons will star in an unscripted reality series for The Style Network. (???!!!) [MediaWeek]
Bravo to introduce a lineup of Thursday night programs to appeal to "young, rich, acquisitive, educated and influential" young women. In other words: Materialistic, shopaholic twits. [MediaWeek]
Awful. Bridesmaid. Dresses. [People]