I'm Obsessed With Couture Wedding Dresses! My love hate relationship with couture and a true story of my brush with couture models.

Elie Saab Haute Couture Wedding Dress 2012.....its not lined, its sheer!

My favorite time at bridal market was looking at the couture wedding dresses and talking to the designers, even though I wasn't going to buy any of the dresses. Yes, I am obsessed with couture wedding dresses for a lot of different reasons.  Most of them are not apparent to someone who doesn't have a background in dressmaking and wedding dress construction....like: 

• The fit of the dress.
• The construction of the dress.  The design techniques just fascinate and amaze me. You don't learn these at the local sewing store. You learn them with years of schooling, training and apprenticeship with a couture house.
• The laces.  The laces are the highest quality and not available at your local sewing store.  You won't see them on any dress other than that couture dress.  The designer probably designed the lace just for that dress and it was produced just for them.  The laces are intricate, I could stare at them all day.  I am a "lace head", even though the only time I remember wearing lace is at my own wedding. The rest of the time I dress more tailored or funky.
• The bead work.  I have always been distracted by shiny objects.  I appreciate bead work not because its shiny, but because of the work involved in producing it. Its all sewn by hand with a needle and thread.  I've done bead work and its the most tedious time consuming job on earth.  It's also nearly impossible to do with anything but short fingernails.
• The fabrics.  The fabrics are not the satin polyester you see in dress stores, they are silks and blends that are sumptuous and rich.  Not only do I want to pet them like my puppy, I want to hug them and rub them on my cheeks.

What I hate about couture dresses:

• Couture wedding dresses are for a specific customer, the one in a million bride who can afford to spend $$$$$ and want the couture look and the couture label.
• Many couture dresses are never produced, except for the fashion shows and fashion week.  Some are designed for dramatic effect, some are designed for shock value and some are designed just for just to get press and buzz.  Most of them are not for the average bride.  Elie Saab has a fabulous collection that I love, but you can see through all of them! They aren't lined!  See the picture on top. (I am sure you can get them lined, but I can't get past see through dresses for a wedding!)  The groom's mom would surely have a heart attack at the wedding!
• The prices.  You get what you pay for, but sometimes you are just paying for the designers name. (My lips are sealed.)
• The models.  Couture models are so skinny thin and always looked pissed off when they walk the runway.  Maybe its because they are hungry.  Anyway, its hard to translate the look to an average size or plus size bride.  

True story time: I once was in the bridal market hotel in Chicago in a room next to the couture models.  I was in the elevator with a group of tall, skinny gals with huge tote bags and I kept thinking...where have I seen you before?  I passed a news stand and the blonde was on the cover of that month's Vogue!  In person, she was thinner than she photographed. I kept running into them in the elevator or hotel hallway. The three days I was there, room service trays were outside their rooms after dinner.  All they had was diet Coke.  OMG!  My wedding pals and I went out for deep dish Chicago pizza and we invited them along.  Their answer...we wish!  I actually felt sorry for them, their feet ached, they were exhausted and they were always hungry.  I don't care how much money they make, its not the glam job its made out to be...its grueling.

Here are some pictures of St. Pucci's Haute Couture wedding dresses by Rani.  I met Rani years ago when she was starting out and was impressed by her skills and the quality of her dresses, and she was so nice! To this day, I still consider her dresses to have some of the best workmanship and quality. 

 Beautiful picture, great theme, look at the details on the hat.

 How cool is this pic?   It got my attention, which was the purpose of the stylist.

 I LOVE how they made up the model to look like a mannequin, her skin even glows like a mannequin.

 

OMG, the lace on this veil is to die for....notice how the dress only has a bit of lace on the skirt front? The details are in the bodice front,  the fabric flowers and the deeper color of tulle bustle in the back. 

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Lets Hear it For Unusual Wedding Dresses? Would You Dare?

Runway couture wedding dresses are dresses that the
designer makes just for their live runway shows
to create buzz. They don't mass produce these wedding
dresses, they are one of a kind wedding dresses made
to shockand awe the guests and to get their pics in
the magazines. Translated into our world,
these are dresses you could never afford and
wouldn't be caught dead wearing. Its fun to see what
lurks in the mind of the designers.




Yves St. Laurent designed this floral confection,
made to express your inner gardener. I imagine
if you wore this dress to your wedding, your
mother in law would drop dead on the spot.
I love the color combos and this would make
a gorgeous wedding bouquet,



This dress is by Christian Dior and is called
Oragami. It does look like folded paper. I've
always liked Dior, but I think I'll stick to
their eyeshadows and mascara.


Another head smacker from Chinese wedding week.
I can't figure this out, it reminds me of a Space Oddity
with some chicken feathers trailing. This would make a
great a do it yourself project...get a white pillow case,
stick some feathers in the chest, pin together,
attach an old Mardi Gras feather boa and your kids
Star Wars helmet...and voila!



This dress doesn't really qualify as couture.
Its a dress full of LED lights. I wonder where
you store the battery pack. Actually, a few years
ago we did have an LED dress in the bridal shop
by Bonny Bridals, but it was in the lace and very
subtle and pretty. This looks like an auxiliary
backup power source in a power outage. OMG..this
is scary!

Couture Wedding Dresses, How Ugly is Ugly?

Couture fashion is sometime a
head smacker. Couture dresses
are one of a kind made for the
runway to get the buzz going for
their line. Who would wear these
dresses? Probably no one and
they probably aren't being produced,
but they are current runway dresses.

It takes a special bride.
Are you that one bride?






Vera Wang's dresses. From the bag
lady line? Scary. Or maybe its the
hairdo that is scary. Or maybe its the
expressions on the faces of the models.
They look miserable.



The I forgot to put on the top of my
dress~dress.
I've actually seen this dress, it looks
like a bustiere bra You can see through it
Save your money, buy a bra and a slip and
get the same look for about a hundred bucks.
Your future mother in law will have a heart
and you probably can't get into any church.
But you WILL be the center of attention.
Definitely a BOLD look.



I'm wearing the cake dress. So 80's.
Buy a dress at a resale shop for the
same look. Love the Madonna gauntlets
(fingerless gloves).


The black widow wedding dress.
This is so Anna Nicole, RIP.


This dress won't look good on anyone
unless you are as tall as Lebron James.
A total cha cha dress. The peplum is
80's, the skirt late 80's.



This dress is so 70's. It looks like
you are wearing your mom's wedding dress.
Her taste has to be better than this confection.



WTF? This looks like a costume
out of a Russian museum. Note the
head gear. Love the apron.




How ugly is ugly? Cut a hole
in the bodice of a dress and put a
clear plastic strap to keep the girls
in check. Horrible. Perfect for
the gals with "enhancements", who are
totally lacking in taste.