I was catching up with project runway season 13 and the alternative bride challenge caught my attention. I applaud those who are able to stay true to themselves even if it means going against the grain in the eyes of society. Several of my friends have gotten married and if you do a search for bride-maids dresses the result is more often than not a very narrow range; a fact that irritates me to no end seeing as I have been a bridesmaid a few too many times. This brings me to this post which was inspired by project runway and my own personal experience. I am hoping this post will be resourceful for a bride or bridesmaid who would want something slightly different( not different to goth proportions) yet still within the traditional wedding umbrella. Haute couture is fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. While Couture is not made for the ready to wear market, I still feel it can provide a rich source of inspiration for your different design needs. The two design houses whose couture collection always has me in anticipation in January and July during Paris Fashion week are Ellie Saab and Giambattista Valli
Giambattista Valli is an Italian designer and three celebrities come to mind to reference his work; Amal Alamuddin, Lupita Nyong'o and Blake Lively. Below are dresses from his Spring and Fall 2014 Couture collections that perhaps may provide an alternative design idea for bridemaids.
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| My favorite from Spring 2014 Couture collection |
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| Merlot red. |
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I love stripes and this would be such a cool bridesmaid outfit more so for a black and white wedding.
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| nuff said! |
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| love love love! |
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| This was the outfit Amal wore in Venice the day after her wedding with Clooney of course :-) |
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| Another favourite. When Lupita wore this outfit it got folks talking as none were on the fence on it. Those who loved it, loved while those who hated it did so completely. |
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| This would have to be for a very non traditional bridesmaid and an open minded bride. |
