Bridal Style Watch 2014 - All an Illusion

I kicked off my Bridal Week coverage with the assertion that bridal trends may come and go, but it’s rare to see drastic changes when it comes to wedding gowns from season to season. Today’s post may just prove me wrong! Her wedding day may still be a girl’s big chance to swan down the aisle in a giant white dress, but brides these days are opting for gowns as diverse and eclectic as their everyday style – which is just as it should be! A wedding day look should above all be a reflection of the bride: her personality and her style – often amped up to 11 – and many brides are choosing to bring their daring looks to their wedding day fashion!

That’s where illusion netting comes in – it’s not just for figure skating anymore! Sheer trends took the red carpet by storm in 2013, often to the chagrin of the Fug Girls, the arbiters of snarky fashion coverage. I quite like the way the trend has translated to bridal designers – fewer granny panties under shower curtains and more delicate details, unusual necklines, and body skimming overlays.

Many designers took the sheer trend as an opportunity to go wild with the bust line – illusion netting will provide support that a strapless can’t, while affording the opportunity to add unimpeded detail along the décolletage. Watters and Amsale kept things relatively modest while playing with a sheer neckline, but Monique Lhuillier seized the opportunity to play with the added real estate afforded by an illusion neckline and gave her gown the essence of cap sleeves. Lela Rose offered similarly flirty details along the collarbone, while Jenny Packham created a look that Elizabeth Darcy née Bennett would feel right at home in, although her Meryton neighbors may be scandalized. Carolina Herrara opted for layered tulle and Rivini’s Venetian inspiration was evoked in a sheer beaded overlay that provides a versatile ceremony-to-reception look in one gown. Naeem Khan provided one of this season’s most outré neckline with a bejeweled yoke. It was left to Anne Barge and Simone Carvalli who literally took the plunge into the sheer trend and used it to create silhouettes that would otherwise look quite racy – Barge’s low cut neckline is softened by a statement collar, while only the most daring of brides will be able to wear Carvalli’s barely-there bodice around their friends and family!