Bridal Fashion 101- Trains

Once you've determined the best silhouette for your dress- one with a neckline and waistline that most flatter your body and in a fabric that suits your preference, your budget or hopefully both, you may want to consider the extremities of your look, specifically the train.

Sweep train: Named  for the way it "sweeps" the floor, this train is the shortest of them all, it is only a few inches longer than the length of the dress itself. It's most appropriate for an informal setting like a beach wedding. It's also the easiest to manage in terms of mobility.

Monique Lhuillier

Court train: A bit longer than the sweep, a court train is usually three feet from the waist. One of the more common trains, it's also not too difficult to navigate. It works for both formal and informal settings, making it quite a versatile train.

Maggie Sottero

Chapel train: The next longest train, a chapel is about 4-5 feet from the waistline of the dress. A chapel train is appropriate for more formal settings like church weddings. While the chapel falls in the middle of our list, it's far from neutral as a statement. Choose a chapel train if you want to make a grand statement.

Maggie Sottero

Cathedral train: Definitely the more grand style of trains, the cathedral usually extends about 6-7 feet from the waistline of the dress for a very bold statement. For the bride who wants to make a grand entrance, the cathedral train is the choice to make. Along with the chapel train, it requires a great deal of assistance to keep it in order, but that's what bridesmaids are for. Bridesmaids are also there to help you bustle a train this long, which would probably require a double under-bustle.

Pronovias

Royal train: (Think Princess Diana) This train extends 10 feet or more from the waistline and is rarely worn except in the most ostentatious weddings. A bride who wears a royal train is likely marrying royalty or is royalty herself. In addition, if a bride chooses a royal train, it is likely the rest of her wedding- ceremony, reception, and all accouterments- is just as rich in presentation.

Princess Diana

Watteau train: The watteau is also a fairly uncommon train choice due to the placement. A watteau extends from the shoulders or the upper back of the bodice of the dress and extends either to the same length as the dress or as long as the bride likes. A watteau train can add a touch of formality to a more casual dress, or a touch of softness to a fitted column or sheath dress. Another nice feature of the watteau is that it is often detachable.

Maggie Sottero

All trains eventually need to be bustled, and once again you'l need hep from a bridesmaid to do so. There are three basic styles of bustles: ballroom, English (over bustle) and French (under bustle). Each dress is as unique as the bride wearing it, so wedding gowns don't actually come with a bustle installed. Your seamstress helps you determine the style you prefer and then will install the appropriate fasteners to make that style possible. Buttons, ribbons, beads and snaps are all involved and since there are so many different options, I'm not going to really cover it. Just make sure you are working with a qualified bridal seamstress when you have the work done and you'll be fine. 

This concludes our "Bridal Fashion 101" series, but if you have any questions, please leave a comment for me. I'll do my best to answer, but if you're shopping for a wedding gown, the best advice I can give is to visit a professional bridal salon where the experts can help you navigate through all the options to find the one dress that's perfect for you. 

Bridal Fashion 101- Waistline

You may know what silhouette and neckline you want to wear on your wedding day, but that is still only half the battle when determining your dream wedding dress. Waistline variations can mean the difference between, "Get it off me!" and "Get me to the altar." Today in Bridal Fashion 101, we're covering the topic of the different waistline styles, so get your notepads out, chickies. For our purposes, we're going to define the "waistline" as the horizontal line where the skirt of the gown meets the bodice. Now let's get started.

The NATURAL waist:

First of all, let's talk about what a "natural" waist actually is. Most people think that your natural waist is where the waistline of your pants falls. These days this is a common misconception. Back when "mom jeans" were en vogue, it wasn't quite so far off base. The truth is that your "natural" waist is even higher than your belly button. To find it visually, look for the part of your waist that is the smallest. Or lean over sideways and look for where your torso bends. It's pretty high, right? THAT is your natural waist.

Here are some examples (from previous Bridal Fashion 101 posts) of gowns with a NATURAL waistline: 

Monique Lhuillier

Lazaro

Watters and Watters

Many brides think they want a natural waistline, but when they realize how high it actually is, the start to lean more towards a DROPPED waistline. 

A dropped waistline falls anywhere along the hips. Some dropped waists are just barely below the natural waist while others fall several inches below. Some examples: 

Maggie Sottero

Kenneth Pool

Maggie Sottero

Maggie Sottero

Some dropped waistlines can be asymmetrical as seen here: 

Maggie Sottero

Others feature an inverted "V" shape like this gown: 

Maggie Sottero

Sometimes the inverted "V" will be off-center. Other times it is symmetrical, as in the photo above. Regardless, they are all considered a dropped waistline. However, when the waistline features an upright "V," the term becomes BASQUE waistline: 

Some examples: 

Kenneth Pool

Christina Wu

A basque waistline does not have to be dropped. Many natural waist gowns are also basque. 

Finally, there is the EMPIRE waistline. This is the highest of all the waistlines and actually falls directly under the bustline: 

While the empire waistline can still be quite elegant, it is also very popular for destination weddings, and other informal settings. Some examples for you: 

Pronovias

Pronovias

Now that we've covered silhouette, neckline and waistline, I'm sure you are starting to feel like a bit of a bridal gown expert. However, we still have to cover the topic of trains and of course, the hugely varied subject: fabric. Check back soon for the next installment of Bridal Fashion 101 with me! 

Bridal Fashion 101- Neckline

Once you have determined the silhouette that looks and feels the best on you, there are still plenty of other details to consider. We'll take them one at a time, so as not to overwhelm. First up: necklines.

The most obvious and most common neckline is strapless, but even within that one category, there are many variations:

Straight across:

Sweetheart:

Modified Sweetheart: 

All three dress above are from the Monique Lhuillier "Bliss" line

Straight across strapless is pretty self-explanatory, but sweetheart and modified sweetheart can get pretty varied. To put it simply, a sweetheart has a pretty obvious heart-shape to the neckline, whereas a modified sweetheart is not nearly as strong a "v" in the dip. It's more of a slight curve down at the center of the bustline. Generally speaking, sweetheart is the most flattering of the strapless necklines, but there are exceptions, of course. Straight across can be somewhat harsh and unforgiving, unlike the sweetheart- true or modified- which curves naturally with the shape of the bust. 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of strapless dresses. I prefer a neckline that frames the face a little more, even if it's merely the addition of some type of straps to a strapless neckline: 

Spaghetti straps Monique Lhuillier Bliss

Wide lace straps Monique Lhuillier

Fortunately, for those of us not enamored of the strapless neckline, there are many options that are both beautiful and flattering and that include straps or sleeves of some kine. 

A common neckline choice is the halter. Once again, there are many variations on this theme. I even wrote a post about the halter neckline a few months ago. Check it out here. 

Monique Lhuillier Bliss

Alvina Valenta

Maggie Sottero

Pronovias

Pronovias

Halter may be very pretty and quite varied in the options available, but it's still not for everyone. I love scoop necklines, especially when they are fairly plunging:

Lazaro

Alvina Valenta

Monique Lhuillier

Kenneth Pool

Scoop necklines can also be squared off for a slightly different effect: 

Mikaella

Designer Bride

For someone interested in showing off a little more cleavage, the v-neck works quite well: 

Designer Bride

Maggie Sottero

One rarely seen neckline that is actually quite elegant is the bateau: 

Designer Bride

And another that is actually quite popular right now is the asymmetrical one-shoulder look: 

Maggie Sottero

Maggie Sottero

Designer Bride

It may seem overwhelming at first, but if you try different necklines out, you'll soon discover that there is one you gravitate towards, most likely because it is the one that is the most flattering on you. Check back soon as we cover differences in waistlines, fabric choices and trains. 

Bridal Fashion 101- Silhouette

They say that January is a busy month for the bridal sales industry- all those engagements at Christmas and New Years really help boost the sales, I suppose. After a nice long weekend, I'm looking forward to some busy months of work at the shop. Anyway, it occurred to me recently that there are probably quite a few people out there who start shopping for a wedding  gown without fully understanding what they're getting themselves into. You can clip pictures out of bride magazine's until you're blue in the face, but if you go into the wedding gown search with a bit of knowledge, the whole process can be SO much easier! There is quite a lot to cover, so I'm just going to focus initially on silhouette and fabric. Sound good? Great!

There are only a handful of silhouettes to choose from, but within each silhouette there are an infinite number of variations and modifications that can be made. In addition, there are several neckline choices and of course all sorts of fabrics and combinations of textiles. I'm sure they teach entire courses on bridal gowns in fashion school. I didn't go to fashion school. You probably didn't either, but that's okay because I'm still going to teach you everything you need to know.

To start, let's keep it basic. There are four basic silhouettes to choose from when selecting a wedding gown: ball gown, a-line, trumpet/mermaid and sheath.

Ball gowns are the fullest skirt silhouette, but the skirt can begin at the natural waist, or it can be dropped a bit closer to the hips:

Lazaro

Maggie Sottero

Ball gowns are often very full because the fabric is gathered or pleated at the waist. This, in addition to the specific way in which the fabric is cut and sewn together helps to create a VERY full skirt. Petticoats and layers of tulle or crinoline help the dress maintain its shape. In some cases, hoop skirt petticoats are used as well. 

A-Line is less full than a ball gown, but it is essentially the same silhouette. The name comes from the idea of the skirt falling like the letter "A" from your waist down to the floor. 

Monique Lhuilier

Pronovias

Watters and Watters

Fit & Flare is also known as Mermaid or Trumpet style, but there are slight differences between the two. Both silhouettes are fitted through the bodice, waist and hips. However, a mermaid silhouette becomes fuller at the knee, whereas a trumpet silhouette will flare out a bit higher, usually around mid-thigh. 

Monique Lhuillier

Martina Liana

Martina Liana

Sheath dresses are generally the slimmest silhouette, and are perfect for an informal, destination wedding, or for someone looking to infuse some "Old Hollywood" glamour into their wedding. 

Pronovias

Maggie Sottero

This is FAR from an exhaustive list of the many variations on all of these silhouettes, but you can still get an idea for the main differences between each one. When selecting the silhouette of your wedding gown, there are several factors to consider. First, which is going to be the most flattering on your body? Sometimes the answer will surprise you. Height is also a factor to consider when determining which is the most flattering silhouette. Second, which silhouette do you feel the best in? This may also be a surprising answer. Wedding gowns are unlike any other garment you will ever wear, and you will be surprised by how different dresses feel on your body. Finally, consider the venue and the tone you are trying to set for your wedding. If you are getting married in a grand church setting, a sheath might not be the ideal silhouette for you. Consider a full a-line or a ball gown instead. 

I may be new to the bridal industry, but my experience as a costume designer and stylist has thoroughly prepared me for this new world I'm in. If you or a friend are shopping for your wedding gown and you live in the New England area, I encourage you to make an appointment at Madeleine's Daughter. All of the dresses pictured above might not be available at our shop, but I can promise that all the designers you see above are available, as well as many others. While I may be equipped to give you a basic crash course here on my blog, there is nothing like the experience of selecting your gown with a seasoned, professional bridal consultant. 

Stop by again in the future as I cover other aspects of selecting your gown including neckline, train, waistline and fabric choices. You'd be amazed at how many different combinations exist!