Styles

The Wedding Dress - Styles

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The style you will choose for your wedding dress will be influenced greatly by your personality as well as by the ceremony you are planning to have. In doubt, ask for advice but stay with what you have in mind. Some Brides will want to be themselves, other will look for an entirely different image and other will dream of a fairytale dress.

The most important thing is not to feel like you are wearing a fancy dress but still to be able go all the way and fulfil your dream. Very often, a bride tries too much to please everyone: her mother, friends, fiancé, mother in law.

You also must be aware that your dress should fit you perfectly, it is crucial.

Other factors to take into consideration are colour, fabric, size, silhouette and lace style. No doubt you already have in mind the style of dress that you wish to wear according to the theme and the tone of your wedding, the season, the venue, whether you decide of a religious ceremony in winter or an informal ceremony on the beach in summer, and the styles of others, groom, bridesmaids, relatives and guests to ensure that the wedding will be harmonious. Those will vary according from season to season. Try to imagine yourself in your dress and feel as comfortably as you can in it.


Every bride wants to wear the perfect dress. To find this perfect dress, which will flatter your figure, accentuate in the best way the features you most like about yourself and mask those you are not so pleased with, we invite you to read the following.

This brief glossary should help you to become familiar with various classic styles and decide which one will be more suited to your personality and your figure and allow you to feel beautiful and confident on this day where you will be the centrepiece of a memorable event of your life which will stay in your memory for ever.

Looking through wedding magazines, shops and attending wedding fayres, you will find a great diversity of designs, but to simplify your options, let’s look firstly at the bBasic dress shapes:

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A-line

The name of this style speaks for itself: it was named after by the letter that represents the shape of the dress and was initially invented by French designer Christian Dior.

It is a simple shape with vertical seams running from the shoulders down to a flared skirt.
Although this dress has a fitted bodice and shoulders straps, it is not as constraining as the sheath as the seamless waistline is not as outlined as other styles and falls elegantly in a flared hemline.

This traditional dress is very enhancing on all sizes and shapes but it looks particularly good on smaller brides as the upper part of the dress softly blending into the flared skirt accentuates the impression of length with a smooth, sleek, long and lean figure as a result.

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Princess-line

Princess-line and A-line have practically the same shape and tend to be the most flattering. The Princess-line is also characterised by two vertical side seams that run from bust and flares out gently to hem.

With no bust line or waistline breaks, the Princess-line brings attention to the shoulders and bust and this sleek fitting bodice which merges elegantly with the bottom part of the dress gives this full panelled dress a very slimming silhouette.

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Sheath
Now we come to a more modern style, which presents a simple, slim fitting shape, with no waistline and which usually flares at the bottom.

Sheaths follow closely the silhouette in a revealing way and for this reason will be worn generally without a petticoat or an underskirt.

A detachable train might also complete this outfit.
Very glamorous, in a lightweight sheer fluid fabric such as muslin or crepe, it is a very popular for a civil wedding or for an evening wedding.

This style will appeal to slightly older brides, tall, slim who are looking for simplicity and will adopt this style to attend a religious or civil ceremony with a silk stole in the summer months or a warmer one in winter.

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Empire
As you can guess by its name, this dress, with its sober elegant line, was very popular during Napoleon’s reign. Not far from the Princess-line, the Empire line has a fitted bodice and shoulders. The characteristics of the Empire style dress are the very high raised waistline which begins directly below the bust and a soft slimmer skirt which runs straight from the high waistline to the ground.

Very flattering for smaller brides as it makes them look taller, the empire line dress can also be made from many various materials. For example the use of lace for the make of the bodice gives a stunning effect in contrast with a duchess satin for the skirt.

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Ball gown
When thinking about a fairy-tale wedding, the ball gown is undoubtedly the style that comes to mind and has stayed the most traditional and popular.

Ballgown dresses are typified by a full bodice, which flatters most figures, and which is fitted through the waist and leads to a very full bell shaped skirt held up by petticoats and hoops and reaching at least to the ankles.

It is The Dress of a unique Day and you will easily be able to add your personal touch to it if you wish by choosing for instance a bodice different from the skirt, adding sleeves, a sweeping train and veil

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Mermaid
The mermaid style is also a very slim fitting shape, which becomes even more fitted around the legs and ends with a flare like a fishtail skirt and train. Mermaid dresses have become very popular.

Derived from the sheath style, the mermaid style is also a very slim fitting shape, which becomes even more fitted around the legs and ends with a flare like a fishtail skirt and train. Mermaid dresses have become very popular.

For a bride who wishes to draw attention to the curves of her silhouette, for example a bride with fuller chest, wider hips and thin waist, the “hourglass” silhouette, this style will look very flattering in its simplicity and elegance, as too many details can add weight to the whole silhouette.

The slender silhouette of this style also is a perfect choice for thin petite brides. When the effect of the skirt flaring out below the knees is accentuated with extra material sewn into the back or with a train, it becomes the Fishtail style. It can look stunning in a slinky satin material and although like the sheath dress, it is a very from hugging figure, the extra width given by the fishtail flared hem at the back makes quite a significant difference to comfort when walking.

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Riding
This style, dating from the end of the 19th c, beginning of the 20thcentury,takes its origin from the riding suit women used to wear to ride and walk: its characteristics are a fitted bodice with leg of muttons sleeves and a full skirt with bustle.

Often a tailored jacket fitted at the waist will complete this outfit and the last touch added by a top hat shape will give the bride who opts for this equestrian style a stunning unique look.

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