Wedding Guest Dresses Inspired by the Victoria Series
The first time I fell in love with the Victoria series, it was with a color—a queenly teal. During the opening credits, Jenna Coleman as Victoria is filmed in various stages of her royal career. Hair down and looking girlish; then hair upswept with a tiara; eyes mischievous and flickering, then set in the most commanding gaze, her growing authority shimmering through her manners. Victoria changes, but her teal background does not. Deeper than peacock and bluer than emerald, it is a jewel tone that doesn’t feel like one. Instantly, I was besotted. *This* was the most ravishing, regal color I could envision; sophisticated, sublime; a color that belonged in the parlors of the great old homes and in the settings of the royal jewel collection. I wanted to live inside this color.
Garden Party Dresses
For years, I’ve dreamed of the ultimate, enchanted garden party. I imagine a scene where guests mill about the garden, with gowns adorning the lawn like wildflowers in pastel colors-- butter yellow, blush pink, powder blue. I picture garden party tables set with floral cloths or left bare, except for a slip of fabric. A gauzy runner so nonchalantly placed it seems like an afterthought-- a wedding veil left behind by a runaway bride. Floating florals sprawl across each table, a meadow in miniature.
Destinations as Dresses
The enchantment of certain wedding dress collections lies in their ability to evoke a sense of place. Some talented designers, working from an intimate understanding of home, seem to translate the essence, style, and soul of a place through a language of silk, lace, and satin. From the nonchalant chic of French separates to the sensuous beauty of a Spanish silk gown, certain collections transport you to their place of origin, as surely as architecture, music, literature, folklore, or poetry does. Sometimes, however, the associations are poetic and abstract—a dress can feel like a place without being made there. The way a fabric drapes, the placement of a freshwater pearl, the commanding presence of a long train—all these things can, in some abstract way, speak to the attitude of a place.