bridal inspo from two decades of vera wang
& over 30 vintage bridal pieces to shop!
This week in the molechat: Fruits Mag spotted at SF Art Book Fair, a community bath dye in LA, Montreal travel recs, Ojai thrift finds, eyebrow gel recs, and an EPIC wedding dress thread!! Paid readers get the ability to start threads in our 39K-person chat. Get style help, travel recs, and make friends :)
I am in the very early stages of bridal style research—the fun part when there are no real constraints yet because I have not committed to a specific neckline or material or color or budget even.
That means everything is on the table. Sure, I’ve pictured myself in some ivory-hued vintage Prada grails—maybe that latex and silk dress from 1998??—but I can equally envision wearing a retro Courreges vinyl jacket and matching miniskirt. Or a Vivienne Tam dragon-emblazoned meshie in place of a red cheongsam. Or a floaty beaded chiffonade of a Blumarine dress. Or an unmarked vintage silk skirt with major customization potential!
Every night after dinner, I curl up with a dessert (lately it’s caramelized dates) and spend my ~unwinding~ time doing online recon for potential bridal outfits. It’s the most relaxing part of my day.
On such a night, I realized I should add “vera wang” to my list of saved searches.
Below the fold:
5 design ideas and 17 reference images from the Vera Wang archives I’ve added to my bridal moodboard.
over 30 vintage bridal pieces to shop. Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect! Everything is picked out by me, and represent styles I would personally wear.
So, why did I start my research process by going through 20 years of Vera Wang archives?
Vera Wang is synonymous with contemporary bridal. The ex-Vogue, ex-Ralph Lauren designer opened her boutique in 1990 at the Carlyle Hotel in New York, and has dressed celebrities (real and fictional lol) like Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, and Carrie Bradshaw.
Vera Wang entered my consciousness as a kid through my mom, a frugal shopper who was extremely discerning about quality because she grew up sewing her own clothes. My mom described her as a Chinese-American designer (a point of pride) who made sophisticated dresses for sophisticated women. When Vera Wang launched a diffusion line at Kohl’s, I tagged along with my mom to check it out at South Shore Shopping Center. She examined the garments—they were delicate and pretty, but she was unimpressed with the quality—and left empty-handed.
For the record, I am personally not attached to wearing a Vera Wang dress! My interest stems moreso from being a lifelong student of fashion, and craving the mental stimulation of a deep dive research project.
So, I looked through every collection documented on Firstview, which spanned from 1999 to 2020—just over two decades.
Here are the design themes and images that stuck with me!
1. An Oyster-Colored Silk Dress
Maybe it’s just the effect of early 2000s photography, but this silvery-ivory color—I’m calling it OYSTER—has my heart. Especially when it’s on a surgically precise bias cut silk dress. Liquid and shimmering. Las Vegas casino lights, misty fog on a November morning, the reflection of the moon in the Pacific Ocean.
*Left to right
SS2003: Drawn to the cowl neckline, barely there straps, and pink beaded flowers (remiscent of the Uptown Girls birthday dress!)
FW2004: I like the sheer bottom part of the skirt.
SS2005 Bridal: Into the various diamond/diagonal shapes, very art deco.
FW2007 Bridal: Yeah I love this neckline. Slightly medieval, love the styling with a flat mary jane (?).
2. A Topiary Bouquet
I’m not very plugged into the world of floral design trends BUT is it safe to say that the style of the moment is like…stemmy calla lillies and drippy arrangements of hanging amaranthus?? Which I think is beautiful—I honestly just haven’t sought out much inspo beyond that. The last bridal bouquet that was seared in my memory was Sandy Liang’s ornamental onion stem.
Going through the Vera Wang archives, I kept taking screenshots of these unusual bouquets: small and compact, like a puff on a bundle of incense sticks. The roundness of it speaks to me! I’m calling it a topiary bouquet.
On the bottom, green sprigs and bundles of herbs that look like they were plucked straight from the earth. The simplicity and freshness of that green against white…consider me inspired!!!!
Top: FW2009 Bridal
Bottom: SS2008 Bridal
3. An ‘Atonement’ Green Moment
Green is an emotionally charged color. It has gravitas, passion, intensity, and romance. Perhaps the most famous green dress in cinema is the emerald toned silk dress Kiera Knightly wears in Atonement. Ugh, what I would give to wear that.
These dresses are not emerald, but they are green, and close to my favorite shade of Molehill green.
SS04: Glossy and regal, with a strand of lilac ribbon.
SS05: Ok first of all, the intentional nip slip styling is cool. Second of all, I love that small ruching detail under the sternum.
FW06: Wispy feathers on the straps!
4. Long Dangly Ribbon
This is such a 2000s design element—the long skinny ribbon tied haphazardly around the waist. Crucially, it is not sewn into the construction of the garment. It can be easily un-tied, so it has an undone look. I like the sense of ease and movement it brings.
SS04: I love this pale lilac (it would def wash me out though). But I’m into the halter-esque neckline.
SS04: A green silk ribbon that trails down to the ankles! Might just have to do this to one of my silk slips, not even for a bridal outfit.
SS05 Bridal: White ribbon with a camelia-esque flower pin—super easy DIY you can do to a dress.
4. Airy Cloud Shapes
I didn’t know “poofy bride” was a phrase until looking through the molechat wedding dress thread! Most of my saved dresses are swishy and fluid rather than poofy, but I do love a specific kind of voluminous tailoring that is perhaps better described as “airy” in a way that evokes a cloud…
FW07 Bridal: This collection is a stellar example of wedding dresses with super casual, everyday hairstyles. The black headband with the strapless tunic top flowing into a glam duvet cover-esque skirt really works for me.
FW07 Bridal: I like how it looks like she is standing atop a small cloud. The single loooooong black ribbon down the back with a low ponytail is visually satisfying as well.
SS08 Bridal: A slightly puffed sleeve with a sheer celery green shawl. Exquisite! Had to show how it looks from the back, too:
What a feast of inspiration.