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WHEN I was about 10 years old, for the first and only time in my
life, I was a bridesmaid. My mother made our dresses, a plain round
neck shape in what we would now call ‘citrus pink’.
We’re talking late ’60s, where the beehive hairstyles,
combined with the veil and headpiece, made the bride’s head look three
times as big. A slightly dropped round neckline was considered "daring",
and no other colour but white would ever be considered.
The current crop of winter gowns being peddled in
Australia breaks these conventions.
The current trend of bare arms and shoulders has
produced a multitude of necklines, but when you think about it, really
there are only three: round, square, and collar. Yet Australian designers
have managed to ingeniously disguise the three accepted norms to the
point that a plain styled gown, Cinderella fashion, changes into something
quiet nice.
Yet despite this, there is still no definitive style
that could be called uniquely Australian. Whereas there are plenty
of beautiful gowns in our bridal shops, there is not so much as a
koala, kangaroo or gum nut in sight.
Designer Ken Done came close to it in the mid-’80s
with his highly coloured caricature images of the Sydney Opera House.
But who wants a bridal gown featuring bright pink and blue buildings?
Both in bridal and fashion design, Australia has yet to make its mark.
Having said that, the one thing Australian designers
seem to excel at is copying European designs and trends. But you couldn’t
accuse Australian designers of not having a go at creating something
that would stand out. Unfortunately, there are more failures than
successes as exemplified in ‘Couture 2000’ in For the Bride, no.
2, summer 2000, pp. 12–13, where the two gowns shown look more like
evening than bridal gowns.
Yet if you jump to p. 185, you will see what I consider
as one of the most sophisticated bridal gowns designed in this country
(and I’m assuming it was). With its high collar, cutaway shoulders,
long gloves and abundance of decoration, it reminds me very much of
the white gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. For
something different, there’s another gown on p. 203: very much French
Revolution-influenced with its wide lace edging on the sleeves.
Of course, finding that perfect gown is still one
of the biggest tasks facing any bride. You’ve surfed the ’net, pounded
pavements, and still you can’t find the gown you want. Ooh
Aah Cantona is one of the very few fashion companies in Australia
that offers a "design-it-yourself" service. In short, you
design it, they make it, with prices that are comparable to, if not
cheaper than, normal bridal outlets.
For example, a bride in Texas got exactly the gown
she wanted for far less than she expected. The gown itself had a simple
round neck with short sleeves, and was made from a lightweight ivory
satin with a white rose patterned lace overlay. The stunning feature
of this gown was the train. Measuring 10 ft (c. 3 m)
in length, and joining the dress at the shoulders, every rose had
a pearl and translucent sequin hand stitched onto it. The final count
was over 2,000 pearls.
The bride supplied the fabric, cutting the cost
dramatically. Including postage and insurance, it cost US$2,500.
The biggest drawback with having a gown made this
way is the time it takes. This particular example took almost six
weeks. Yet if you have time to wait and want a gown made exclusively
for you, your patience will be well rewarded.
A N N E T T
E H O LT-
S I K E TA
Annette Holt-Siketa can now be reached at http://fire.prohosting.com/mummsy/.—Editor
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Above: The Ilissa line by Demetrios is
an example of original design, according to Holt-Siketa
How did the white dress come into being?
There is no definitive answer, but a popular belief is that it emanated
from Queen Elizabeth I. For those of you who have seen Elizabeth
with Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush, you already know the answer,
but for those who haven’t, I’ll try to explain.
Elizabeth had chopped off the heads of her English
enemies and sent the French packing from Scotland. But she was disillusioned.
She couldn’t understand why people would question her and her decisions,
but would do just about anything in the name of God without question.
Wolsingham (Geoffrey Rush) explains to her that
in God and the faith there is a divinity and ‘They [the people] must
be able to touch the divine here on earth.’
This scene, both in the movie and historically,
takes place in a chapel where Elizabeth is looking at a white-faced
statue of the Virgin Mary. Elizabeth then decides that she would become
an earthly symbol of divinity and styles herself on the Virgin Mary.
She shaved her head and began wearing wigs (although historians will
argue that this was due to an abundance of head lice). All visible
flesh, face and hands, were to be covered in a white paste symbolizing
the purity of the Virgin.
Her nickname of ‘The Virgin Queen’ came not from
her lack of intimacy, but rather her attempt to become a divine symbol
for her people, and it is this abundant use of white and what it represents
that forms the basis of brides wearing white gowns in church.—Annette
Holt-Siketa
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