Page ZB/Tfte Battalwn/Tfwrsdayj February 8, 1984
Brides choosing more traditional gown
United Press International
NEW YORK — Today’s
typical bride is a traditionalist,
dipping into the nostalgia of the
1950s and earlier and away from
the barefoot in the park era of
the ’(30s and ’70s.
The casual look of wedding
attire has disappeared as com
pletely as the flower children
and love heads.
steeped in tradition that her
eped
wedding is similar to her
mother’s or grandmothers’.
She selects what she wants
from tradition and combines it
with contemporary adaptations.
Her wedding gown alone can
cost as much as $25,000,
although not many brides can
afford that amount. Barbara
Tober, editor in chief of Bride’s
Elegance and age-old ritual
are the rule, say fashion author
ities. But the 1980s bride isn’t so
magazine, estimates today’s
typical bride spends $400 to
$500.
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“Quality First 41
Priscilla of Boston, a famous
bridal manufacturing and retail
firm, puts the average at $550 to
$600. At this house, which has
made bridal attire for many of
the headline brides such as Tri-
cia Nixon, a one-of-a-kind, cus
tom gown can run from $16,000
to $25,000.
“It’s all that labor, all that
hand work,” said Priscilla Kid
der, who heads the firm.
For Pat Kerr, of Memphis, it’s
all that hand work plus the anti
que fabrics she uses that send
her prices soaring.
Kerr, a collector of antique
textiles, also has a collection of
laces to boggle the mind.
Gowns by Kerr, a former Miss
Universe-Tennessee from
Savannah, Tenn., are featured
in the top stores around the
country. Bergdorf Goodman re
cently gave its Fifth Avenue win
dow display over entirely to her
creations.
“I never expected the bridal
market to become what it is,” she
said. “But there is that kind of
customer who will spend
$12,000 or $15,000 for her spe
cial dress.”
“Regardless of cost, brides
want to go the traditional route,
but they also want to be contem
porary,” Tober said.
“The silhouette is slender.
Today’s market responds to the
of the
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fitness mood of the country.
Ten years ago, the most popular
sizes were 12s and 14s. Now they
are 8s and 10s. The girls certain
ly are not shorter. They’re just
leaner. Everyone seems to be
into some phase of body care.”
“The smaller sizes don’t sur
prise me at all,” said Gele Lalli,
editor-in-chief of Modern Bride
magazine. “Think of all that
dieting, exercise, the accent on
fitness.”
Except for renewed interest
in traditions, there seems to be
no major event shaping the brid
al gown fashions. Gone, or re
fined, is the effect of that 26-foot
train on the wedding dress of
Diana, now Princess of Wales,
when she married Prince
Gharles.
Somehow every bride in a
long dress also wants a train, said
style sources. But if she’s wear
ing the newly popular length
called the “tea,” from tea gown,
and coming almost to the ankles,
the train gets replaced by a more
elaborate veil.
“Everything is very roman
tic,” said Garol Loudon, head
buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue
stores for 12 years. “We do see a
lot of shoulders bared that once
upon a time might have made a
bride blush, but there usually is
some net to fill in.
For spring and summer wed
dings, most brides favor white
over ivory, said Tober.
Fabrics, however, are season
less. Once upon a time, satins
were for winter weddings,
organzas for the summer. To
day, satins are popular the year
around, because new fabric de
velopments have made them
and many other silks lighter in
weight.
Also gone is the prejudice
against white for a second wed
ding. Long ago, white was
looked upon as the symbol of the
bride’s purity. White always was
a color of celebration. Today’s
bride takes the celebration atti
tude.
“This is a woman who can
afford to be a woman,” Mrs. To
ber said. “She’s loved as a
woman. One woman told me, ‘I
want him to be proud of me all
my life.’”
For a while, especially for out
door weddings, lacy, airy garden
hats were the rule. That trend,
too, is reversed.
“We’re back to veils, flowers
and caps for the head,” said Mrs.
Tober. “Hats all loo frequently
hid the bride’s face, anyway.
Brides are electing coronets,
circlets of flowers, half hats,
tiaras, and toques that are small
and close fitting, but without
brim. The Juliet cap goes on and
on. This a small cap, ornately
trimmed with pearls and jewels
and also hugging the crown of
the head.”
One note on the flower girls.
Their numbers are fewer, say
wedding experts, simply be
cause today’s bride, being older
than a generation ago, has older
friends as attendants.
It’s a matter of taste for the
mothers of the bride and brideg
room.
Many elect a long, beautiful
evening dress.
Hhoto by Bill Hughti
One of the wedding dresses shown at a recen!
wedding fashion show in Bryan/College Station,
Dots, red in for men
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2 «8 GUADALUPE
By MIKE DAVIS
Reporter
A bold red dinner jacket, black
trousers and a white wing-
tipped pleated shirt with black
cummerbund are the attire of
the modern groom.
If your most formal attire is
jeans and cowboy boots, or if
you’re model-material for Gen
tlemen’s Quarterly magazine, or
if you’re somewhere in between,
red is the color, dinner jacket is
the style and designer is the cut
for the 1984 groom.
“Red is where it’s at,” says
Joni Grogin, director of market
ing for Al’s Formal Wear and
Bride-n-Formal in Houston.
• Dinner jackets with a round
ed shawl lapel or the traditional
notch lapel may be the trend, but
Grogin says older styles also are
popular.
“Double-breasted is really
coming back," she says.
The double-breasted tuxedo
is worn buttoned with one side
of the jacket far overlapping the
other. Wing-tipped shirts with
matching tie and handkerchief
combinations are popular op
tions.
Many brides want a color-
coordinated wedding, Grogin
says, so wedding clothiers have
made many color combinations
available.
■“Colored cummerbund sets
— that’s a real big thing,” Grogin
g to
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AUSTIN, TX 78705
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THE DIET PLACE
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“QUALITY FIRST”
says. “The red tie and cum Catholic
bund set is probably theh< jon “It’i
of any of them.” Hither
Style is as importantloi udgmen
men as looks. For them, jiff
pastel oi polka-dotted cumff'Forg
bund sets are somethingt says Ke
rent. ..^Hngeli:
"They have new ones of Chris
bku k with while dots,btugiflrers i
with while dots, polkadols, ! ther nt
says. “That is all really up; ngocci
coming. I (
“It’s like taking your hi ;^ ve
black xedo and dressings J s T r
with just a little color." mi «-
"It’s still conservative.H fthodi
haven’t gone back to real’ heatter
colors in tuxedos. Theyji | lca lly
need to pick upthecolorsoi cr y
they can match theirdaii ervovv
dress.”
While hints of color mayi
ernize the groom’s attire,
black tails still are in style,
silver and gray still lingenl
being the colors of 19"
Grogins says the
groom should onlyweariK
lional black or white tro»i
with matching patent leatl
shoes.
Other accessories;
grooms include: j j
• ascots, which Grogins! Uest j 0
are still appropriate for mi
ing and daytime weddings;
• top hat and canes, vl
Grogin says are more popni
for proms, but add a toudif
elegance to any wedding;
• gloves, which shouldal
be worn at the traditional
time or evening wedding.
"Ti
ast mi
»e,” s;
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