As a child I collected pictures of Hollywood starlets, snipping fuzzy black and white or Technicolour photos from the Radio Times and pasting them into a scrapbook. It was a riot of fabulous glamour, fantastic gowns and perfect pancake make-up. Every starlet, every gown, every film… but no wedding photographs, not a single one. Why? I suppose I just never got that whole traditional, demure, white dress look, not when there are so many other sexy, gorgeous dresses to wear. And a veil? C’mon, let’s not smudge the lippy, eh?
Consider that self-help manual disguised as a Technicolour musical, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – so many glorious costumes, everyone a winner. Marilyn, stitched into that gold lame halter neck number, plunging to the waist at the front and at the back, with sunburst pleats that flare out as she moves, like mercury across the dancefloor, towards Sir ‘Piggy’ Beekman and his diamond mine. Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance. Cut to Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and that sheath of lipstick pink satin, cinched with a belt and adorned with an outrageous padded bow at the back. Cleverly filmed against a scarlet background with a cohort of suitors in black and white tuxedos, the scene explodes on the screen. It’s no surprise that stories abound of onset tensions resulting from Marilyn stealing every scene, having better costumes, better lines &c &c. I adore Jane Russell, but sheesh, Marilyn just rocks in this movie.
I said that this movie is a self-help manual, and it is. The lesson? Marry for love, not money; the guy with the diamonds isn’t always the real deal. So it all ends happily with a double white wedding – and it is around this point that I rewind back to Jane and Marilyn singing about Little Rock, on fire in red sequinned gowns slashed to the hip. So much nicer to look at, surely you agree?
We all love that retro vibe, but we don’t have to follow every tradition, do we? So imagine the bride turning up in our beautiful 1950s style South Pacific Tropical Swing Dress? Exquisite vintage-inspired tailoring creating that perfect shape, flared from the waist so you can dance like crazy. Layers of 1950s frothy petticoat accentuating that perfect vintage pinup look; no, it isn’t demure, but it is adorable. Add a brace of your besties in one of our fabulous 1950s style wiggle dresses and you have the recipe for the most glamourous wedding of the year. And the best bit? These are dresses to wear again and again, they should be out and about, showing off and enjoying life, definitely not for stashing away in the loft!
