Wedding Obsession

I got engaged last June, and I've totally been obsessing about the wedding since then.  Partly, this is because I tend to find a project and then obsess about it for a week until something new and shiny distracts me and I obsess about that.  Partly it's because when people say, "I'm not the kind of girl who has been designing her wedding since she was 6," they're totally describing ME.  More specifically, I have been designing my wedding DRESS since I could hold a pencil.

My favorite books when I was 2 were something about farm animals and the Little Golden Books version of "The Owl and the Pussycat", which ends with the pussycat marrying the owl in a roses-on-frills-on-frills dress (and which contains the delightful line, "Oh lovely pussy, oh pussy my love, what a beautiful pussy you are.")

Fun fact.  When I was in college, I naively recited that poem to my dormmates, who stared at me in dumb silence for 30 seconds afterwards. Why, yes, I did have sheltered religious upbringing.  How did you guess?

So here it is, the evolution of THE DRESS.  From 2-4, I wanted the pussycat's dress!  Oh, lovely pussy!

  

By age 5, though, it wasn't blingy enough.  More bling!  More shiny!  Sweetheart necklines with hints of cleavage!  Cutaway skirts revealing ruffled underskirts!  High heels!  Rhinestones!  More, more, moooooore!  I was always drawing sophisticated, elegant woman, who were either blinged out for the ball/wedding, or wearing itty-bitty microminis, cleavage-y bustiers, big hair, red lipstick and sky high spike heels.  In my mind, the mature, elegant woman spent her time dressed up for a night of street walking.

When I was about 8, I visited my cousins and they had a Peaches and Cream Barbie!  My favorite color was peach, and Peaches and Cream Barbie made my favorite fabric chiffon.  Lots of chiffon! 

Oh, there you are again, Barbie.  When I was 9, my sister was a flower girl at my aunt's wedding, and my aunt gave her this Barbie as a present.   Cream colored satin, and sparkly fabric, oh my!

 

By high school, I had other things to think about, and I only recall thinking two things about wedding dresses: 1, lots of buttons down the back is good, and 2, tulle is a lining fabric, not a fashion fabric.  

In college, a friend of mine and I got a hold of our first bridal mag, courtesy of a group of guys who lived together (there was some backstory about an elaborate practical joke played on a friend with a clingy new girlfriend).  We were both a little shocked to find that sleeves, straps, and any fabric above the armpit was OUT.  "I can't wear a strapless dress to church!"  I said.  I wanted something with a big skirt and sleeves.

Then I discovered historical costuming.  Oh, Jane Austen, how I loved thee! 

And the 1910s!  They had such interesting sleeves in the 1910s. 

While watching The Importance of Being Ernest, I met the Juliet sleeve (puffed on top, fitted below) and it was love at first sight.  

Ohh, 1950s etherial confections that (shocking!)  weren't floor-length!  

 

Or the Victorian era!  How often do you get to wear a hoop skirt? 

After college, my clothing dreams were about other things (belly dance costumes, Renaissance Faire costumes, every-day clothes, etc.), and I was very busy undergoing the difficult and often painful process of transforming myself from a deeply religious person to a deeply non-religious one.


A few weeks after meeting my future husband, I thought, "M is not a tux kind of guy.  Nor is he a suit kind of guy.  Therefore, formal wear is out."  So I immediately set about collecting pictures of casual wedding gowns.  As you can see, I totally have my priorities straight. ;)

 

So what did I eventually decide on?  Well...that will have to wait for another post.