Southern California has its own unique sense of style, and Jinny Bartusick, of Jinny’s Bridal Center in Huntington Beach, says that this is reflected even in the choice of wedding gowns.
“Of course, for the regular weddings, we do still see a lot of the classic, old-fashioned gowns, with the cathedral train and all the frills,” she explains. “But we also do a lot of beach weddings out here, and that requires a more informal gown. Maybe more of a sheath dress, something rather sheer.”
In the past, brides often fretted over whether it was appropriate for them to wear white on their wedding day, given that white was widely seen as a symbol of virginal “purity”. Fortunately, Bartusick says that this isn’t really much of an issue in the OC of today.
“Couples are living together for two or three years before they get married, so they’re obviously not virgins on their wedding night. I have seen some women get married in green or other colors, but overwhelmingly, women will chose the classic white.”
Indeed, Bartusick says that nowadays even a pregnant bride can wear a white wedding dress with confidence.
“We see that more and more. There are special maternity wedding gowns, or you can wear an empire waist; it’s an old-fashioned style that’s seamed directly below the bust, with a lot of extra fabric gathered there to help conceal the tummy. Usually we can just accommodate a pregnant bride with a larger dress, we can alter her gown as she grows from a size 4 to a 10.”
But while white remains as popular as ever as a wedding dress color, Bartusick cautions that she’s not talking about the traditional, “electric” white – that is, a dress that’s as white as a piece of paper.
“For most women, those dresses are pretty much out of the question,” she says. “Those stark white dresses can look good on a woman with dark hair and dark eyes, it can be very dramatic, but for most women it’s just too strong and it doesn’t look right at all. Many women look better in a warmer, more subdued white – a shade of ivory, or what we call diamond white, which is a lovely, kind of silky color. We let women try those on, and almost always they’ll see right away how much better and more natural they look.”
In recent years, there has been a trend for brides to wear a series of dresses – sometimes many dresses – throughout the ceremony. She might wear one dress while she actually walks down the aisle, then another for cutting the cake, another for when she hits the dance floor, another for photos, then still another when she’s leaving on her honeymoon. Such extravagances are becoming increasingly popular with wealthy couples, but Bartusick says that here in OC she’s mostly seen it confined to certain Asian communities.
“I think that’s something that’s big in the Filipino culture,” she says. “The idea is that the wedding day is the most beautiful that the bride will ever look, so they want to showcase at her very best, she’s like a fashion model. But I just don’t imagine that one catching on in a big way, frankly. It seems like you’d spend most of the day changing your dress, and you’d miss a lot of your wedding!”
Looking ahead, Bartusick believes that A-line dresses will still be popular for a while, as will ruched dresses, which gather lots of fabric together for extra volume.
“Taffeta seems to be on the way back in now,” she adds, “and embroidery is very big. Silks and satins, of course, are always classy, they’ll never go out of fashion. Girls don’t really wear pearls anymore, though. They were very popular for a long time, but you just don’t see them much these days. You know, in some cultures, like Mexico, they say that pearls symbolize tears. That’s bad luck!”
Bartusick has recently observed a return of the wedding veil, after having seen it fall out fashion somewhat in the last few years.
“I think that for a while, the veil was considered a little passé,” Bartusick says. “A lot of brides thought of themselves as ‘jeans and a t-shirt’ kind of girls, and they didn’t want to wear something as impractical as a veil, or they’d wear it coming down the aisle but then they’d take it off for the reception. But now the veil is coming back in a big way, and we’re seeing a lot of longer ones.”
For Bartusick, the veil’s return is a very welcome one.
“The veil – or blusher, as we sometimes call it – traditionally symbolizes your life as a single woman,” Bartusick explains. “As you’re walking down the aisle you’re single, but then, when the preacher says you are now man and wife and your husband lifts the blusher and you kiss, that symbolizes your first kiss. It doesn’t matter if you’ve actually kissed a thousand times before, it’s your first kiss as a married couple. Sometimes, when I explain its significance to the customers, they actually cry a little bit. It’s a powerful symbol.”
