Her Wedding Gown

My sister is getting married, which means (since she is of my blood) that she is busy planning and perusing and shopping and looking around and thinking and note-taking and researching and just generally trying to find a way to make her and his big day exactly as she would like it to be. Back when I got married, waaaaaaaaayyyy back in 1996, I did the same thing. I had definite ideas about how I wanted our day to be, and spent a year and a half planning every detail (including a shouting match over the napkins, I kid you not) until it was the way I had always wanted it, since before I met Mr. Right (in fact, since before I met Ms. Puberty, even.) Though we have different ideas about dream weddings, I know that my sister will enjoy the planning process and all that it entails.

We lost our Mom about 8 years ago, and since then I had planned to be the one to go with Roxy to find the elusive dress. I imagined us laughing over the ugly ones, dressing her up in the pretty ones, and searching high and low for the one that was "just right", as my Mom did with me. Since I live in Paris and she lives in Minneapolis, this is, unfortunately, not going to happen the way I thought it would. A trip there is a bit out of our price-range for a shopping trip, no matter how special it would be.

So, instead I sit at my laptop, surfing some of the sites she suggested, and sending images back and forth through email. "Do you like this one?" "This is really pretty!" "I didn't think I'd like something like this, but I think I do. Is that weird?" and so forth.

Styles have changed since the mid-90's, but the quest hasn't. Though the poofy sleeved, butt-bowed, high necked satin monstrosities are for the most part gone, they have been replaced with some equally ugly confections in different styles, and all seem to have something about them that's just, um, wrong. The bridesmaid dresses, though now simpler than they were "in my day", are still not something you would want to wear a second time. Unless you like wearing really unflattering, cheap-looking clothing, that is.

However, I must say that today's bridal fashions have definitely got something on the ones from the days surrounding my wedding. In fact, I don't think I've ever quite seen something as, um, well, different as these.

But you know, I do live in Paris, which calls itself the Couture Capital of the World. "Couture" is the french word for "Sewing" (once again, I kid you not.) However, when a dress is labeled "couture", it doesn't mean "it's been sewn!"--no, rather, "it costs waaaaaaaaayyyy too much!"

This doesn't necessarily mean that it's beautiful or will make you look beautiful. Nor does it mean that it is new, fresh and modern. Exhibit A: For the Confederate Modern Bride of 1863 2006.

I think we've got a lot of work ahead of us.