Strapless Wedding Gowns

[IloveCP]

I know everyone has their own opinions on wedding dresses but,Im wondering what the members think about strapless.I personally dont like them;it overdone and unoriginal.I rarely see a strapless dress that is original.Im glad its the norm for royals to not wear that.

Anyone else what to chime in?

 

[KittyAtlanta]

I have nothing against strapless in certain venues: hotels, backyards, dining rooms, beach, etc.

Never for a religious venue of any kind, either as a bride or a guest.

I was astounded that Autumn had strapless bridesmaid gowns...not even Zara looked good.

 

[Lindy]

I don't like strapless wedding gowns either. My best friend's daughter is getting married and she tells me that 80%+ of wedding gowns in the stores are strapless. Thank heavens Kate Middleton and her sister had the good sense not to wear them.

First of all, I think they are inapproriate for a church weddings. Some kind of jacket should be worn in church with a strapless gown. Secondly, very few woman have the figure to pull them off. You have to have nice shoulders, a high bust that is not too big or small, and not too much space between your neck and the top of the dress. I thought that Alexander of Gloucester's wife looked too bare in her stapless gown. It reminded me of someone who has wrapped a towel around themselves after a shower.

 

[Empress Merel]

Depends all on the person, really.
And the style ofcourse! I hate those glittery tops and crinolines. I blame Sissi. And the body type has to be perfect aswell.
Personally, I love strapless but I have strong shoulders so posture is everything when wearing something strapless.
Upper arms have to be trained aswell. Or cover them up or wear some sort of sleeve. A lot of women look like blow-up dolls in strapless. Straps are getting more in style aswell, so it seems. Not just in bridal wear. A lot of HF stuff has some sort of sleeve or strap now.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I love strapless wedding gowns for all kinds of weddings.

 

[tea-n-tiaras]

Strapless wedding dresses are absolutely inappropriate for church. One should have their shoulders covered in church. And their cleavage - Hello, Pippa!

I am so sick and tired of strapless wedding dresses. They are BORING in addition to being inappropriate in a church setting. They all look - the SAME!

And as stated in previous posts - not just anybody looks good in them.

 

[lallyvee]

Hate them especially in a church. The vast majority of woman do not look good in them. I hope they fade away.

 

[Mirabel]

I am so very tired of them.
They are ubiquitous, and make every woman look like she is in uniform!

They've been fashionable for a decade, so I hope the trend is fading...there is a reality television show in the USA in which women select bridal gowns- they mostly are strapless and the women look hideous! (Maybe one out of ten looks nice, but the rest are horrible).

But the style keeps hanging on!

 

[Lady-Jayne]

I do not understand the popularity of strapless bridal gowns. Unless you have the perfect body for them and the gown fits perfectly, you neither look good, nor feel comfortable. It is not a good look to see a bride who constantly has to hitch up her gown to ensure some level of modesty! I certainly do not understand why many brides choose to wear such an uncomfortable garment on their wedding days.

I also agree with the posts which state that they are not at all suitable for a church wedding.

I was hoping that HRH Duchess of Cambridge's gown would lead a trend towards sleeves (as I was certain that she would have sleeves).

I have been watching the bridal shops I drive past on my way to work (I pass several) and unfortuately there has been no appreciable change so far. I suppose they have to display their existing stock and perhaps I am being impatient!

 

[dilsnub]

I'm not a fan of strapless... the majority of women who wear them don't quite, uh... fill them out nd that just looks funny.

 

[kelly1994]

I wouldn't want a strapless gown but most gowns today are strapless. I think it's classier to your shoulders. Just my opinion.

What I can't stand is how all wedding dresses are white. People say white means purity in wedding dresses but they really don't; used to be wedding dresses were any color you wanted, wedding dresses are white because Queen Victoria was married in a white dress and when girls saw her get married in white they wanted to get married in white too, and then it became that white meant purity and it doesn't.

The whole white thing (and strapless nowadays) just seems so overdone to me. I want to be different in my wedding.

 

[Maura724]

I would consider myself a pretty religious person, and I don't find anything wrong with a strapless wedding dress in church. There's nothing particularly immodest or sexual about shoulders. Modesty with wedding dresses is really more an issue of neckline IMO.

I like strapless dresses and will probably wear one myself when I get married because I think I personally look good in them. However, I find it frustrating that that's pretty much the only style anyone wears and the only style you can find. Not everyone likes to wear strapless dresses - I've had so many friends tell me they won't wear that style because they feel like it's falling off - and not everyone looks good in a strapless gown. I've seen so many brides in strapless who would have been much better off in something else.

 

[wanderingnana]

I'm not a fan of strapless... the majority of women who wear them don't quite, uh... fill them out nd that just looks funny.

Quite frankly, the majority of women fill them out too much- there is too much extraneous flesh hanging out of most of them

 

[dilsnub]

That is the other extreme yes.... IMO still better than the half bowl of jello look

 

[tea-n-tiaras]

I would consider myself a pretty religious person, and I don't find anything wrong with a strapless wedding dress in church. There's nothing particularly immodest or sexual about shoulders. Modesty with wedding dresses is really more an issue of neckline IMO.

I like strapless dresses and will probably wear one myself when I get married because I think I personally look good in them. However, I find it frustrating that that's pretty much the only style anyone wears and the only style you can find. Not everyone likes to wear strapless dresses - I've had so many friends tell me they won't wear that style because they feel like it's falling off - and not everyone looks good in a strapless gown. I've seen so many brides in strapless who would have been much better off in something else.

You do not see anything sexual about bare shoulders, but ask a man what he thinks about bare shoulders. You are thinking like a woman - not a man.

A woman may sit in church with bare shoulders and see nothing wrong with it, but the men around her will notice and be distracted. And the wives of those men who are married will notice, too. And those wives won't think well of the one sitting in a church service displaying her bare shoulders.

The reason there are churches that require covered shoulders is that it is not conducive to worship. It draws the focus from God to bare shoulders.
Church is not the place to be advertising oneself.

Add the fact that most strapless dresses don't stay up well.

I agree with others - that the constant hitching up of one's dress is not attractive. A real downfall to the strapless dress.

 

[Jacknch]

I'm afraid to say that, IMO, strapless wedding dresses do not suit all women nor do they suit all sizes, slim or fuller figured. Strapless dresses are basic corsetry, right? Corsetry basically holds you all in and can hide any unwanted curves while accentuating the decolletage etc right? Well what about the bits at the top round the sides and back that over flow like a pint of beer and all hang out in an unsightly way? It's just not a great look and has less to do with size and rather more to do with the bride in question not being fitted properly and being badly advised by the salesperson. It's a problem with an overly slim woman who can look lost in such corsetry like a pencil in a drainpipe.

Brides around the world are being ripped off by being limited to buying strapless dresses that are easier and cheaper to make, use less materials but costs the same! How many dress makers out there save time and money on not having to make sleeves and a proper top?!

 

[dazzling]

I don't think strapless wedding dresses are elegant in any way. I love long sleeved wedding dresses, they just seem to always complete a wedding look.

 

[Mirabel]

I don't think strapless wedding dresses are elegant in any way. I love long sleeved wedding dresses, they just seem to always complete a wedding look.

I agree!
And I think many brides feel the same way, but end up wearing strapless anyway because that's what's available.

Yes, it is possible to find something with sleeves, but today such dresses are ultra-conservative and often not very pretty, so the bride ends up opting for strapless despite what she intended.

Lately I've seen many strapless dresses with (optional) wide lacy straps; brides are increasingly adding these for a bit more coverage, at least in church.

 

[Sternchen]

I do not understand the popularity of strapless bridal gowns. Unless you have the perfect body for them and the gown fits perfectly, you neither look good, nor feel comfortable. It is not a good look to see a bride who constantly has to hitch up her gown to ensure some level of modesty! I certainly do not understand why many brides choose to wear such an uncomfortable garment on their wedding days.

This is exactly why I chose a non-strapless wedding gown I didn't want to be constantly fussing with my dress Alas, my dress doesn't have straps either

And you can find fashionable gowns that are not strapless, at least in Germany

http://justinalexanderbridal.com/product-detail.php?id=712&entity_id=1071

 

[Mystiblue]

I don't like strapless wedding gowns either. My best friend's daughter is getting married and she tells me that 80%+ of wedding gowns in the stores are strapless. Thank heavens Kate Middleton and her sister had the good sense not to wear them.

First of all, I think they are inapproriate for a church weddings. Some kind of jacket should be worn in church with a strapless gown. Secondly, very few woman have the figure to pull them off. You have to have nice shoulders, a high bust that is not too big or small, and not too much space between your neck and the top of the dress. I thought that Alexander of Gloucester's wife looked too bare in her stapless gown. It reminded me of someone who has wrapped a towel around themselves after a shower.

Agree with you there Lindy. Something elegant, lacy, demure for wedding dresses. Some brides who wear strapless gowns and are big busted....well I'll leave it to your imagination. You have to be very tiny to carry it off ... IMHO

 

[Maura724]

You do not see anything sexual about bare shoulders, but ask a man what he thinks about bare shoulders. You are thinking like a woman - not a man.

A woman may sit in church with bare shoulders and see nothing wrong with it, but the men around her will notice and be distracted. And the wives of those men who are married will notice, too. And those wives won't think well of the one sitting in a church service displaying her bare shoulders.

If a man can't think about anything besides shoulders (which are not a sexual body part at all), that's his problem...not the dress's, or the woman wearing it.

The reason there are churches that require covered shoulders is that it is not conducive to worship. It draws the focus from God to bare shoulders.
Church is not the place to be advertising oneself.

Generally at a wedding, the main focus is on the bride regardless of what she's wearing, not on worship, even if it is a religious service.

 

[notyourgirl]

a strapless dress at a wedding? well, i think it's fine, it's like Maura724, the main focus is on the bride and the wedding... however some people do pay attention to what the bride is wearing.

and the comment about men? well, you know, men are men... a woman in a strapless dress can undress very easily and quick, so less time spending on useless activites

also if someone looks good in a strapless dress, it all depends on the body type of the girl/woman... for some this type of dress works and for some it doesn't. in my case I know I can't wear this type of dresses, because 1) my body type isn't suited for strapless ones, 2) no comment at the size of my chest...

 

[EmpressRouge]

I think many forum readers are already familiar with my rants against strapless, but here it goes (again):
I never had anything against strapless dresses when they first came out in the 90s. As for appropriateness in a religious venue, I think it depends on everyone's person style and each place of worship. I find backless dresses more inappropriate in that sense. However, somehow strapless became the almost ONLY style and all the dresses looked like cookie-cutter copies. I mean, when you eliminate sleeves and even straps, there only two, maybe three types of necklines you can have--straight, sweetheart, and maybe shallow v-neck--so everything ends up looking the same.

My "favorite" moments are on shows like "Say Yes to the Dress" when brides-to-be say "I wanna look like princess!" and they go for the strapless dress. My signature tells how I react to those women.

 

[Sternchen]

Most Princess-Dresses make the brides look like Baisers

 

[dilsnub]

Is there anyone out there that has had a theme wedding or a "wacky" one?
e.g. man dresses as bride and woman as the groom?

 

[wa3kittiees]

I never knew there was an issue about wearing a strapless wedding dress at a church wedding until I began reading about weddings here
It never entered my mind that it would be inappropriate & I personally don't think it is inappropriate

as for men not being able to focus on a ceremony in a church because a woman is in a strapless dress ... that is, in my opinion, extremely insulting to men
as another poster stated ... that is a problem with the man, not the woman nor the dress

as for colourful wedding dresses ... I love the work showcased by this designer
most of her dresses are strapless & I love the vibrant colours

Uptight Clothing; Englands leading designer of Couture corseted Period Inspired Fairytale wedding dresses, fantasy jewellery and bespoke Underwear corsets, by Janice whitehorn. Home of the coloured, corset alternative wedding dresses

I would go for something like this if I were to have a wedding ... which I do not anticipate at any time in my future

 

[HRHduchesskate]

I'm not a fan of strapless... the majority of women who wear them don't quite, uh... fill them out nd that just looks funny.

Yes, I agree with this, they rarely look flattering always ill fitting, They have been around for so long it's nice to see a wedding dress like Kate Middletons.

 

[dilsnub]

I agree.... in not much into fasion or weddings but her dress was extremely nice I think

 

[PrincessKaimi]

My problem with them is that they rarely look good on people. Some of the ones have too much boning, and the person's body looks lost inside. To compensate for that, designers smoosh the bosom to create some sort of fit, often overdoing that as well.

Someone with really lovely shoulders and upper chest and upper back can pull it off, especially if they aren't overly endowed in the bosom department. I think gloves look silly with strapless, I think a dropped, off-the-shoulder but not entirely under-the-armpit strapless is much more elegant.

Too many strapless dresses end up looking like...tube tops.

 

[dilsnub]

Tube tops... I agree... and I also hate the long gloves, they do nothing.