For the fashion-conscious bride, traditional can be something of a dirty word, conjuring stuffy taffeta gowns or, worse, closed-minded attitudes. Getting married in 2020 will come down to making your own rules and largely ignoring many of the traditions that have defined our culture for decades. As such, brides (and grooms) are beginning to dress more freely for their ceremonies and surrounding events.
Not all traditions are bad, of course. Some are worth holding on to. For Spring 2020, Lela Rose was thinking about a bride’s “something borrowed” good luck charm, and how wearing an heirloom to your wedding can honor and connect you to the women who came before. “Whenever people ask who I’m inspired by, I always talk about my mother and my grandmother,” she said, pointing out a draped-back gown with two vintage-inspired brooches securing the straps. She’s hoping that many brides will swap them out for their own antique pins, but you could also wear the gown as-is and save the brooches to pass down as “something old” to a daughter, niece, or friend.
A balloon-sleeved minidress covered in those brooches took the idea into happily OTT territory. For a designer who typically works in clean, sculptural silhouettes with more low-key flourishes, like covered buttons or a collapsed bow, they were a surprising departure. The brooches also appeared on Rose’s least-conventional look: a sleeveless belted blazer with slim trousers. The lucky model who wore it at the presentation—staged at Hudson River Park’s new carousel—looked pretty comfortable perched on a unicorn. Most brides will pick it up for their rehearsal dinner or engagement party. To this New Yorker, it had “City Hall wedding” written all over it.
