Lace Me Up, Please.

Let me blog about a trend that all started in recent times with a person whose fashion sense is an icon to many, and whose wedding dress was no exception.  Of course, I'm talking about Kate Middleton.  (Or, should I call her, "Catherine, Duchess of Cornwall," now that she's married?  Why do we still call her by her maiden name, anyways?  No one ever called Princess Diana "Diana Spencer" after she was married, did they?  Why don't we call Kate Middleton "Princess Kate" even?  Anyways.  Tangent.)

There was much speculation about what Kate's dress would look like, before the wedding a couple years ago.  I remember thinking a bit about it, myself, wondering if she'd opt for a trendy, modern style, since she is a trendy, modern (if still very refined) style icon.  I thought she might have a strapless dress with a shrug over top, but she ended up wowing the wedding dress world (if there is such a thing, and doesn't include only me!) with a simply beautiful lace wedding gown.

I don't think that wedding dresses with lace sleeves had been a huge player in the industry much, before Kate's dress.  Well, certainly, lace was definitely considered a wedding fabric, along with chiffon, taffeta, silk and others, but it still wasn't what was trendy, in my experience.  And yet, conversely, it also has a timeless beauty to it, a tribute that made it even more loveable.  Suddenly, people (women) were seeing lace sleeves on a wedding dress in a whole new light, and gone were the days when only strapless gowns were available. Memories of other icons, such as Grace Kelly, started popping up, and there were a few comparisons made with her dress and Kate's.  I remember thinking they were quite similar at the time, but now, looking back, it's only really the lace sleeves they have in common, and those aren't even quite the same.

Still, more dresses started using lace in them, and to a beautiful effect.  Here are a few examples I've found online of beautiful gowns with lace sleeves!

This one, below, is one of my favourites.  I think it has such a romantic, almost old-fashioned look to it.  (And, on top of it all, I love the model's hair!)  Everything works so well together.  The belt is exquisite and the lace definitely adds a wonderful, timeless quality to the dress.  I think lace sleeved dresses are a trend we WON'T be looking back on saying, "what were we thinking?" but rather an elegant fashion spring forward, with a lovely throwback to the past, that will make our children say, "Momma, you had a beautiful wedding dress."