What’s it called? A quick and dirty bridal terms list, Part 1

sihlouettes 2

When you are looking for the dress it’s helpful for be able to describe what you like and what you don’t. Here’s a list of common wedding dress silhouettes.

SILHOUETTES

A-line

A LINE – the most classic dress silhouette – fitted along the bust and then lets out at the natural waistline.

ballgown

BALLGOWN – a version of the A Line, the ball gown lets out at the natural waistline or above the hips with a full-volume skirt, often created by layers of tulle.

empire

EMPIRE – a dress fitted only at the bust, letting out into the skirt just below the bust.

sheath

SHEATH – a dress fitted through the hips and then lets out straight to the floor with little volume.

Mermaid sihlouette

MERMAID – a dress fitted through the bust, waist, hips, and thighs, letting out just above, at, or below the knee.

trumpeted

TRUMPET – similar to but slightly more relaxed than the mermaid, the trumpet is fitted through bust, waist, and hips, until the skirt flares out along the high or mid thigh.

 tea length

TEA LENGTH – a shortened ballgown dress that ends below the knee/ mid-calf.

high-low

HIGH-LOW – can refer to any silhouette dress where the front of the skirt is higher than the back.

Jane White of Palazzo

Jane White, designer of Palazzo bridal, is a humble genius. When it comes to the two most important aspects of a wedding dress – look and feel – her gowns score 11 out of a possible 10 on both counts. Here’s a peak into the deceiving “simplicity” that requires the highest level of precision, which she can execute because all her gowns are hand crafted locally outside of her Chicago home. We see a lot of dresses, but these ones almost made us cry. (Update: see our Ko’olau Ballrooms Palazzo photo shoot.)

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