The way buyers pick wedding dresses for their stores and the way brides pick dresses are as different as chalk and tulle. Brides come to me clutching an iPad loaded with Pins from obscure middle eastern designers with dress backs so bum-grazingly low that we now have Type II back cleavage , inaccessible micro-couturiers from down-under and mid-western low-key brides sporting what turns out to be £10k worth of US mega brand worn casually with dusty boots next to some burlap and a rattlesnake.
Pinterest is incredibly inspirational but several times over the last week I have had to perform delicate surgery removing pale, raven-haired, Celtic-skinned beauties from their blonde, golden skinned, surf-spray hair, flower crown & lace loaded boards. My job as a stylist is to make real the mood boards looks, to interpret the spirit of a trend but critically reflect the individuality of the bride before me.
What I have to do as a pro buyer is to find dresses that allow our brides to style them in a personal way but crucially prevent your guests from reenacting Kardashian/bottom/flute japes, keep you from adding a long haul flights to your dress budget and give you a spot of change from £5k.
I also have to find them from labels and brands that have serious credentials, know how to cut a pattern to flatter , don’t flake out or run out of fabric mid-season when the pressure is on and provide excellent customer service.
I was invited to consider two new brands this season. Maggie Sottero’s ‘other’ label Sottero & Midgely and Rembo Styling. There was a lot of dresses I left behind, I am nothing if not picky, but a lot I adored. The edit of both labels will be at The Chapel soon and the serious business of dressing up can begin.
Sottero & Midgely sit at a slightly higher price point than Maggie Sottero and for that a bride gets a touch more luxury with their legendary fit. There are low backs that don’t sacrifice waist shaping, lace reinvented with retro guipure and a pearl jacket so entrancing that it could be haute couture.
Rembo Styling are a Belgian brand that have guest designers; I have bought La Folie Douce by Manon. Folie Douce’s literal translation is ‘sweet folly’ but more correctly ‘magnificent obsession.’ Is there any more accurate way to describe a girl and her wedding dress?
French couturier Manon Pascual commented that the “The collaboration with Rembo … allows us to meet the demands of brides who are looking for original, refined styles but don’t have the budget for haute couture.”
For me, for Miss Bush and for my brides the collection channels the look of Claire Pettibone and a raft of smaller US labels but without the high import costs brides can grab cool, exclusive European made dresses at the hard to find £1200 – £1500 price point
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You can find out more about these brilliant new designers and view our handpicked gowns from the latest collections over on our NEW WEBSITE!
Click here to visit www.missbush.co.uk
Emma xxx
Emma Meek, MD of Miss Bush Bridalwear
Miss Bush Bridalwear is Surrey’s leading designer bridal shop
