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Bridal gown designer Anne Barge is a fairy godmother who has cast a spell on her modern-vintage gowns to transform brides into fairy-tale princesses.
“If you want an image, go see Walt Disney’s ‘Cinderella.’ That’s the fantasy dress,” she said. “It’s all about romance and fantasy.”
Enchanting dresses of fantasy and fable are the future, and Barge, who recently made news with her winning gown for the “Today Show” wedding, can take some of the credit. With something old and something new, she blends
romance and fantasy with historical elements and modern twists to create the perfect gown -- several dozen of them in fact.
“All of our dresses have some link to the past, from historical silhouettes to draping to embroideries,” Barge said. “A historical touch adds the same kind of quality as adding antique furniture to a room. A touch of history gives brides a sense of tradition and makes the dress a wedding gown rather than an evening gown.”
In crafting her designs, Barge also takes a cue from the past. Crafted from fine silks with an impeccable attention to detail, her gowns incorporate couture features like hand embroidery and beading, handmade floral accents, crinoline and inner bodices.
“These dresses are really made like historical costumes,” she said. This blend of high fashion and Old World charm have made Barge a hit with fashion-forward brides.
“I see girls today really not wanting to look like everybody else, not wanting to look like a cookie-cutter bride,” she said. “They are thinking about what is going to be memorable to the guests and they are putting their signatures on their weddings.”
Barge’s designs exude character. Blending turn-of-the-century sensibilities with modern design, Barge is intent on bringing back the ball gown.
“People don’t dress up anymore in terms of formals and so forth,” she explained. “In the past, ball gowns were an everyday occurrence. Now, the wedding is the only time in your life that you get to have the big, full ball gown and long veil.
“A wedding is the happiest day of your life. It’s a great reason to do something that’s dreamy, let your imagination run wild and get away from the harsh realities of life,” she said.
Mystical and magical may be the best way to describe Barge’s spring collection. One of her most dramatic dresses, which combines centuries-old styling and contemporary cuts, is both enchanting and enlightened: A sleek, strapless top meets reams of fabric gathered into a pleated, puckered avant-garde skirt for a look that is both futuristic and true to fairy-tale form. An asymmetrical wrap tops the swooping all-white ensemble and offers a dual look for brides between the ceremony and the reception.
“Even though it’s strapless and modern, it’s got a very traditional, historical look in the skirt,” she said. “The draped layers of fabric are inspired by the 17th and 18th centuries.”
Fairy-tale fashion also shows up in her striped Jim Thompson silk dresses. Thompson’s textiles have a following among interior designers, but this is the first time the bridal world has embraced these luxurious silks.
Whether it’s an ivory-and-pearl stripe or a more vibrant version in pinks and blues, these gowns stir up sentiments of charmed princesses in candy-colored garb riding away on white horses.
“We did it for fun really and the girls have loved them -- so that tells me that girls want something with character,” she said. “They definitely don’t want to look like anybody else they’ve ever seen.”
Her unique blend of old meets new is especially apparent in her use of metallic embroidery. One gown in particular perfectly embodies this approach to detail. The slim-cut, vintage-inspired, champagne-colored dress takes embroidery to the maximum.
“It looks like something off the Titanic,” she said. “It’s an all-over embroidered dress. It looks like lace, but it is all-over embroidery on net.
“It looks like a wedding dress from 200 years ago or 200 years from now. It has that very classic, very bridal look.”
A sleek all-white number takes a more modern approach. The elongated, strapless bodice, which sits atop a skirt of ball-gown proportions, glimmers with ribbons of real sterling-silver embroidery.
“The sterling-silver embroidery has a patina to it that looks very Old World, yet the dress is strapless, which gives it an extremely modern edge -- and the beading forms a corseted effect, which is flattering on any figure,” she said.
Anne Barge designs are available at Neiman Marcus and local bridal boutiques nationwide. For more information, or to see more Anne Barge wedding gowns, visit www.annebarge.com.
© Copley News Service
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