Saturday, February 25, 2012

Welcome to Dress Heaven

Our Prom/Social Occasion gown selection is the largest in the area - we have over 2,500 dresses in stock.  There's something for everyone in "Dress Heaven," as our customers like to call it.  Come take a look and find your perfect gown for your special event.  Bring your date along and he can get his tux rental here, too.






Remember our exclusive guarantee:  we will never sell the same dress to anyone else at your school, ever.

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Did You Know? The Wedding Kiss

In ancient Rome, when marriage was more often for political or financial reasons than for love, the bride and groom would kiss because that was how Romans sealed a legal contract.


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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Did You Know? "Traditional" Wedding Gown Colors

White and ivory are commonly understood to be the "traditional" colors for a young, virgin bride, while women getting married for the second time or later in life are "supposed to" wear something other than white.  In reality, any bride can choose any color for her special day.  Wearing white is really only a Western custom, and has only been popular for the last 170 years or so.  In colonial America, yellow was the most popular choice for wedding gowns.  In India, China, and Vietnam today, red is still considered traditional for brides, because it symbolizes good luck.

Red tulle bridal gown with silver metallic embroidery

White is actually a color of mourning in many parts of the world.  However, Queen Victoria wore a white bridal gown in 1840, and it has been the fad ever since.  White has also come to be associated with purity, although blue used to carry that meaning.  Of course, there are many folk sayings that have seeped into popular culture that have to do with weddings.  One such saying focused on color is the following:  

Married in White, you have chosen right, 
Married in Blue, your love will always be true, 
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl, 
Married in Brown, you’ll never live in town, 
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead, 
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow, 
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen, 
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink, 
Married in Grey, you will go far away, 
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back.

Café satin gown with ivory lace appliqués


Laura Ingalls Wilder was married in a black dress, as it happened to be her best dress at the time.  That's exactly what brides used to wear - their best dress.  Today the bridal gown has become its own entity, often the single most important purchase a woman will make for her wedding.  Modern brides don't always want to follow all of the "rules" of society's expectations, and search out new bridal colors such as silver, blush, champagne, gold, and blue, or go bold with red.  


Blush taffeta asymmetrical gown with beaded bodice

What you wear on your wedding should be up to you.  Your dress should make you feel comfortable, and most importantly, make you feel like you.  
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

Did you ever wonder where we get the classic Valentine's Day rhyme "Roses are red, Violets are blue"?  It comes from Gammer Gurton's Garland, a collection of English nursery rhymes from 1784.


The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou'd be you
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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Let's Talk Necklines - Popular Styles

The neckline of your gown will frame your face.  It can be extravagant or simple, sexy or modest, and anywhere in between.  Today we'll cover the six most popular necklines for the modern bride.  There are many more varieties, which we will cover in subsequent posts.  Also, each neckline style has several variations.  Below are simple illustrations to give you the idea of each style - Strapless, Sweetheart, Tank, Halter, Inverted Halter, and One-Shoulder.

Let's start with Strapless.  This is the simplest neckline, and the name says it all - there are no straps.  Many girls have concerns about a Strapless gown staying up, but if the dress is fit correctly at the waist, this will not be a problem.  The weight of the dress should sit on your hip shelf, so even if you have straps, they don't really to keep the dress up.  However, most strapless bridal gowns and bridesmaids or prom dresses do come with optional spaghetti straps.  A typical strapless gown is just straight across over the bust.


A variation on Strapless is Sweetheart, which dips in at the middle.  It can be anything from a slight scoop to a plunging V, and it can also come with straps.  The Sweetheart is generally a very flattering style on most body types.


A dress with two straps built in to the structure of the bodice is called a Tank style.  This is different from adding straps to a Strapless or Sweetheart gown, as those would be made from a separate piece of material and added after the gown is constructed.  With a Tank style, the straps are an extension of the dress itself.  For comfort reasons, many women choose to wear a regular bra with a Tank style dress, as the straps are generally wider than spaghetti straps.


A similar look to the Tank is the Halter style.  Again, straps are built in when the dress is made, but here they meet around the back of the neck to form one strap.


Another version of the Halter is the Inverted Halter.  Here, instead of the neckline being open, the area between the two straps is filled in, bringing the neckline up to just under the neck.


The One-Shoulder style is pretty self-explanatory.  One shoulder has a strap, and the other does not.  This style has been very popular, especially with asymmetrical gowns.  One-shoulder gowns tend to have more embellishment on that shoulder than you will typically find on a Tank.  Because there is only one strap, it can be larger and fancier without overwhelming the girl wearing it.  Or there can be two or three spaghetti straps coming from one point on the front and fanning out in the back, for added interest.


Stay tuned for more necklines!  There are many more than these first six, and endless variations thereof.


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Monday, February 6, 2012

Did you know? Ring Finger Trivia

Ever wonder why the ring finger is considered the "ring finger"?  And why wedding and engagement rings are traditionally worn on the left hand?  Well, according to ancient Roman beliefs, a vein in the left ring finger led directly to the heart, since the heart is on the left side of the body.  How romantic!



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