Reality Check: Real Women Are Getting Married

Posted on: 25/10/2011

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It’s that time of the week again – the third icon in the Bride & Groom Direct treasure hunt to win £2,000 to spend on your dream dress.  Something borrowed: a vintage tiara.  Head over to their website to start your hunt.  A clue: Your guests will be sitting pretty with these plans. 

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Now on with the prettiness!

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Today, with the help of The White Room Sheffield, Brides Up North tackles an issue that has been bugging a lot of you:  Did you know that Real Women are getting married?  Yep, that’s right!  By this I mean YOU, real live women, who have jobs, families, interests and lives other than wedding planning, personal grooming and looking perfect 24-7. 

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In a past life, I worked on a fashion glossy and on my first few assignments, was shocked to see the amount of airbrushing that goes on after a fashion shoot, even with the most stunning of professional models.  It’s not just at one magazine, but the same across the board.  On the proof layouts: a red marker pen ringed (and non existent) bingo wing there there, a circled patch of (invisible to the naked eye) cellulite here – all erased with the click of a mouse. 

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Now, I’m not going to jump on the “no airbrushing” bandwagon here.  Sorry.  Its an industry norm and an understandable one at that.  I buy bridal and fashion magazines for the escapism, fabulousness and, er, fashion.  When I buy a certain type of magazine, I know what I’m getting: I want to see gorgeous and I want to see perfect, just as on this wedding blog, I still want to see those things but I also want to see real ladies strutting their stuff.  I understand that models in fashion spreads are usually airbrushed.  I understand that image sells.  I understand that designers want their gowns to be seen as an aspirational “because you’re worth it” purchase. 

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However, I hope that as a bride to be, perhaps feeling a little overwhelmed by all the seeming expectations already weighing on your shoulders – the perfect day, the perfect relationship yadda yadda yadda – that you remember that that you understand that too.  You know it.  Remember that you know it.  Editorial fashion spreads in mags (and sometimes styled shoots you see on wedding blogs too) are not reality and if you feel you fall short: why are you even comparing yourself in the first place?!  Even the most expensive skin care can’t trump digital airbrushing! (And by the way – no relationship is perfect all the time). 

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Also know this:  a bride on her wedding day is going to absolutely rock it, with or without airbrushing, a model figure or a face that could launch a thousand ships.  That inner radiance reserved for only brides, pregnant ladies and the day after a facial?  Not a myth.  So my advice to real brides: work it sisters!

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Echoing my own feelings on this topic, Chloe of The White Room Sheffield feels passionately that every woman can rock a fabulous frock on their big day whatever their size, shape or fashion preferences.  With the help of three beautiful real women and this gorgeous styled shoot, she shows us exactly how it’s done.

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Over to Chloe: Real women are getting married.

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Sure, we all browse the magazines and wedding blogs for ideas and inspiration for that ‘perfect’ gown but so many of us are let down by the fact that when we – the real women of the world – put the gown on, it doesn’t look like it did on the model!  We leave dejected and disappointed, wanting it to look like it did in the glossies and feel like we either need to lose weight or grow five inches in height to achieve that Photoshop brilliance. The White Room Sheffield wanted to shatter that illusion for all the brides to be out there.

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So, I decided, that for our second ever photo shoot, we were going to use real women to showcase our beautiful gowns and accessories, to show that real women rock them better than the models! To take a great quote from Sex and the City, Carrie says in her “Real Me” episode when she models for Dolce & Gabbana yet questions her modelling skills: “A model what? A model citizen? A model home? A model airplane?”  Only three months into this business, I know that a real woman rocks a wedding gown so much better than a ‘model’.

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To make this shoot pop we knew we needed a great photographer, so we approached Jon from S6 Photography to do the shoot for us. He loves the outdoors and after playing with ideas, decided that the theme for the shoot would be to embrace exactly what nature gave us and shoot that in a natural setting: a field!

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So, on an Autumn evening in the heights of Sheffield, I took three beautiful, individual and unique friends to a farmer’s barn and field, put them each in a wedding dress and we embraced the setting sun.  After a few fireman’s lifts over a wall and a fifteen minute window for the light, we created this!

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Joanne was my first model.  At 5”2, she has a petite but athletic figure and is naturally red haired with freckles and porcelain skin.

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I met Jo at my previous job and I loved how feisty, intelligent and honest she was. She’s also a great fan of Thai boxing and running and felt that she would never look feminine in a wedding gown.

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I proved her wrong! I decided to dress her in “Willow” by Claire Pettibone, a beautiful, intricate gown made from silk charmeuse with an embroidered bodice, silk ribbons and flowers. The colours of this gown, with the gold and pearl detailing looked sensational on her skin and even in bare feet, she looked curvy, long and elegant. Yes, it’s a little long for her, but cut to length, this would look ever better than it does now!

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We paired this gown with a new piece from DC Bouquets 2012 collection, Florence.  Even though the gown is without any stone work, the sparkle and design went so well, giving it a really boho, outdoor and rustic feel.

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Second up was Sadie, a friend since school who works in law and is naturally tall and slim yet curvy.  Sadie was afraid that wearing anything too sexy would make her look ‘cheap’. We begged to differ, so I threw her straight out of her comfort zone and into ‘Saskia’ by Jenny Packham, a Hollywood inspired silk chiffon gown with an amazing stone waist detail and cross back, exposing enough to be both sexy but refined.

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We paired this with “Acacia II” by Jenny Packham, as we think the vintage piece sets off the elegance and glamour of the gown perfectly. We also used DC Bouquets “Georgina” cuff which fitted the style and look of the gown.

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Last off, one of my very cool friends Terri modelled “Frankie” by Stephanie Allin, a 1950’s inspired gown with a satin tulip skirt, organza bodice and pockets (a huge selling point to me!). This gown looks amazing on so many women with the ¾ length skirt billowing at the front, but keeping a train and ‘bridal’ feel in the fabric. 

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Terri is very individual in her look with her short dark hair and she loves shops like All Saints and is a huge Vivienne Westwood fan, so we thought the element of fun in this traditional gown would work wonders. We paired this gown with a Rosie Willett Designs piece called “Georgina with Birdcage” to offset the 1950’s vibe and to keep the look modern and quirky.

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All the gowns showcased here are at The White Room Sheffield waiting for real women to come and love them.

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Where do you stand on the great airbrushing debate?  Would you like to see more “real” women featured in bridal fashion spreads?  Leave a comment let me know your thoughts.

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 S6 Photography

The White Room Sheffield is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier

Please contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier

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