This season’s surge of wedding inspired dresses may seem ironic considering the increasingly disillusioned attitudes towards “eternal love”. But maybe it’s this exact phenomenon that has prompted heaps of white lace to dominate our social media feeds this summer. It’s natural that alongside a collapse of faith in traditional romance, the visual pinnacle of its culmination (the wedding gown) is being repurposed as everyday wear.
Centuries of culture—from Sappho and Byron to Austen and 2000s rom-coms—convinced us that electric romantic connection wasn’t just possible, but inevitable. The 2020s have complicated that promise, replacing romantic certainty with dating apps, AI companionship and a growing ambivalence towards conventional relationships. Yet a generation questioning romance needn’t discard the bridal look, or the cultural significance it continues to carry.
Fashion has taken the ‘something borrowed’ bridal tradition literally, as wedding gown-inspired pieces have worked their way onto the runways of Dior, Lacroix, Chanel and Balenciaga, as well as into the wardrobes of A-listers and It girls alike. All the typical features of bridal looks have a vice-like grip on the fashion set, bar the ring, or complete with one for some. Many have traded this summer’s teal and red obsession for something more neutral: white, full-length dresses in lace and silk.
Take Camille Charrière, for instance, whose recent instagram post featured her perched casually on a pavement, sunglasses on, but in a full length cream dress, complete with lace trim. This isn’t the first time one has garnered attention from an ensemble that subtly evokes Mendelssohn—Jane Birkin famously appeared in a crocheted gown by Emilio Pucci at the Gala de l’Union des Artistes in 1969. The look was recently revived by Bella Hadid, who donned a nearly identical Schiaparelli look at the 79th Cannes film festival this May. Beyond its recurrent appearances nowadays, the bridal style dress clearly has its roots firmly in fashion history.
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For those who take Karl Lagerfeld’s “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat” quote as a near-biblical commandment, any excuse to dress to wedding standards is a welcome one, especially now that athleisure has gained cultural legitimacy. With its formal roots, bridalcore offers exactly that, without the need for a significant occasion. Camille Charrière, whose Instagram is an endless source of bridalcore inspiration, captured the mood in a recent post, wearing a tiered white gown while out in Nashville.
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As wonderful as summer sunshine is for those who tan easily, a little more coverage can still be welcome. The bridal-style summer dress offers just that: full-length and pale in colour, it feels light and summery while keeping more skin covered. No discussion of white gowns would be complete without Dua Lipa, whose backless number, worn out for dinner and drinks in Miami, perfectly demonstrates the versatility of the bridal-adjacent dress. Below, discover Vogue Singapore’s curated list of dresses that best embody the bridalcore aesthetic:
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Rabanne ivory long dress in lace and jersey, $2,550
Available at Rabanne.
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Rixo Maeva lace-trimmed linen-blend maxi dress, $420
Available at Mytheresa.
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Zimmermann Valiant buttoned billow dress, $2,100
Available at Zimmermann.
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Mark Gong double layered white lace dress, $550
Available at Mark Gong.
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Taller Marmo New Mexico dress in ivory, $1,830
Available at Taller Marmo.
