Not
All White Dresss are Created Equal!
White
- the classic, traditional color of weddings. White
is the most loved color for Flower Girl dresses and
First Communion dresses - really, for all girls special
occasion dresses.
White
is white is white, right?
Not
at all. Not all 'whites' are created equal.
Not
all whites look good together. In fact, some can
look really, really bad together.
So
what to do? Just follow a few basics and you should
be fine. Let's discuss "white" . . .
.
Weddings
While
color is becoming more popular, chances are that a
Bride's wedding gown will be at least mostly some shade
of white. Or is it?
You
see, white comes in many shades and hues, and many do
not work well together.
There
is Brilliant White (often just called 'white') -
Diamond White (which is really off-white) - Off-White
itself - Candlelight - Silk White (what? - more
on that in a moment) - Ivory - Cream - and I'm sure
there are others.
What
it comes down to is this: When bright whites and
off-whites are mixed, the person(s) in the off-white
colors will look dingy next to the bright white. Simply
put - bright whites and off-whites often do not mix well together.
--
And
if you're the Bride, this is an especially terrible
thing!
Many
bridal gowns are in silk. "Silk White"
is absolutely never bright white - that's the nature
of the gorgeous natural fabric. Silk white (no
matter how brightly it is dyed) will never look good
next to bright white of other fabrics (like polyester,
cotton or nylon).
Flower Girl Dresses
"My [wedding]
gown is satin" . . . . you may say. But the REAL question is
- what is the satin made of? Is
the satin made of polyester, nylon, acetate, silk?
"My
gown is made of organza" -- again - same question.
In
other words, what is the fiber content (rather
than the 'weave', which is satin or velvet or whatever). The
fabric's fiber changes the properties of "white"
considerably.
Why
is it important?
You
need to know to coordinate the rest of the wedding party.
If the Bride is in silk white you definitely do
not want your Flower Girl dresses to be in bright white because
the Bride will look dingy! Sad, but true. Fortunately
it can be
easily avoided.
Now,
if you're the kind of bride who wants to glow and everybody
else look a little less stellar, here is your chance
to reverse the roles . . . . and put your Maids in the off white
:) But it's not recommended.
First
Communion Dresses
The
same holds true for First Communion dresses. We often
receive panicky emails from mothers whose daughters
are wearing family keepsake dresses on their First Communion
and are horrified to find out that the new bright white headpiece
makes the dress look terrible. Why? A dress
that has aged is no longer bright white but the headpiece
is . . . . and the rule holds true that the darker shade
of white will look dingy.
If she is wearing a silk dress for her First Communion
(incidentally - silk white often looks better on many
complexions) - she definitely should not be looking
at bright white headpieces and gloves!
In
these cases use an off-white headpiece. Not many are
made, but they are available if you shop early!
This
same principal applies whether you are orchestrating
a family portrait or choir gowns or anything else that
may include lots of white.
Interestingly
enough, the off-whites and dark ivories often go together very well. One of our #1 selling color combinations
for Flower Girl dresses - and Bat Mitzvah dresses too
- is in an ivory/champagne
color combination. You
don't have to be as careful about mixing off-whites
and ivories; in fact, they can look tremendous together!
It's the bright whites and slightly off-whites
that don't work.
If the Bride's gown is silk white, off-white
or ivory, just about any shade of off-white or ivory
Flower Girl dresses will look fine.
About the Author: Written by the Wedding Specialists at
The Perfect Pear Children’s Boutiques – special occasion clothing boutiques for
infants, children and juniors all available from one main website: www.theperfectpear.com.
Reprintable unchanged
with permission. Contact us by email.
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