Wedding Fashion Photos

So many beautiful spring wedding gown collections are being unveiled! I love the run way shows! I’ll post some this week for you but because it’s a Monday, this is not all about the fabulous side of bridal fashion. See, I have one major pet peeve with wedding gown advertising, particularly in magazines. The model's posture! I have such a hard time looking at some ads without thinking the models are in pain, they hate the gown or they have scoliosis or maybe even early osteoporosis. Oh so you’ve seen them too? Yes, those!


Let’s look at this for a minute:

And this is not even the most atrocious example out there. Cropping it actually made the whole thing look better.To protect the innocent and/or the guilty, I’m not going to list this gown by name or designer but if you’re interested, I’ll be glad to supply you with the link! It’s actually a lovely gown. It’s a shame that it gets portrayed as difficult to wear. 

Draw your eye to the red arrow highlighting the accentuated curve of her back and angle of her shoulders. Does that look natural? I have yet to see a bride intentionally or accidentally pose like this at her wedding for even a millisecond. So why is this pose so popular in advertising?  What story is being told here? To me these types of photos are screaming “get me the heck out of this gown”.

Do we blame the photographer …the model …the designer? They have a mutual vested interest in the ad photo looking fabulous. I think they are equally guilty of getting caught in a whirlwind and following what others photographers and advertisers are doing to showcase their gowns. That’s unfortunate! But it gives people like me a good laugh at how utterly uncomfortable the model looks. I’m curious about the statistics of how many gowns are sold when featured in a way making the dress look excruciating to wear vs. gowns that were featured on a comfortable and relaxed looking model.

Wait, I almost forgot the blue arrow. Notice the model’s opposite shoulder is symmetrical? But where is her other arm? It’s bad enough we have this poor girl stuck in a dress that hunches her back but her arm has to be chopped out out too? Smooth their skin, make them look more or less shapely – but removing a whole arm is above and beyond the call of editing duty don’t you think? Seriously!




So what do you think? Does this style make you think of true haute couture or a hot mess?