Dense laces and tulle stole the runway during the Pronovias 2010 collection at a Spanish Bridal show recently. I noticed Pronovias featured a few wedding dresses with the trumpet style skirt in this particular collection, and added uniqueness by altering the styles with the Spanish style embroidery and lace that they’re known for.

A number of the dresses also featured dropped asymmetrical waistlines – a feature that’s flattering and slimming on just about every body type and showing up more and more in bridal fashions lately.

A few of the sheath style dresses featured in the collection were seen with layers of lace creating a tiered look – a look that seems to be showing up all over the fashion scene lately. This tiered style not only made it into the conventional gowns and sheath dresses, but also into the shorter wedding dresses created for the bride who wants to be untraditional and the life of the party by wearing an unconventional wedding dress.

A few of the dresses in this new collection that particularly jumped out at me were:

This dress seems to have classic beauty written all over it. It’s simple, elegant and has the lovely Spanish style embroidery along the bottom and the straps giving it a unique touch.

The way the tiered look is done is amazing combined with the mermaid style skirt, and this wedding dress has a certain elegance written all over it. I’m not big on lace or embroidery but this gown jumped out at me, likely because of the use of Spanish lace. It looked classic without looking too boring or doiley like which I often find to be the case with many lace dresses.

This gown to me screams elegant, black-tie style ball. The skirt of the dress with the pickups and the asymmetrical waistline look couture without looking overdone. I’m big on simplicity and this gown, to me, has what I call “simple elegance” but with a unique twist. It’s a gown I’d love to wear if I were having a huge, over the top, black tie wedding gala.

Images courtesy of Pronovias, via Vogue Novias España

Not to be outdone by it’s northern contemporary, Barcelona, Madrid also holds it’s own huge wedding fashion-fest each year. Madrid has long been synonymous with European fashion, and while the offerings at Barcelona Bridal Week may be more geared towards a commercial audience, The Pasarela de Novios at the Puerto de Europa Exhibition would not have dissapointed even the most hardcore fashionista.

Highlights:

The collections were shown off well on the circular catwalk, allowing the dresses to be seen from all angles.

Well known Spanish designer, Agatha Ruiz, (for Prada) expressed herself artistically with creations featuring cut out flower and heart motifs. Draped in organza and ribbons and topped off with large bows, her models looked more like wedding presents than brides. I will give her brownie points for designing wedding dresses with pockets though. (It’s about time someone did!)

Agustin Torralbo’s rich colours and pleated fabrics had a sensual air of oppulence and if any of these dresses were chosen for your bridesmaids you can guarantee that they won’t spend the rest of their lives stashed in a hidden wardrobe.

Dresses by Anna Torres were delicate and ephereal, in light fabrics such as muslin, silk and lace, though the collection didn’t seem to have a cohesive focus.

Themes from the Barcelona Bridal week, such as feathers and greek styles were taken a step further by native Madrileño Dyos. This was the designer’s first foray into designing wedding dreses, and the collection seemed a bit hit or miss, with some designs looking polished and couture, while others just seemed clumsy.

Gracia Galindo’s ‘champagne’ gold dresses offered a welcome variation on the traditional white, while other dresses had a flamenco flair in their front slit skirts and ruffled hems and sleeves.

Isabel Zapardiez showed her flair and passion for tailoring, with some truly stunning and unique cuts.

There were more empire waists and fluid lines from Javier Larrainzar.

Maria Alegre took the feather fashion fad to the extreme, by having some of her models hold live hawks. Even this couldn’t distract from her beautiful, bold prints and elaborately embroided gowns.

Martin PerezRippoll threw caution to the wind, and showed skin in short skirts and sheer fabrics.

Although several of Mercedes Alonso‘s gowns could have had her arrested for colour abuse, her silver and white wedding dresses were some of the nicest from the whole exhibition, with glittering beadwork and lace.

Novissima has been trying to breath life and energy back into it’s stale brand, and while the dresses on show were nice they showed no where near the same artisic flair and daring sense of fashion that the other designers possessed.

Petro Valverde displayed dresses that were more structured than most other collections, and offered a refreshing change from the free flowing draped fabrics of the Greco-Roman inspiriation.

That´s all folks! Hopefully the length of this post gives you some idea as to why it took me a bit longer than I’d expecting to get it finished. The next few will be bite-sized, I promise!

Barcelona Bridal Week is one of the highlights of the European fashion calendar, and one of the largest features for the wedding industry in the world. Top designers such a Pronovias, Amanda Wakely, and Christian Lacroix show off their latest collections, while new raw talent has the opportunity to introduce fresh ideas to the world of wedding fashion.

Feminine was the key word for most designers this year, with light fabrics and delicate sillouettes trimmed with lots of girly lace, frills, and flowers. Spanish designers Jesus del Pózo and Rosa Clara were both heard saying that their goal was to compliment the female form and create designs that were elegant and sophisticated.

Many collections showed more than a nod to classicism, with greek and roman style gowns that are sure to set the trend for 2009 brides. This should make most brides happy, as the high waistlines, loose, flowing skirts, and gathered fabric that are the hallmarks of this era are pretty universally flattering.

Of course, it wouldn´t be a truly couture fashion show if all of models appeared polished, elegant and conventional, and if high-fashion high-jinx were somewhat absent from many of the designers’ simple dresses, it was spilling over in abundance when it came to headwear.

Large, wide-brimmed hats were on show, while over-the-top feather fascinators were all the rage, with Victorio and Luchiano offering a spectacular show of models with white painted faces, red lips, and clusters of huge, white feathers branching out from their hair.

De la Cierva y Nicolás even went so far as to incorporate feathers into one of their wedding gowns, with a suprising subtley. Why the model was also carrying a white teddybear, I’m not sure, but that’s one fashion trend I don’t see brides adopting for their trip down the aisle.

Swarovski and Pronovias paired up for a truly sparkling display of gowns (by Manuel Mota) jewellery and accessories, featuring elements from Swarovski’s Crystalized range of embellishments. There are even a pair of shoes encrusted with crytals for a bride who yearns for a Cinderella style shoe.

With all of this, it is no wonder that Barcelona calls itself the City of Brides.

More about Barcelona Bridal Week.

Loving:
Jesus Piero

I love the subtle glow of this ivory silk, and the modesty of the jacket. This style would be great for an older bride.

Hating:
Any and all stripey dresses!

Just for Fun:
No, I wouldn’t wear it down the aisle, but I love the whismsical extravagence of the layers of this dress.

All images barcelonabridalweek