For one of the strongest collections of this bridal season, Vera Wang looked to Ovation series Versailles, which follows Louis XIV and all his outlandish splendor, for inspiration – and it was fabulous.
The move comes hot off the red-bottomed heels that Wang took for her recent ready-to-wear collection, which also found a muse in the French monarch.
Of course, this is not the first time that Wang has provided a sneak peek into her streaming queue. She memorably took a page from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian book-turned-drama, The Handmaid’s Tale, for her Spring 2018 rtw lineup, which came replete with matching bonnets.
This bridal week, Wang reimagined the Sun King’s fashion legacy—adding a new layer of texture, shimmer, and depth to the notoriously style-conscious ruler for a stunning collection. As Wang said at the presentation: “It’s one of the most blatant uses of fashion in a historical sense.”
Louis le Grand, as he was also known, was as much a king of fashion as he was of France, using it as a means to assert his power politically. For starters, he seized on the peacock impulses of his courtiers and formalized fashion protocol, demanding different clothes for every event of the day. It became etiquette, the elaborate rules that Louis established to ensure everyone was doing—and wearing—the perfect thing. There were some perks, like “talons rouges,” as in red heels, designed by Louis (not Christian Louboutin) for certain nobility. The right to red heels symbolized you were you “in.”
A theater buff, Louis XIV’s love of dramatic artifice also informed his offstage wardrobe. The fashions he introduced, then, were colorful, voluminous, and ornamental.
It’s not hard to imagine Wang, the self-described “francophile,” as belonging to the same era when dressmaking was at its most fantastic. “There’s a sensuality and a sexuality, and most of all, an attitude,” explained the designer. “It’s so young and cool and hip.”
Her bridal collection made the case for borrowing some of the period’s awe-inspiring glamour with just a touch of frivolity for good measure. The gilded court of Versailles was reflected in the gowns of gossamer metallic lace and pleated chiffon, while the royal pomp and circumstance were at play in the tiered collars, capes, and textured ruffs. And many of the looks were finished with their own handcrafted crown or tiara.
Between the mix of dramatic leg-of-mutton sleeves and tiny delicate silvers, Wang left plenty of room to experiment below the neck. Just as convincing was her use of color, which included painterly shades of blush, beige, and sky blue. The sheer prettiness of it all was enough to make you forget etiquette. “I don’t see bridal conventionally, I never have,” Wang said. “To me, this is more about art and pushing myself creatively forward.”
In other words, the Vera Wang bride is destined for a crowning glory.
