Absolutely delighted to share this year’s wedding fashion report from Lyst, a global fashion search platform where you can search thousands of online fashion stores at once, bringing together 5 million products from 12,000 of the world’s leading brands in one place. From emerging trends to worldwide fashion movements, Lyst is a unique source of global fashion intelligence.
Analysing search and sales data across 12,000 online stores and designers, global fashion search platform Lyst has compiled these 5 key insights about how brides are shopping for wedding outfits online this year:
1. Brides are breaking from tradition in a year of female empowerment
Searches for bridal jumpsuits and bridal suits have increased by 113% in the last year
Searches for wedding dresses including the words ‘backless’, ‘sexy’ or ‘nude’ have doubled year on year
But modest dresses are popular too; ‘long sleeve’ and ‘high neck’ styles have seen a combined 47% increase in views year on year
2. Wedding dresses are getting cheaper
Last April the average price of a wedding dress on Lyst was £832, 25% lower than in 2016. This year it has decreased a further 5% and is currently £790
Wedding dresses from Topshop, Coast and ASOS are the most wanted cheaper options, along with contemporary brands Needle and Thread and Reformation
3. The Meghan Effect is a big deal for bridal brands
Brands that Meghan Markle could wear on her big day have seen significant increases in wedding dress searches; Erdem (+43%), Ralph & Russo (+82%), Misha Nonoo (+79%), Roland Mouret (+38%)
4. 2018’s weddings will be the most colourful yet
Searches for coloured bridal dresses are becoming more popular. White is still the number one most wanted option, followed by rose, yellow and red
Searches for ‘black bridal dresses’ have increased 18% year on year
5. 1920s bridal accessories are having a moment
Sales of hair clips and headpieces have risen 39% in the last year. Simone Rocha is currently the most searched for brand
Brides are five times more likely to opt for jewel encrusted or coloured shoes with their wedding dress than cream or white
There are 24% more feathered bridal products on Lyst than this time last year
The Top 5 most influential celebrity weddings of the last year Lyst looked at spikes in search and sales of some of the last year’s most talked about celebrity weddings to analyse which brides really set the trends:
1. Pippa Middleton married James Matthews, 20th May 2017 (Wedding dress by Giles Deacon)
Giles Deacon saw the largest spike in searches of any wedding dress designer, with search increasing 148% in May
2. Serena Williams married Alexis Ohanian, 16th November 2017 (Wedding dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Wedding dress 2 and 3 by Versace, with bejewelled Nike sneakers)
Serena had 3 designer wedding dresses, but it was her bejewelled Nike Cortez sneakers that got the world talking; searches for Nike Cortez increased 8% that week
3. Emily Ratajkowski married Sebastian Bear-McClard, 23rd February 2018 (Suit by Zara)
Searches for Zara suits increased 58% week on week following Emily’s super Instagrammable marriage to Sebastian Bear-McClard in February. Searches for mustard yellow across all categories also saw a boost
4. Miranda Kerr married Evan Spiegel, 27th May 2017 (Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior)
It was Miranda’s Stephen Jones headpiece that caught brides’ attention in Australia, prompting a 43% increase in AU searches for bridal headpieces
5. Chanel Iman married Sterling Shepard, 3 March 2018 (Zuhair Murad)
The Victoria’s Secret model tied the knot earlier this month, and her embellished cape led to a 29% increase in demand for lace capelets in the US
One of my friends recently inherited something really precious. I think it’s more valuable than jewels or antique furniture. This heirloom is a time capsule. A priceless glimpse throughout the ages. A lovely family photo album that belonged to her father’s godmother.
The album covers weddings, christenings, graduations and some pictures of trips to visit friends and family. It charts these special occasions from the 1940s up to the 1990s and she arranged the pages so there is a wedding photo of a couple, and then a picture of the same couple at their child’s christening, graduation and often their children’s weddings too. It was clearly something that she treasured to keep all that time and to keep updating.
Whilst I don’t know any of the people in the album (apart from my friend), you can clearly see a family resemblance between the people on each page. More strikingly is how much each wedding photo is a time capsule for dresses (material, styles, length and colours) along with bouquets, veils and hair styles. They are an exaggerated example of fashion trends of their day and epitomise moments in time. We find that some decades have common trends such as:
1920s – Flapper style low waist, straight, flowing, lace dresses showing a bit of ankle. Bob hair cuts with hair accessories and head pieces.
1930s – Slim-hipped, long, simple, column dresses made from beaded, luxe fabrics, often with lavish embellishments.
1940s – War time shortages led to non-rationed net curtain or parachute silk, full skirted dresses. Or nice skirt suits. Big bouquets and wedding bands for absent husbands.
1950s – Rising hemlines and shorter veils meant shoes were more important. Sweetheart necklines, under lace, full skirted, small waisted, tea length dresses worn with gloves.
1960s – High waisted, empire line or A line mini dresses plus pill box hats with veils.
1970s – Hippy style, long sleeved, high necked, longer length dresses. Or trouser suits with big floppy hats.
1980s – Fairy tale, voluminous, princess gowns with puff sleeves and long trains worn with floral crowns.
1990s – Corseted off the shoulder dresses with full skirts vs bias cut, sheath dresses.
2000s – Strapless, sleeveless dresses.
2010s – Figure hugging, illusion backed, mermaid style dresses vs Hollywood split or pick up skirts.
We’ve captured some of these characteristics of wedding attire for each decade on our wedding time capsule Pinterest board. Plus there’s currently an exhibition running (until 15 March 2015) at the V&A in London that’s well worth a visit. It’s called Wedding Dresses 1175-2014 and looks at 300 years of bridal fashions.
What’s interesting is that trends tend to come back around again. And this decade seems to be about picking what style you want from the past and merging things together to bring your own dream to life. I, for one, really wanted a big bouquet just like my late grandmother had at her wedding in 1948. Plus a long train and long veil like a 1980s princess but strapless, figure hugging with a pick up style skirt as is common in this millennium.
It is strange looking back at some pictures from the recent past as the ones from the 1980s and 90s seem dated, whilst ones from the 1940s or 50s look relatively tasteful by comparison and more unaligned with current styles. Are some eras too recent for us to be able to appreciate for inspiration yet? Or is it that black and white photos are kinder? In any case our children will no doubt look back at our wedding photos and laugh at the fashions of the day. One thing that really struck my friend was the poignancy of the wedding photos from during or just after the war in the photo album. We can not imagine what it must have been like to live through a world war as a young couple, separated from each other.
There’s certainly something special and different about having photos from all the weddings and special occasions you’ve ever been to in your life together in one album. Nowadays digital photography often means that we don’t even print out any photos. Considering that for many, big occasions (like weddings and christenings) are the only times when people see their extended family. So it seems fitting that these momentous occasions are captured in time to pass to others as a wonderful time capsule.
