Say 'I do' to straps

I don't wear anything strapless. Even spaghetti straps and halters pose problems for me. I have very wide shoulders from years of swimming, and these styles only highlight the width of my shoulders. They also don't provide the best supports to your breasts, they can make your arms look fat, since there's no flattering sleeves to elongate or shape them. Plus, you're more prone to back fat. It can be awful.

Because of this, I've always looked at strapless wedding gowns with a mix of envy and disdain. I hate the style because I know I could never wear it, and I also hate how ubiquitous it's become, almost generic. It leads to people who would have been better suited to another cut wearing strapless gowns and not looking as good as they deserve to. And I feel bad for them.

So this week Ivanka Trump tied the knot, and I LOVED her gown. It was strapless, but then had lace to give it a collar and sleeves. It kind of fit into the current trend of faux necklines. She wore the gown because she is marrying an Orthodox Jew and converting, but I like the idea of wearing a more conservative style for a wedding. One of my aunts was married with a white cowboy hat veil. It's not a timeless style.

Coincidentally, New York Magazine made wedding gowns their latest Shop-A-Matic. A lot of the more expensive gowns have sleeves and coverages on top, often in extremely creative ways with interesting sleeve shape and draping. I sincerely hope this trend will trickle down, because I am not spending several thousand dollars on a wedding gown. In fact, I kind of hope I can find a reasonably priced wedding tailor in Brooklyn who will copy my dream gown (Alex has a friend who did this)

I like this one:



And this one (my favorite):


Even this full-sleeved one could work, though I don't like it as much as I did yesterday:

I don't like the body of this one, but the draped sleeves are gorgeous, feminine, and goddess-like:

Disclosure: I am not planning on getting married soon. I don't fantasize (that much) about weddings. Don't get worried!!