So what kinds of bridesmaid gowns are brides choosing for their girls for 2009 and 2010? Thanks to the economic downturn, one trends that's definitely not in style are gowns that cost hundreds of dollars. Brides and bridesmaids are looking for inexpensive alternatives to designer gowns.
Here are some bridesmaid dress trends for 2009 and 2010.
Bridesmaid Dress RentalsFor years men have been renting their own tuxes, and yet somehow bridesmaids have been expected to buy their own. Finally, though, a bridesmaid dress rental industry is really growing. In addition to saving money, bridesmaid gown rentals are a great way to be able to wear something once that's way more fabulous than a typical bridesmaid can afford to own.
The Black Bridesmaid Dress Trend
When it comes to a dress that has to look good on a number of different women, black has its advantages. It's slimming and generally favors most complexions. Black dresses also are advantageous because they tend to look for expensive than they really are, so a great way to make a gown seem more elegant is simply to buy it in black. It's also pretty easy to mix-and-match black dresses, so bridesmaids might even be able to wear nice black dresses they already own and save quite a bit of money.
Black too bland? For those who want just a little more color, brown, gray, and various other monotone shades are in style as well.
The Cocktail Style Bridesmaid Gown Trend
Whatever bridesmaid gown color a bride chooses, chances are a shorter, cocktail style version of a gown will be much cheaper than the longer version. What's more, in terms of finding a dress that bridesmaids might actually wear again, a shorter version probably will get more reuse opportunities. Popular cocktail dress silhouettes for 2009 and 2010 include the trapeze dress, which is a forgiving style that tends to look great on lots of figures (unless it's really, really short). Other popular trends include spaghetti straps and single-shoulder dresses.
The Purple Bridesmaid Dress Trend
For brides who want a little vibrant color in their weddings this year, one of the hottest choices throughout the fashion industry is dark, violet shades of purple. Happily, this is a color that looks surprisingly well with most complexions, and unless the dress is designed quite poorly, dark purple tends to be fairly slimming the same way black is. Lavender gowns can work too, but this color is less forgiving, and a bad lavender gown can scream "80s prom gown."
Bare Shawls
A trend that was hot last year and has returned is the bare shawl accompanying a gown, especially one with minimal or no sleeves. Shawls can be simple, or they can jazz up a black or gray dress with some beads, sequins, or other sparkly details.
Bridesmaid Dress Trends in an Economic Downturn
This year, less is more when it comes to bridesmaids gowns, at least usually. Versatile black dresses and cocktail dresses often are cheaper, but look elegant and can be reused for another occasion. Briadesmaid dress rentals are in style as well. Clearly, it's perfectly reasonable to shop for bridesmaid dresses with a budgetin mind and still locate beautiful, stylish dresses.
 |
