23 May The timeless charm of the lace wedding dress
This article has been updated with a new article dated February 23, 2023 on the new Luisa Sposa models in macramé lace. Discover them here
The lace wedding dress dates back to the 19th century, a period there was for the first time a clear trend to use lace for wedding dresses. In fact, this fabric was already used in antiquity as an ornament for sacred altars and only for linen garments.
Subsequently, starting from lace, the workmanship of these particular fabrics evolved towards modern lace: first worked only by hand, then the designs became much more complex requiring the use of special tools like bobbins and pillows. In this long history, its importance was so central over time that various types of lace retain the name of cities where they were organized into real workshops and lace production industries. It was not only fundamental in bridal fashion, but in women’s clothing in general, a real revolution: certainly, lace for wedding dress from ancient times has never ceased to represent the element par excellence of bridal dresses, in a combination that has always created charm and seduction. Like all the stories of costume and tailoring tradition, lace represents a real richness, even today some types of lace are only handcrafted. It is a particular and irregular intertwining of yarns that, starting from a single thread, manages to create different designs and shapes, worked with many rings and open spaces to create delicate and mostly floral motifs. Luisa Sposa has always created wedding dresses with different types of lace: Macramé, Chantilly and Rebrodé. One of the most loved models of the new Luisa collection is the bon ton mermaid dress, made entirely of lace and broken by high-waisted belt. It can be combined with silk tulle elements, for example with detachable and sumptuous balloon sleeves.
Macramé lace, knots of volume
Macramè lace comes from the Arab world, and its originally processing derived from an ancient nautical technique with intertwined and knotted yarns at whose ends there were fringes; today, it is the most consistent and full-bodied type of lace. The yarn that composes it is much thicker than Chantilly and for this reason, the knotting is generally indicated to give more volume to the dress, elegantly structured and volumetric. Macramé is indeed a lace with a sustained, regal effect that consolidates the figure. Luisa Sposa has created several models of macramé lace dress, here is one with an almost tribal style, for those who love boho-chic in its fusion between vintage and romantic effect.
Another model, with a refined decorative motif; it is the same as the cape that, replacing the veil, creates continuity in an elegant and statuesque effect, and the sleeve is calla lily, from the ‘70s.
Chantilly lace, impalpable transparencies
Chantilly lace, named after the French city where it was first produced, is light and very refined. Originally it was finely worked with silk, but today its cotton composition is highly prized. A type of lace that, due to its delicacy, enriches and embellishes the fabrics, even in overlays, without weighing them down. It is generally in high demand because it is a variety of lace suitable for any composition and reinterpretation. The dress with this type of lace is champagne-colored, with a delicate decorative combination; it enhances the silhouette with elegance.
Rebrodè lace, highlighted details
Rebrodè lace is a lace that particularly stands out, often already worked on Chantilly lace but profiled in relief with cord, often also in shiny thread. It is a floral ramage, a lace that creates details in a visible and important texture, due to its particularity it is also used for the entire composition of the bodices. Luisa Sposa has created a dress model in rebrodè lace with a combined top and removable tail. The creation of the dress includes a stylistic variation: a version with long sleeves and one with an off-the-shoulder neckline. The latter highlights the shoulders with a very refined effect and at off-shoulder height.
Lace with fine fabrics, elegance and original effects
Luisa Sposa with her tailoring mastery, also combines lace with fine fabrics, the realization confers light and embellishes the dress; this is the case of the silk mikado, already of great visual impact. The worked effect of the lace makes the mikado dress even more important: in this combination of different fabrics, the bodice is in macramé and features light points in rhinestone on the belt that illuminate and emphasize the waistline. The collar worked as a collier effect emphasizes the décolleté and the figure.
The lace wedding dress is always one of the most loved choices by brides, its workmanship characteristics amplify the tailoring intuitions, as in this dress where Luisa Sposa creates the focus on the back: like admiring a work of art thanks to the tattoo effect lace, the image stands out as if captured by a painting on skin, from waves and movements of fabrics.
