Don’t go shopping for your wedding gown if you don’t know the names of different parts of a wedding gown. Every bride knows that a wedding dress comes in different necklines and sleeve styles. But there are other wedding gown parts, all of which come in different styles. Get to know the different dress parts and it’ll be easier to find your dream wedding gown. Read on!
As a bride-to-be, you should know the wedding gown silhouette you prefer, the sleeve styles you prefer, the your preferred neckline and bodice style, your preferred wedding gown train length (oh yes, there’s a part of the gown called ‘train’). Read this post to get to know the anatomy of a wedding dress.
Anatomy of a Wedding Gown: What are the Different Parts
Your wedding gown style is a combination of your style picks for each dress part. Knowing what you want down to the details is a great way to ensure that bridal shop attendants can easily understand what you like, to enable them pick out your type of dress styles for you to try. Read on to learn about the essential parts of a wedding gown by their names.
1. The Sleeves: What is a Wedding Gown Sleeve?
You can guess that this is the part of the gown around the arm area. Wedding gown sleeve styles include sleeveless, long-sleeve and short-sleeve which are commonly worn by Nigerian brides. Those are not the only styles of wedding gown sleeves.
Types of Wedding Gown Sleeves and How to Choose (w/ Photos of Sleeve Styles)
2. The Neckline: What is a Wedding Gown Neckline?
As the name implies, this refers to the neck area of the wedding dress, and there are different styles of wedding dress necklines – we’ll discuss that in another section (below). Some popular styles of wedding gown necklines seen in real Nigerian weddings include strapless neck, spaghetti straps, sweetheart neckline, halter neck, v-neck, off-the-shoulder and scoop neck.
Types of Wedding Gown Necklines and How to Choose (w/ Photos of Neckline Styles)
3. The Bodice: What is a Wedding Dress Bodice
The bodice is basically the “body” or top part of a wedding gown. Put in another way, the bodice is the ‘blouse part’ of the wedding gown. You can easily identify the bodice as that part of a wedding gown between the shoulder, chest and the waist or top part of the hips.
To keep it really simple, let’s say that ‘the bodice’ the part of the bridal dress that is between the neckline and skirt part of the dress. Like other parts of a wedding dress, there are different types and styles of bodice. Most wedding dresses worn by Nigerian brides have a fitted or body-hugging bodice.
Some wedding gowns have strapless bodice, some have spaghetti straps, some have corset-type (super tight) bodice.
4. The Waistline: What is a Wedding Gown Waistline?
This is the horizontal line (or seam) that separates the bodice from the skirt area of a wedding gown. Put in another way, a dress waistline is the meeting point of the top part (i.e. bodice) and the skirt part of the dress.
There are different styles of waistlines in wedding gowns – some gowns have their waistlines immediately under the bust (empire waist silhouette); some wedding gowns have their waistlines at the navel/ belly button area, some waistlines are below the navel; and some wedding gowns even have drop-waist style of wasitline and some gowns (sheath silhouettes, slip styles) do not have any defined waistline.
You need to know the type of waistline you would like your wedding gown to have. Your choice should be informed from the dress waistline you usually wear in your everyday life, and the one(s) that look best on you.
Why does it matter to know the different types of wedding gown waistline? If you have 2 identical dresses, a difference in waistlines can change the overall shape (silhouette) of each dress, and make each uniquely different.
5. The Skirt: What Part of Wedding Gown is the Skirt?
The skirt part of the wedding dress is the bottom part, or simply put, that part of the bridal gown that starts from below the waist and flows downward. Depending on the cut/ silhouette and style of a wedding gown, the skirt area may be long, short, slim or full. Some wedding dress styles look very similar at upper part (neckline, bodice, waist) BUT only differ in the skirt area.
For example, the difference between the Trumpet (Fit n Flare) silhouette style and Mermaid Wedding Gown is that the mermaid wedding dress flares from the knees while the trumpet wedding dress flares from the mid-thigh (right after the hips); also the skirt part of the mermaid wedding gown is fuller and puffy. Both mermaid and trumpet gowns are similar in their upper part (bodice), where they are tight-fitting.
The Different Wedding Gown Shapes and their Names (Buying Guide by Silhouettes)
6. The Train: What is a Wedding Gown ‘Train’?
The wedding gown train is the elongated back part of the dress that lies on the floor, sweeping the floor and following behind the bride when she is walking, making her look like a princess. Bridal trains are named according to how long they are. There are different lengths and styles of wedding gown trains and each one is best suited to certain wedding gown type and venue setting. The longest bridal trains are called cathedral train and chapel train.
Types of Wedding Gown Trains: Styles and Lengths of Trains (w/ Pictures)
NOTE: Some Nigerians use the term “bridal train” to mean ‘the bridesmaids, flower girls’, but now you know that it’s a part of the wedding gown. The bridal party is the name that the wedding industry uses to refer to the bride and groom = bridesmaids, groomsmen, bestman, maid of honour, flower girls and ring-bearer.
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