The twenty tens as it was known by some was an era that began with a world wide recession, this or course affected the fashion world hugely. Out went the excesses of the last decade and in came a sudden love of all nostalgia and a mend and make-do attitude, for some of us that was never going to work! I’m far too in love with “The New” to be patching and wearing vintage, sorry.
One of the big fashion trends of that time was the high low skirt and this translated well into wedding dress design. Of course as with all recessions when the markets go down so do the hemlines and we saw a return to longer skirt lengths by contrast with the decade before.
Though, this love of vintage was the real trend of the era. This was beautifully reflected in the glamorous designs of Jenny Packham, layered beaded tulle dresses right out of The Gatsby era. The Vintage trends became huge , think of the glamour of the 20’s, 30’S and 40’s lots of soft flowing satin, beading and lace. Lace made a big comeback at this time, full lace dresses with tiered skirts or cap sleeves. Cymbeline of Paris made fab lace gowns, using layers of different french lace.
Poppy Delevingne wearing Chanel , 2014
Amal Clooney in Oscar de la Renta, 2014
Towards 2012 the Hipster movement was becoming very popular and this was reflected in wedding dress design. Kate Moss’s wedding dress by John Galliano as an example of a beautiful vintage styled hipster gown kicked off the Bo-Ho trend. Bo-Ho became the bi-line for vintage styled weddings, it was a trend that really took off at this time and continued for at least 5 years. The Vintage look was easy and simple to replicate, the dresses were pretty and fun to accessorise, the giant flower crown became very popular as did the 20’s side hair slide. This was a great time to be an accessory designer, we stocked amazing handmade pieces by Polly Edwards that could become heirlooms for the next generation.
Kate Moss in John Galliano, 2011
Kate Middleton wearing Alexander McQueen, 2011
As a designer I enjoyed creating vintage styled gowns, this era appealed to my love of drama. Think of my designs of the late 1980’s in the first of our archives and you will see how I love drama. Though Bo-Ho styling now conflicted with my love of clean lines, which as a designer I had developed and grown into, a style of design that reflects my desire to create fashion that is timeless. Yet I did marry the two trends into a pretty collection which can be seen from our 2014 shoot below. It was a compromise that worked, which goes to show that we never have to be a slave to trends.
Sharon Hoey Collection 2013-2015
Our Real Brides 2010-2015
