Sunday, November 18, 2007

How to Match Your Bridal Shoes to Your Wedding Dress

Matching Tip #1 - When looking for bridal shoes, carry a swatch or piece of the wedding gown fabric to match up the white coloring as close as possible.

A bride's ensemble requires perfection of Cinderella proportions. Everything must match down to the last finest thread. Even the bridal shoes are afforded special attention and must reign with an air of elegance. Although many factors are important when choosing bridal shoes, the one that most brides find the most difficult is matching the bridal shoes to their wedding gown.

Indeed, one of the biggest difficulties in matching the bridal shoes is the color or rather the non-color of white. Most people assume that white is white, but that is not true when matching pieces for your special day. Depending on the type of fabric, white will always show differently.

Also, some whites are creamier in color giving the air of off-white while others are clinical and stark white. Whatever "white" color your wedding dress, the key is to obtain a color sample of the dress and carry it with you while shopping for bridal shoes.

Lastly, if you are not able to find a "white" match that is acceptable, look for dyeable bridal shoes and have the bridal shoe dyed to match the dress.


Matching Tip #2 - Try to find the same fabric or material in a bridal shoe as the wedding dress to make it easier to match the shoes to the gown.

As mentioned, part of the reason colors look different is the actual fabric. For instance, a satin white fabric may be high pitched and glossy whereas a raw silk white fabric may more of a matte tone. In addition, wearing a satin dress may not work with vinyl shoes. It might be easier to choose bridal shoes by limiting your selection of shoes to the same fabric as the wedding gown.


Matching Tip #3 - The simpler the gown, the fancier the shoe and the more glamorous the gown, the simpler the shoe.

Most brides would like to appear elegant and regal, not garish and outlandish. It is therefore recommended that when choosing your shoes, you lean towards the opposite of the dress. A wedding gown that is beautifully lavish with pearls, sequins, brocades, or other adornments will look nicer with plain bridal shoes. In fact, the bridal shoes should not overshadow the gown.

Further, the gown itself should dictate the type of shoe. If the gown is shorter in length, a heeled shoe will complete the ensemble more favorably than a flat slipper shoe. The shoe should always complement and accentuate the wedding gown and never remove the focal point from the bridal dress.

If you must have adornments on both your wedding dress and your bridal shoes, be sure the look is coordinated. Again, the full appearance should one of natural flowing elegance, not two pieces fighting for the attention of the guests.


Matching Tip #4 - Choose shoes that are the same style as the wedding gown or from the same fashion trend. Also choose shoes that match your personality or type of wedding.

Style of gown is especially important when matching or choosing the perfect bridal shoes. For brides that have longed to wear their great grandmother's dress from the Victorian era, they may choose to purchase white lace-up boots from that time period.

In fact, the idea or matching time periods or styles should exist. Mixing and matching, on the other hand, is sure to to move the focus from the gown to the feet, which is an undesirable result when choosing bridal shoes.

For younger brides who are ultra modern, a bridal shoe with a fat chunky heel may be appropriate for their style of dress while an older bride wearing a lovely suit may be more inclined towards a traditional sandal or fancy satin pump with ankle straps.


Matching Tip #5 - The overall look should flow from the top of the veil or tiara to the tips of the toes of the bridal shoes.

If at all possible, try your bridal shoes on with your wedding gown in order to see the flow of the pieces. The look should not be disjointed and uneven. The gown should flow over the shoes naturally and the two should almost look like one.

More importantly, the shoes should be tested with the gown to determine the proper hem of the gown. Switching bridal shoes at the last minute will cause the gown to be either too long or too short.

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