Thursday, July 7, 2011

Romantic White Dresses

 I am considering my niece who is to be married (in Washington) this weekend.  She is wearing my bridal veil.  She said that it doesn't go with her dress but she wants to wear it anyway.  My sister wore it after me and another niece (Amy) wore it as well.  Our girls chose their own veils (beautiful!)  Did you ever pretend that white curtains or white sheets were veils?  Do you recall the scene in "Fiddler on the Roof" where the girls are pulling things off the washing line and dancing around in "veils"?  I think women everywhere should wear MORE white dresses.  Do you?
You are NEVER too old to be a ballerina. 

The lines of this romantic dress are perfect.  My favorite:  three-quarter sleeves.




When my mother and I went shopping for my wedding dress, I tried on all the fluffy romantic gowns.  I looked like a cupcake.  We changed strategies and I ended up with a completely different kind of gown than I had originally wished for. High neck, pearls, and a sophisticated veil.  As we were leaving the bridal shop, I spotted a more feminine veil.  We switched and I'm glad we did now that thirty-three years later, Emily is to be married in the same veil.



Doesn't this dress make you wish you had one in your closet?  If you watch "Much Ado About Nothing" you will want to pull out your sewing machine and make one.  The women (all ages) wear messy up dos, bare feet, and gauzy white dresses.  Lovely.  Do you have a romantic white dress?

22 comments:

Leslie said...

I love these dresses. They are so romantic and summery. What a sweet tradition of sharing your veil. I did not wear one. We had an outdoor wedding and I wore a more casual creamy colored dress with a pink sash. It had little pink flowers in a lacy oval around the hem at my knees. I still have it ...... somewhere.

Farm Girl said...

You made me laugh, in the summer my cousins and I and my sister would got spend the night with my grandmother and she had all of those white curtains that were in a box in her closet. They always had the spicy smell of dirt that sort of burned your nose for a second but we would make dresses and veils and wear her shoes and fix our hair and laugh until we fell down.
I do think the gauzy white dresses are so pretty. I think it is neat all of your family has worn the same veil.
I wore a hat so no veil for me.

Thank you for your sweet comments.
I never knew I would turn into that kind of grandmother :) It is bittersweet when they cry because they have to go home.
Really, life is so grand.
Have a wonderful day.

April said...

I want a flowy white dress, but I think the kids would get it dirty.:(

Gumbo Lily said...

I really love white. I have plenty of white tops and button-up shirts, but not one all while dress. I especially like the first dress you showed (or is it a tunic?).

Since I live in the country, getting to town in a white dress is very tricky. We have enough gravel road that it gets in the edges of the card door which usually ends up on my clothes.

How nice that your niece is wearing your veil. Special.

Fun post, Pom Pom!

M.K. said...

I don't have a single white dress, although I have a few white shirts. You're so right, of course. But I stopped wearing white dresses long ago, b/c I assumed they were best worn by the young, and um, by the slender. Since black makes one looks slim, I assumed white makes one look fat? But they are romantic, elegant, and very feminine.

no spring chicken said...

I am definitely showing your post to my Erin today. This is totally her thing. (I absolutely love them too of course. Wonder where she got it?) ;)

Thank you so much for your encouragements and prayer. The 'happy' that came my way, came BY way of sweet unexpected outpourings of love from my blogging buddies. Thank you, thank you. Today is a bit better and I know it's because of all of your prayers...

Blessings, Debbie

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

The urge to go out and find myself a white summer ensemble (cream actually, white looks awful on me) in the Victorian fashion....yes, bustle, high collar, long sleeves, but all in the lightest, most beautiful of fabrics with delicate embroidery and tucks and trims...not too fussy, just enough....topped with a flower trimmed summer hat...and button up boots in white kid leather...and a beautiful parasol took of course...is upon me! Am I old enough yet to get away with being totally eccentric?

Elizabethd said...

There is something about a flowy white dress! I would look dreadful in one, but a white skirt works well, though not as romantic as the dresses!

Angela said...

My wedding dress was very simple - in the frothy ones, I looked like one of those dolls people used to use to cover the spare loo roll!
We cut it short for my daughter to wear at her baptism.

I have a long white cotton nightdress and always feel incredible feminine and romantic when I wear that [ to bed that is- not around the village!!]

libbyquilter said...

there is something quite feminine and lovely about a white dress.
i don't have one. in fact i rarely wear dresses but somehow after reading your post i feel like i have a huge hole in my wardrobe~!

:-)
libbyQ

Elderberry-Rob said...

I have been looking for a white dress for several years but have not found one good enough - it has to have a lot of lace, half sleeves and not be too transparent and none come up to the requirements! My wedding dress was seen in a magazine but I phoned the manufacturer in North London and went straight to the factory and paid 75 per cent less than shop price for cash up front. It's lovely that your veil is being used in different generations - it makes it very special Pom Pom.

Lisa Richards said...

I think I like the last one best with its hippy undertones. I also love white cotton nightdresses, though I don't own one. Glad to hear that Angela isn't running around the village in hers! LOL!

Bonnie said...

I love the first photo. It reminds me of something to wear on vacation..in Mexico...or on a cruise. I recently bought an-off white antique tucked lace batiste victorian dress that just happens to fit my size 0 daughter (even without a corset) and am in the process of restoring the lace. I love romantic white dresses.

The Provincial Homemaker said...

There is something so lovely and pure about a white dress. You have picked some really nice ones here.

Jessica Lynn said...

Now I must go on the hunt for a romantic "gauzy" white dress to wear with a messy up do & bare feet. Yes, very lovely & dreamy too!! I did buy a long red flowy sundress recently. It's kind of romantic ;)

Thank you Pom Pom for visiting me. Oh Anne of Green Gables. Great idea! I've watched all the movies. I love them!! Love Love them! You would too. Have you seem them? I'm sort of ashamed to say that I've never read them. It's never too late. Pom, please look up Mandy by Julie Andrews on Amazon. It's a delight to read. I'm positive that you'll love it.

Xo

Kari of Writing Up A Storm said...

I have read that Emily Dickinson always wore white as she got older, and I have wondered if I, too, would begin to transition into white. I wear a white T-shirt and grey sweatpants all summer long, and often think about wearing a long flowing white dress. Well, you have made me dream of flowing veils and all things white, the perfect summertime dream. xoxo Kari

A garden just outside Venice said...

What a lovely family tradition to pass your veil!
xxx

Kerri said...

I love white dresses! Sadly I am too pale to ever look good in them. I love your veil story. So sweet.

Catherine said...

I adore white cotton nighties but they tie me in knots in bed. However, I do own a couple of pretty white dresses & always have had. I had vintage ones even back when I was 17 (although truth be told they were probably nighties..broiderie anglaise & lace & cotton. I love the feminine romance too.I do hope that the wedding is wonderful. Much love Catherine ♥

Gigi said...

Sweet post, Pom! I love your wedding reminesences and the thought of your veil being passed through the girls in your family. Before we know it Miss Bug and the rest of your little girls will be wearing it. Time does fly like that, doesn't it?!
And yes, I have a special white dress that I bought in a thrift shop in Santa Fe years ago. It's a Mexican wedding dress and looks just like this one (only longer)
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-white-mexican-wedding-dress

I wore it to a party a couple of months ago, and I still love it after all these years. Every girl should have a white dress! Oh, that reminds me -- I found a flowy little white cotton nightgown for Chloe last summer, but Jess told me she wears it all the time as a dress -- love that ;).
Blessings,
G

åslaug abigail said...

I always assumed I'd stop pretending every white piece of fabric was a veil when I got married, but no. I found myself in my nieces and nephew's bedroom in front of a mirror the other day, and before I knew it I had pulled a white mosquito net over my head and I smiled. You gotta smile when you're wearing a veil...

I didn't wear one on my wedding day. I promised my groom I wouldn't. He was worried he'd be so nervous he'd forget to remove it before kissed me. As it was, it was a perfect kiss, I would have hated to miss it... ;)

The dB family said...

Mmmm, I love romantic white dresses. Sadly the closest I've come to owning one is a really pretty (and well loved now) nightgown I found and a long, flowy white skirt. Someday I will find the perfect white dress for me!

Blessings!
Deborah

Followers