Everything about choosing he best style for the bride to be. This is the ideal guidebook for the bride as she begins her search for the perfect wedding dress. Filled with inspiring ideas and visual references, it will help her develop a vision of her dress while making sense of the overwhelming choices available. She can use it to show storekeepers what she wants or to work with a dressmaker on a custom design. Easy to use, The Perfect Wedding Dress is organized by dress style -- ball gown, princess line, mermaid, and so on -- and by dress part -- necklines, backs, veils, trains, and more. A helpful glossary in each section defines the terms used to describe the dresses. The author methodically helps the bride assess what style would suit her best, considering her figure shape, depending on whether she wants a train, and so on. Along with the stories behind the designs, he discusses what fabrics best suit each design and offers suggestions for appropriate headwear, jewelry, and shoes. The book features dozens of beautiful photographs and detailed descriptions of dresses, including those of celebrated brides such as Princess Diana, Jennifer Lopez, and Grace Kelly. Designs featured include Baggley, Mischka, Christian Dior, and Vera Wang. Brides of all ages and means will find The Perfect Wedding Dress inspiring and reassuring, and an indispensable part of their wedding planning. If you're seeking a sourcebook of wedding dress design options, look no further than The Perfect Wedding Dress ... Public libraries will find this a popular lend. ( The Midwest Book Review ) Over 300 photos of modern brides display both vintage and contemporary choices, offering plenty of idea resources perfect for public library lending collections. (Library Bookwatch The Midwest Book Review ) The ultimate guide for a bride on a wedding dress venture. Filled with numerous and stunning visual references, it is certain to help her develop a vision of her dress while making sense of all the choices available in bridal shops. The book deserves high praise for its straightforward format... this book is certain to jump start your imagination. (Cynthia M. Allegrezza Bride and Groom ) 300 atmospheric photos of gorgeous gowns... The photos are entertaining but the book is a resource guide too. (Rosanne Washington Cleveland Plain Dealer 2006-04-26) The Perfect Wedding Dress is not so much written as curated. ... Recommended if you're a bride-to-be who hasn't bought her dress yet or are looking for a gift for one. (Janice Harayda One-minuteBookReviews.com 2006-12-07) A sweeping sourcebook... takes the bride by the hand and guides her... an abundance of useful information... a comprehensive visual reference for a bride who needs to communicate her vision to others. ( Calgary Herald 2006-03-17) More to say about wedding gowns than anybody but a bride would want to know... oodles of photographs. (Liz Pogue Victoria Times-Colonist 2006-03-12) An ideal guidebook for the soon-to-be bride, this book is filled with inspiring ideas and visual references. ( Wedding Vow ) Philip Delamore is a research fellow and lecturer in Fashion Design at the London College of Fashion. He is also a freelance fashion designer. He lives in southeast London, England. Introduction The wedding dress is such an evocative symbol of the bride. It has romantic and historical associations with the ritual of dress and the rites of ceremony, from countless princess brides encountered in fairytales as a child, to the televised and endlessly photographed weddings of royalty and celebrity that have punctuated our adulthood. Today the wedding dress occupies a unique moment in your life. As ritual and ceremony is all but removed from our everyday experiences, the idea of wearing a special dress for only one day of your life imbues it with the significance of its symbolic heritage. While fashion may affect the silhouette, the white dress and veil have remained virtually unchanged in over 150 years. The variety of styles, details and fabric combinations available to today's bride may, however, seem a little bewildering. If you do not know an A-line from a princess line, or a sweetheart neckline from a picture collar, then read on. This book is intended as a sourcebook for you and a helpful guide for inspiration, ideas and visual reference, not only to help with your choice of wedding dress, but also to help communicate it to others. That picture/thousand-word analogy is never more true than when trying to communicate the abstract ideas of design and the emotions of romance to others. Use this book, along with the other reference material you've gathered from bridal stores and magazines, to build a picture both of yourself and your dress. This will help the other people involved in the process, from the shop assistant to the caterer, have a better idea of your vision. Even if you don't feel like you have much vision yet, this book will help you dev