Timeless Classics to Today: Photos

Since 1910, WWD has been taking notes on bridal trends. Getting the scoop on who designed the bride’s dress to guest arrivals and after-parties. One of its first entries is of a bridal party: mother, bridesmaid, female guests and the bride negotiating the wearing of the hobble skirt. The innovative skirt silhouette, perfect for the slow stroll down the aisle was popularized by French couturier Paul Poiret. Today, the hobble skirt is fashion history, but what the bride chooses to wear remains the making of a fashion moment. Since then, the daily has captured more than its share of famous weddings, bridal collections and one-of-a-kind couture and ready to wear collection of brides’ dresses.

Yves Saint Laurent’s knit bridal gown, inspired by Russian matryoshka nesting dolls closed the runway season in 1965, and his couture bride pantsuit challenged the norm in 1970. Willi Smith used faux fur for his 1987 bride and groom. Exaggerating a classic, Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto in 1988 featured a look so extravagant it required more than the bride to walk down the aisle, while Vera Wang, who began her bridal business in 1989, successfully changed every aspect of the category, and John Galliano told fashion to step into the times when he featured a same-sex bride couple in the finale of his spring 1999 couture collection for Christian Dior.

Today’s designers continue to reimagine bridal, respecting the classic while adding enough unconventional silhouettes to keep the category fresh.

Here is a look back at a few traditional and not-so-traditional bridal looks over the years from WWD and the Fairchild Archive.