And the bride wore … who cares — is that her mother?
When Ilene heard that her daughter was getting married, her first call was to the Vivaldi boutique on the Upper East Side, where the 50-something mom had outfitted herself for all four of her kids’ mitzvahs for years.
“I knew right away I wasn’t going to do a typical mother-of-the-bride dress,” says Ilene, an attorney who asked not to use her last name for professional reasons. “I wear really short skirts, and I don’t care. I feel good about myself — I do what I want.”
She decided on a $5,000 slinky, hot-pink gown from Ysa Makino with side cutouts and a plunging low back.
Not everyone’s on board with such show-stopping dresses, because they divert attention from the bride. Wedding stylist Diane Lloyde Roth says that when she dresses moms who want to be super sexy, “I try to talk [them] out of it — that it’s the bride’s day,” the Connecticut-based consultant says.
They don’t always heed her advice.
“I had one client who wore a strapless runway piece remade and molded to her exact figure. She was 60 but looked about 25. She looked fabulous — it was killer. At the wedding, people asked if she was the bride’s sister,” Roth says. “She’s a Broadway producer, and it would have looked perfect for the Tonys, but she totally outshone the bride, who looked mousy in an ill-fitting gown.”
To see how Diane will dress Mother of the bride or Croom visit www.larmoirenewcanaan.com
