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From red carpet to wedding aisle
Some wedding dresses leave a legacy beyond the next-day knockoff from Kate Middleton's Alexander McQueen stunner to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's simple tank — and especially Queen Victoria 's white ball gown —changed the way brides dressed for years to come.
Here are some examples. Posted on January 27, 2012.
Kate Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey at the Royal Wedding in London Friday, April 29, 2011 in a dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
This 1840 image shows an illustration of the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace in England. Queen Victoria's white ballgown changed the way brides dressed for years to come.
This file photo shows Jacqueline Kennedy her wedding gown. Kennedy was "a major fashion influence her whole life," so Ann Lowe's dramatic portrait-neck gown with an exaggerated hourglass shape, and pleating details fashioned into flowers and a tiered hemline suited her style, says Darcy Miller, editor in chief of Martha Stewart Weddings. The bit of skin showing at the neckline also fit with the image of the socialite marrying a dashing young senator, ushering in a new guard. (Photo/Bradford Bachrach)
This April 19, 1956 AP file photo shows Prince Rainier as he places the ring on Grace Kelly’s finger during their wedding ceremony, in Monaco Cathedral. Kelly's gown, made by costumer Helen Rose and the wardrobe department of MGM, was "truly designed by Hollywood," says Brides' Martini Bratten.
This June 12, 1971 file photo courtesy of the White House shows Tricia Nxion in her wedding gown at the White House in Washington. The White House wedding of Tricia Nixon in 1971 — and the Priscilla Kidder gown she chose for it — became the fantasy of young women across America, says vintage fashion expert Shareen Mitchell.
This May 12, 1971 file photo shows Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and his bride, Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, during their wedding in the Sainte-Anne chapel in Saint Tropez, France. Jagger, neither a princess, presidential relative nor movie star, created a pop-culture sensation as a fashion rebel when she married Mick Jagger in a Savile Row-made pantsuit, also in 1971. (AP Photo/FILE)
This July 29, 1981 file photo shows Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their wedding day in London. Diana's 1981 gown by Elizabeth Emanuel helped usher in an era of opulence and formality. The shoulders were exaggerated, the skirt full and the sleeves pouffy. The train that trailed her was 25 feet long. AP Photo/FILE)
This artist sketch courtesy of Cerruti 1881 shows the wedding gown worn by Carolyn Bessette when she married John F. Kennedy Jr. at a church on Cumberland Island, along the southeastern Georgia coast in 1996. The gown was pearl-colored silk designed by Narciso Rodriguez for Cerruti 1881.
This Sept. 21, 1996 file photo shows John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, and Carolyn Bessette as they leave a church after being wed in a small private ceremony on Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia. The extravagance of the mid-'80s largely went out with the stock-market crash in 1987, and wedding gowns started down a path toward simpler and chicer. (Photo: Denis Reggie)
In this Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 file image released by Fred Marcus Photography, Ivanka Trump, right, and Jared Kushner are shown at their wedding at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. Trump's 2009 wedding wasn't a global news event, but her lace gown by Wang became a sensation because it showed a fresh, feminine way to wear sleeves — which had largely fallen out of favor as sleeveless and strapless dominated the market for years. (Brian Marcus/Fred Marcus Photography)
This Oct. 18, 1992 file photo released by Obama for America shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on their wedding day in Chicago. Obama's long-sleeve, portrait-collar wedding dress was one of her few fashion decisions that didn't move the needle. That was back in 1992, though. Her one-shoulder, white inaugural gown by Jason Wu, however, turned into a bona fide bridal-gown sensation, says Miller. It came at the right time, as designers continued to move away from all strapless all the time, she observes, and Obama wore it with the right happy, confident attitude that brides strive for. (AP Photo/Obama for America)
Obama’s long-sleeve, portrait-collar wedding dress was one of her few fashion decisions that didn’t move the needle. That was back in 1992, though. Her one-shoulder, white inaugural gown from 2099 by Jason Wu, however, turned into a bona fide bridal-gown sensation. (photo courtesy of Newscom)
This July 31, 2010 file photo released by Genevieve de Manio Photography shows former President Bill Clinton walking his daughter Chelsea down the isle for her wedding in Rhinebeck. No one, including Clinton and designer Wang, expected the media circus that accompanied last year's wedding, says Darcy Miller, editor in chief of Martha Stewart Weddings, but all those photos and attention meant that a lot of gowns are coming out now that were inspired by the delicate strapless with a jeweled waistband. "It was copied in the industry immediately. It's the classic, romantic, fairy-tale dress on a modern woman." (Genevieve de Manio/Genevieve de Manio Photography)
