From the book, "Salt" by Nayyirah Waheed
SPRING 2018 COLLECTION UP ON THE CUT
Working on getting those dreams one hyper-link click at a time. Take a look at our full collection by booking a visit to our studio, by clicking on collection or by visiting https://www.thecut.com/fashion/shows/2018/spring/new-york/bridal/samantha-sleeper.html
BRIDES MAGAZINE: "Bridesmaids Can Wear White, We Promise"
You heard it here first: White bridesmaid dresses are definitely trending for 2017. But is having your wedding party outfitted in cream frocks asking to have the spotlight taken away from the bride? Hey, if it's good enough for Kate Middleton! If you have visions of a wedding party covered in white dresses, here's how your bridesmaids can rock the white bridesmaid dress trend without upstaging you!
1. Keep Bridesmaids' Dresses Simple
Renowned designer Anne Barge recommends that a bride select a more ornamental gown for herself and choose streamlined and simple silhouettes for bridesmaids. “I’ve always loved the aesthetic of an all-white bridal party, so reminiscent of the royal weddings at Westminster Abbey,” Barge states. “Pippa Middleton wore a beautiful, modern column gown by Alexander McQueen. Her choice was a stunning contrast to Kate’s traditional lace embellished gown by the same designer.”
2. Add Sweet Accessories to Bridesmaids’ Dresses
Sometimes it’s the simplest accents that separate a bridesmaid’s dress from the bridal gown. “Contrast is essential to mastering an all-white bridal party, and it can be easily achieved by mixing silhouettes, skirt lengths, and accessories,” Barge shares. “I love distinguishing touches like floral wreaths in maids’ hair or subdued accessories, much like those in Kate Moss’s English countryside wedding.” If you prefer a more formal dress code, elegantly beaded headbands or bracelets for the wedding party are equally alluring.
3. Go Long (and Short)
Angelo Lambrou, designer and founder of the New York City–based Angelo Lambrou Atelier, hints that length can be a key distinguisher between the bridal gown and bridesmaids’ dresses. Don’t be afraid to give bridesmaids’ dresses the chop while keeping your own long. This is your wedding day, after all, and all eyes should be on the bride.
4. Focus on the Fabric
Brooklyn-based bridal designer Samantha Sleeper also believes in the power of juxtaposition between the bride and her maids, citing differing fabrics as one manner of refocusing attention on the bride. “Establish a contrast in texture,” the style specialist suggests. “If the bride’s gown is embellished, all lace, or in a print, than the maids' gowns should all be in a solid white fabric, like a silk crepe de-chine, tulle, or even a satin-faced cotton. The contrast will offer a beautiful visual distinction between bride and her support system, while also translating gorgeously in photos.”
5. Look for a Strikingly Different Silhouette and Neckline
Every detail of a bridal gown, from its structure and contours to its neckline, distinguishes it from every other frock on the market. Sleeper encourages every bride to consider all of these differentiating details when selecting her gown and those of her bridesmaids. “Think about how different you feel in a deep V-neck black T-shirt than when wearing a crewneck, even in the same fabric and color,” Sleeper suggests. “It will completely alter the overall look of your ensemble. The same rule applies when dressing a party,” Sleeper says. “Use the bride’s gown as a centerpiece. If her sleeves are long, opt for a thin strap or strapless for the maids; if her gown has a structured, minimal approach, perhaps consider a cowlneck drape for the supporting cast. Contrast in shape and gesture can be highly complementary when working with whites.”
6. Take Tone-on-Tone Styling off the Table
While brides might delight in contrasting colors, Sleeper urges clients to stay away from attempting to fit 50 shades of white into their wedding gowns and bridesmaids’ ensembles. The result, she warns, is an eye-twitching spectacle. “Unlike almost all other colors, which look gorgeous in tonal options, choosing different whites and putting them next to each other quickly highlights the undertone of that white,” Sleeper shares. “A bright white can turn an ivory yellow, while mismatched brights can have some gowns looking ice-blue.” Sleeper’s solution? “Stick to a single shade of White for your maids, and use metallics (gold for ivory, silver for bright white) to complement.”
http://www.brides.com/story/white-bridesmaid-dress-trend
She Recieved 65 Proposals and Never Married: New York Times Wedding Edition
Morning reads, courtesy of the New York Times:
“Shyness” was the diagnosis: After all, what else could possibly have caused Mary Landon Baker — heiress and socialite — to have left her fiancé, Allister McCormick, a fellow Chicagoan, at the altar so often in the early 1920s?
Newspapers around the world — including The New York Times, which referred to the would-be groom as “thrice jilted Allister McCormick” — delighted in covering the drama that unfolded between the two. In the end, nothing could compel Miss Baker to become Mrs. McCormick: not the Cartier sapphire engagement ring, nor the mountain of wedding gifts (valued at a reported $100,000), nor the thousand of well-heeled guests who showed up for the first wedding ceremony.
Called the “shy bride” by reporters, Miss Baker appears to have been anything but: Throughout the 1920s, she went through lovers like General Sherman blazing a path to the sea and provided excellent copy while doing so. (Mr. McCormick abandoned his pursuit of Miss Baker in 1923, opting instead for a more compliant wife based in London).
Miss Baker acquired and discarded husband-candidates on at least two continents: an English Lord, an Irish prince, a Spaniard of means. Her brief 1926 engagement to a Yugoslav diplomat caused “the greatest excitement since the European war” in Belgrade, reported one Times correspondent.
Read “Mary Baker Engaged to Count Pouritch" (Oct. 24, 1926)
Miss Baker was also linked to the actor Barry Baxter, who collapsed onstage and died during their friendship; rumors flew that he had learned that Miss Baker was about to dispatch herself to London to marry another man. Mr. Baxter’s physician came forward to deliver the disappointing news: The cause of death had been pneumonia, not betrayal or lovesickness. Thus Miss Baker remained categorized as simply shy rather than fatale.
By the time she died in 1961, at age 61, she had supposedly received 65 marriage proposals.
Read “Mary L. Baker, 61, Spurned Suitors" (July 14, 1961)
Her love of life seemed abundant; she was, for example, fond of pirate parties, tango dancing with Romanian princes and glinting lamé gowns. Furthermore, Miss Baker was a quintessential “dollar princess,” an heiress whose net worth made her an international catch.
When quizzed about his daughter’s aversion to marriage, her father, the financier Alfred Baker, suggested to a reporter that she was simply having too delectable a time playing the field to settle down. Years later, Miss Baker told a journalist, “I did not marry, because I did not meet the right man at the right time at the right place.” At another point, she confessed, “I have never been in love.”
It seems a perfectly valid reason to have shunned the affections of so many men, although it was a luxurious position to be able to take. We will probably never know Miss Baker’s motives in marionetting her suitors, but we do know this: She was never in need of spousal support. In 1927, when her father died, she made the leap from heiress to outright rich in her own right; she received another small fortune upon her mother’s death in 1955. She had security; she had status. Mary Landon Baker wasn’t “shy.” Rather, she was free.
Lesley M. M. Blume is a journalist, historian and author of the New York Times best-selling book Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece ‘The Sun Also Rises.’
Mary Landon Baker in 1922, sailing to England to marry Allister McCormick. (She didn't.) CREDIT THE NEW YORK TIMES
New Sample Alert: AURALIA
“Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream” ― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
I slipped on this delicately embroidered dream of a gown in fittings this morning and I'm in love. Hand beaded vines and delicate tulle flowers in shades of lavender, periwinkle, blush and clementine over a white illusion.
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