The second wedding dress used to be a celebrity habit. It is now the sensible answer to a real problem: a gown built for a ceremony and two hundred photographs is not built for a dance floor, a taxi or a 2am pizza. Somewhere around ten o'clock most brides are ready to be a person again, and the second dress is what makes that possible without ending the night. The rule is simple. The first dress is for the ceremony. The second dress is for the party, and it should look like it.
Feathers, satin, sequins and a very short hem. Everything below is white, ivory or cream, because the bride should still read as the bride at midnight, and everything below moves. Aston Bridal, from Melbourne, make the best party minis in bridal right now and ship worldwide; Self-Portrait make the rest. Two long dresses at the end, for the bride who wants to change and still wants a train.
One · Feathers
Aston Bridal
Ivy mini, feather
A$1,800Shop →
Aston Bridal
Posi mini, feathered hem
A$1,650Shop →
Aston Bridal
Audrey Ivy, feather
A$1,500Shop →
Aston Bridal
Leia mini, feather trim
A$975Shop →
Self-Portrait
Racer back feather knit midi dress, white
$750Shop →
Self-Portrait
Fine lace feather maxi dress, white
$1,110Shop →
Feathers are the party dress in one material. They move when you do, they photograph in motion, and they make a plain white mini look like an event. Aston's Ivy is the one you have seen on the brides you have saved: a high neck, a short hem and feathers to the knee. The Posi is the same idea with a corset, and the Leia is the long-sleeved one, with feathers at the cuff and the hem. Self-Portrait's racer-back knit is the version you can dance in for four hours, and the lace feather maxi is for a bride who wants the feathers and the length.
Two · Satin
Satin is the other party material, because it catches every light in the room and because it is the fabric most first dresses are not. Aston's Darbi is a satin bubble mini with a corseted top and long gloves, and it is the second dress for a bride whose first dress was lace. The two Self-Portrait maxis are satin with something on them, jacquard or sequins, cut on the bias so they move like a slip.
Three · Short and sparkling
The minis. Aston's Elise is the corseted one, the Lumi is a tulle bubble that looks like the first dress shrank in the best way, and Self-Portrait's sequin lace bow mini is the one to buy if the after-party has a dance floor and a photographer. All three are short enough to sit down in a taxi and stand up on a table.
Four · Long, for the bride who still wants a train
Not every second dress is short. Aston's long dresses are the second dress for a bride who wants a lighter version of the gown rather than a different thing altogether: strapless, a low back, a train that can be held, and lace or satin that photographs at night. The Mimi is the plainest and the one most often bought as the second dress and then worn as the first.
The change should take ten minutes, not thirty. A dress with forty buttons up the back is a first dress, whatever the hem length.
Plan the change into the timeline. After the cake and the first dance, before the band's second set, with someone assigned to take the gown away. A second dress with no moment to change into it is a dress that stays in the bag. Aston's prices are in Australian dollars, as on their site; they ship worldwide, and the landed price in your own currency is a quick email away.
Buy the second dress for the party you actually want to have. If it only makes sense at a wedding, it is a costume, and you already have one of those.
— The UNSTAGED Studio
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