The hottest fashion question on wedding watchers’ lips is what Amal Alamuddin wore for her wedding to George Clooney.
And October’s Vogue has the big reveal: Oscar de la Renta.
For her dream dress at her dream wedding to her dream man, Alamuddin went old-school Hollywood glamour.
The off-the-shoulder gown is a traditional stunner: “a mille-feuille of ivory tulle appliquéd with 14 yards of Chantilly lace, its bodice hand embroidered with beading and crystals,” the magazine says.
And a fitting choice in several ways. Clooney has clearly been enamored with retro silver-screen glamour ever since he fixated on the style of Cary Grant.
The dress had to live up to the hyper-romantic affair that was her wedding, in all its candle-lit, gondola glory, with all the world’s cameras trained on the waterways of Venice and its guest list.
And it has had a lot of competition of late. Alamuddin’s dress had to follow the trying-so-hard-it-hurt acts of Kanye, and Kim Kardashian’s groomzilla-friendly, hard-curving, vamp-a-minute, cut-out backless gown by Givenchy.
Then there was the carriage-before-marriage showstopper worn by Angelina Jolie to wed Clooney’s fellow “Ocean’s Eleven” rat packer Brad Pitt.
Who can compete with children’s fridge drawings hand embroidered onto a train?
No, the model-svelte Alamuddin went traditional to the nines, elegantly sidestepping any pitfalls of showiness and vulgarity.
And who better schooled in that than veteran American designer Oscar de la Renta? De la Renta has been dressing first ladies for decades and is the reigning master of sartorial decorum and gatekeeper of taste.
The dress, in turn, struck the perfect balance of sweet and sexy.
The acres of Chantilly lace, along with the cathedral-length veil, also adorned with Chantilly and bead-and-crystal embroidery, provided the drama. The simple lines, the all-over embroidered lace, provided the sweetness.
The off-the-shoulder bateau neckline was not nearly as covered up as the last wedding dress of the century, the lace Alexander McQueen gown worn by Catherine Middleton. That dress was better suited to the nuptials of soon-to-be reigning monarchs.
This dress will set the standard for the new Hollywood royalty. Class over crass.