Wedding gowns for the glowing bride

At one time, a woman did her best to hide the fact that she was pregnant at the altar. That's changed, but what hasn't is the lack of wedding gowns for expectant brides.

That's where Sarah Houston sees nothing but opportunity. Houston's Toronto-based bridal label specializes in maternity gowns.

"Many women today live with their partners before they marry and they feel the clock ticking," observes Houston. "They are planning a family anyway, so they aren't as careful as they otherwise might be."

Houston believes nearly one in five women is now pregnant on her wedding day. In England, where her business has taken off, Houston says the figure is as high as 40 per cent. She also sells to five stores in the U.S. and Dina Alonzi in Toronto.

Houston launched her bridal business five years ago, after raising her four children and making clothes for herself and friends as a hobby.

"Then about two years ago there were more and more brides coming to me who were already pregnant," she says. "These women were beside themselves because most of what was available to them were polyester tents. The stores wanted to sell them a dress that was two or three sizes too big and then alter it."

Houston offers expectant brides the same fabrics and details in couture bridal gowns – silk chiffon or charmeuse, Swarovski crystal beading, handmade flowers and covered or pearl buttons. Styles emphasize the bodice, rather than the bump. Houston also developed a measurement system based on weeks of pregnancy so she can predict a bride's shape on the big day. Two-inch seam allowances leave room for adjustment.

Sarah Houston gowns retail between $2,000 and $3,000. A collection for pregnant bridesmaids will launch in the fall. See sarah-houston.com.

Satish Sikha and Tsufa Bijelic make gowns for the bride who doesn't mind standing out in a crowd. Sikha designs the textiles creating flourishes of floral beading and embroidery crafted in his native India. Bijelic, who he met at the International Academy of Design where both studied fashion, designs the bias-cut siren dresses and full-blown fantasies. "She gives life to my fabrics," he says. "And he gives life to my gowns," replies Bijelic, who emigrated from Croatia in 1991. The team opened a boutique at 102 Yorkville Ave. in October and have built a clientele as far- flung as Paris and Dubai. Prices start at $1,000 for a beaded shrug and $3,000 for an embroidered gown. Much higher are the dresses decorated with real rubies, emeralds and sapphires. They started using precious stones after a client's request and now have a supplier working with laser technology to turn diamonds into sewable beads. "A lot of people believe that stones touching the skin gives them luck," Sikha says. Apparently it does. Who else but a lucky few can afford the $14,500 price tag. Visit sikhatsufa. com.

With increased competition from fast-fashion houses and the Internet, traditional retailers have had to ramp it up. One new strategy is to provide a shopping "experience" and to that end TNT Blu has opened a project space at its Hazelton Lanes store. The first is Saltbox, a beach house by Parsons design student Ely Assaraf. The art, photography and fashions are all for sale.

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The World of Fashion in 2009

It was the year that fashion threw open its exclusive doors and invited the masses past the velvet ropes into their misunderstood world. From The Devil Wears Prada to Project Runway to Ugly Betty, the public's appetite and fascination was ferocious for shows – both reality-based and fictionalized – about the Machiavellian world of the fashion industry.

But as class and mass collided at the style junction, there were casualties, calamities, catastrophes and career mishaps.

If you can't beat them join them
This year, a record number of designers were living the high-low life. Perhaps tired of their designs being knocked off or just wanting to get the masses familiar with their names (the latter being the official reason) many teamed up with mass-market retailers to design capsule collections. Sophia Kokosalaki, Vivienne Westwood and Thakoon Panichgul went the footwear route with shoe designs for Nine West. Roland Mouret pitched a few dress designs at Gap. Even Madonna, a celebrity who curiously rarely lends her name or image to products, collaborated with H&M. But even hers was no match for the absolute bedlam that broke out when the Viktor & Rolf "love" collection for H&M hit stores worldwide. In Toronto, there was already a line-up at 5:30 a.m. at the Eaton Centre store and within hours of opening the collection was sold out, including the limited-edition wedding dress.

Talent is not enough
Even hyperbole, the lubricant that keeps the fashion wheel well-oiled, couldn't stop the money men from putting the brakes on the revered French label Rochas. Designer Olivier Theyskens was a darling of the fashion media and received accolades for his designs at Rochas. But critical praise did not translate unto the selling floor and the house was shuttered, sending the fashion world into shock. Shunning the media, Theyskens left Paris for ... Muskoka. Suddenly unemployed, the designer took a well-deserved break by attending the wedding of his assistant, Canadian Calla Hayes, in her hometown.

The trends that mattered
Fashion magazines made a lot of noise about the return of grunge, but women failed to leave the house wearing jacket, dress, pants, coat and long scarf all at once. Instead the runway trend had women from Paris to the Prairies leaping for leggings. Another popular look that took was skinny jeans. You could say it was the year of the leg.

Fashion movie of the year

Based on the roman à clef novel of the drama that takes place inside the hallowed halls of a Manhattan fashion magazine, The Devil Wears Prada netted more than $100 million at the box office and garnered its star Meryl Streep a Golden Globe nomination. Toronto designer Izzy Camilleri played a minor role of sorts as one of her fur coats was worn by Streep in the film.

The future of fashion magazines
Is this the beginning of the end for glossy fashion magazines? As the youth generation continue to turn to the Web for most of its information, Teen People, YM, Elle Girl and Toronto's own Fashion18 were just some of the teen fashion magazines that folded their print versions to go exclusively online.

The most expensive LBD
Proving good taste never goes out of style, the Givenchy-designed black cocktail dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's was sold for close to $1 million at auction.

Underwear is still required

While tabloid fodder Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were photographed out on the town pantyless, don't count on this being the start of a trend. The underwear garment business is still booming. Why else would American powerhouse Victoria's Secret shell out $624 million (U.S.) for Canadian lingerie chain La Senza?

All in the Family
In the high-stakes world of fashion, it was refreshing to see family still came first and foremost for some fashionistas. At the height of her career at the sizzling hot Parisian label Chloe, designer Phoebe Philo bid adieu and resigned to spend more time at home with her kids. And ensuring her gorgeous genes will continue, the iconic Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista gave birth to her first baby, a boy.


"Blondes have more fun."

Or so the old Clairol ads used to proclaim.

They also mused, "If I have only one life, let me live it as a blonde."

But the current blondtourage of celeb stick figures must be calculating that you only live twice, judging by their defection to the dark side.

There could be a lot of reasons they are going back to their roots. The upkeep is major. Tending to their blondage takes monthly touchups to avoid the yellow-hair-with-black-roots look that even Debbie Harry doesn't do any more. Or it could be damage control, an attempt to effect the smart, brunette Tina Fey look to deflect the skank-ho pantiless image. Next, we'll be seeing a run on geeky black, horn-rimmed glasses.

According to The Shaw Report in Entertainment Weekly, Blondes Going Brunette is under the "In" column and Brunettes Going Blonde is so "Five Minutes Ago."

# Nicole Richie turned up brunette on her mug shot when busted for a DUI, driving the wrong way on a freeway in Burbank.

# Cameron Diaz and Lindsay Lohan are now brunettes. Britney Spears has gone from blonde to brunette and back again.

# Blondes may have more fun but do they get more votes? Frank Stronach's fair-haired daughter Belinda is now a brunette.

# "It Girl" Rachel McAdams was blonde in her breakout role in Mean Girls but went back to her natural brown. J. Lo has ditched her beige highlights and returned to her Latina roots.

# Kate Bosworth went over to the dark side for Superman Returns but she wasn't credible as either a brunette or as reporter Lois Lane.

# Ashley Olsen went ash brown, but sister Mary-Kate, who was dark brown has bleached her hair a brittle blonde.

# Nicky Hilton and Ashlee Simpson both went dark to differentiate themselves from their controversial siblings, Paris and Jessica, respectively.

Everyone has an opinion. "Dark hair is like a giant light-up arrow pointing to what is wrong with you. Blonde hair – it all sort of blends in a haze of beige," said Lorelai (Lauren Graham) discussing celebrity dye jobs on Gilmore Girls.

"I love my dark hair," Cameron Diaz told People magazine. "I've had dark hair before and I changed my hair colour because, in my mind's eye, I feel like a brunette. It just seemed like a good time to make the change. It's funny, because my family and friends all feel the same way ... they prefer me as a brunette."

Howard Barr, Canadian creative consultant for John Frieda and owner of his eponymous Queen St. W. salon, worked doing hair in Los Angeles for 11 years.

"Cameron was always a natural blonde," Barr says. "I worked with her when she did department store catalogues."

So why are these celebs going dark? "It's new and different and gives them a completely different look that is more natural," says Paul Cucinello, master colourist at the Christopher Stanley Salon in New York. "They also want to distract people from what's going on in their lives and give the press something else to talk about.

"People take brunettes more seriously than blondes and there's a `good girl' thing associated with brunettes – most of these girls have been pretty naughty, right?"

Does that mean Angelina Jolie and Catherine Zeta-Jones are the new gold standard?

"They represent this sexiness that isn't about cosmetics – it's more natural, so I would say yes," says Cucinello. "Angelina Jolie is the new gold standard. Everyone thinks she's hot.

"Right now, the hot thing is to look exotic, not artificial. There is an ethnic twist because the all-American blonde, blue-eyed look is not an adequate representation (of the population)."

"It's the whole Hollywood machinery and for awhile there, it was the whole blonde thing and I found it difficult telling them apart," says Barr. "Now there is a whole slew of them because the marketing has changed. It's the ethnic thing: Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek stood out in a field of mostly blondes."

So are blondes washed up?

"Right now blonde is officially out of style," Cucinello opines. "But no worries – as soon as they all go brown, they all start going back to blonde one by one. They like the attention."

"Blondes are not washed up," insists Barr. "It's like saying Scandinavians are out."

Formerly blonde Tracy Sheridan, an aesthetician at Lid Inc. on Yorkville Ave., has embraced her dark side for two weeks. "For me, it was the maintenance," Sheridan says. "I've always said, `I was born blonde, I'll die blonde.' But it's more flattering – dark hair, light skin, light eyes. It makes my eyes pop."

Do blondes have more fun?

"To tell you the honest truth, I've been getting more attention, more looks. I get, `I never noticed your eyes are so blue.' I feel like I have more style, more sophistication.

"Who knows," says Sheridan. "Maybe I'll go back to highlighting. In the salon, everyone (on staff) is going darker. In our business, you have to change; you have to be cutting edge."

But don't look for Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Pamela Anderson or Anna Nicole Smith to be dipping into the dye bottle anytime soon. The blonde bimbo thing works for them.

READ MORE - The World of Fashion in 2009