Wedding Dress Trends 2020 for brides to be

Here are my predictions for wedding dress trends in 2020. Where do your favourite style elements fit in todays fashion-cycle?

Some people think wedding dresses are timeless and don’t change as fast as other fashion, but this is not true at all. In all fashion cycles you get the fashion-forward styles, that are breaking new ground and bucking current convention. These might be too avant-garde for some brides-to-be. Then a slightly tamer version of last season’s high style is the fashionable but safe sort of wedding dress that appeals to lots of brides. Some really flattering styles might hang on for years and possibly enter the ‘classic’ bracket in people’s minds. While other styles go through that ‘looks dated but not yet vintage’ unappealing limbo of around 15-20 years old. Eventually even those styles that looked dated cycle round again into both vintage and new-fashion forward designs.

New styles for the fashion-forward, 2020 bride .

Brides wanting to push the boundaries of fashion will be seeking volume in their sleeves with organza or tulle balloon sleeves. These can be separates to be removed later for a different look during your wedding day. Trousers are a good way to be both comfortable but rock the bridal wear boat at the same time. I made loose leg, silk crepe trousers with side splits for a flash of elegant leg, for my model Evie, at our Indian Summer photoshoot. Modest necklines are a backlash from all the sheer and plunge bodices that have been around in the last few years. For wedding dress trends 2020 sometimes less is just more!

Wedding dress trends from this decade for 2020

Lots of brides in 2019 and 2020 will be wearing illusion back styles. Illusion bodices are made with invisible mesh to match your skin tone (I dye it to match exactly). They usually have delicate or bold lace applique that appears to float on your naked skin. White is the colour that looks modern and fresh for 2020. Last fashionable in the late 1980’s bright white has come full circle as a contrast to the warm ivories of earlier this decade. Slim fit and fishtail (or mermaid as they call in in the US) skirt shapes are still very popular. This shape flatters brides of any size, who have a little bit of fashionable bottom curve to show off!

Flatteringly versatile styles from the 2010’s

Styles that became popular over the last decade that haven’t disappeared yet include sweetheart necklines. lace sleeves and the natural waistline. There is a reason these particular style elements have stuck around as they flatter many body shapes. The sweetheart neckline gives the illusion of more shape to those with a small bust. And is the perfect balance between revealing and modest for those who are more well endowed. Lace sleeves have given the coverage many larger size or older brides craved; while also looking romantically pretty for brides who wanted something different to the strapless dresses of the decade before. Natural waistlines were not popular at all in the early 2000’s becoming fashionable again around 2011 with the resurgence of 1950’s vintage styling. A pretty ribbon sash, beaded belt or subtle lace scallop will highlight your figure’s narrowest point.

Classic wedding dress trends for 2020?

These styles were at their height 12-15 years ago but are still popular with many brides. And of course the fashion-forward brides of five years time will reclaim them, as a contrast to the current trends. Flirty 1950’s skirt shapes with a ballerina or knee length hem were the new hip thing when the trend for ‘vintage’ was at it’s height. The strapless, straight across neckline was controversial and fashion-forward in the late nineties before being pretty standard bridal design in the early 2000’s. Ruched fabric detail was considered flattering and added texture to plainer wedding dresses but have been waning in popularity among brides in the last few years. They’ll come back again though, these things always come round the fashion cycle!

A new bride for 2020 or 2021?

Wedding dress trends for 2020 are much wider than I can fit into one blog post. I’d love to hear your ideas! Are you are a fashion-forward bride wanting to surprise your guests with something they’ve never seen before? Or a classic bride who hopes her dress won’t look dated in photographs? Either way you should always dress to please yourself first. Check out my blog post about not worrying too much what other’s think . I pride myself on understanding fashion’s cycle and being somewhat outside it. I love all the styles and would be privileged to help you design your perfect dress.

Email me now to enquire about a bespoke wedding dress and enjoy all your wedding plans!

Get more tips on all aspects of wedding planning from this great site: www.weddingwire.co.uk

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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@kathykyle_studio is a local artist who walked into my shop one day and asked me to make her a dress. She's a textile artist, and she was having a launch party for her latest collection, and wanted something extra special for the occasion.

Kathy makes wearable art. She paints beautiful, intricate designs and has her designs printed onto silk scarves. Her pieces are full of meaningful motifs about feminism, life and so much more.

Making this dress was such a wonderful collaboration. Kathy created a new design (5m x 1.5m in size) to be printed onto fabric, and brought me a vintage pattern she wanted to use. The pattern was actually reversable, with options for both a V-neck and boat neck. It was very cool to see Kathy switching her dress round for each part of her launch day.

I love working with fellow artists!

#dorking #surrey #textileart #bespokedress #customdress #printedfabric
Here are just some of my creations from the past year! I feel so lucky to get to make such interesting and varied garments as my job 🥰 colourful wedding dresses, unique mother of the bride ensembles, as well as alterations to make a dress feel more like home.

If you used my services (as a bride specifically) between Oct 1st 2024 up until now, I have a little favour to ask...
I've been nominated for the 2026 Wedding Industry Awards, in the "Independent Dressmaker/Designer" category and the people in the time period above are the only ones who are eligible to vote for me. 

So, if you have a spare few minutes, and you enjoyed both working with me and the outcome, then you can vote for me via the link in my bio. There are different voting links depending on whether you were a bespoke or dipdye booking, or an alteration booking. 

Industry recognition is one thing, but recognition from the people I work with is even better 💜
(and if you've already voted for me, thank you!! It means the world!)
It's giving bridal Sun Goddess 🌞 Just look at that colour!

One of my favourite bespoke wedding dresses to date. I made this opulent bronze gold look for an equally gorgeous bride who wanted something a little different for her wedding day. 

My favourite features have got to be the statement bow on the shoulder and the cartridge pleats around the waist. This style of pleating helped add volume to this unbelievable iridescent dupion silk. Cartridge pleating was popular in the first Elizabethan era and always gives a touch of the historical to any garment on which it's included.

I also included a bustle hook (you can see what the dress looks like up in the last clip), which totally transforms the dress and makes it much easier to move in when it's time to dance!

This is bride was a dream client - elegant and adventurous, with a touch of the dramatic 😉 drop me a DM if you've got wedding dress dreams that you're dying to bring to life!

#weddingdress #ukbride #bespokeweddingdress #bridetobe
I thought it would be fun to see the differences between various bridal petticoats and hoop skirts. Meet the Aurora wedding dress, she's one of my favourites, especially because of the excellent dramatic vibes she gives. So she felt like the perfect dress to experiment with.

The Aurora dress already has some layers of netting built into the dress, so she's already got a bit of volume from the get go. But I wanted to see what difference adding more underlayers would have.

The first addition was a single hoop skirt. Hoop skirts come in all sorts of variations - the single hoop is pretty much what it sounds like. There's a single hoop at the bottom of the skirt, translating into more width at the bottom of the dress.

Then I took off the hoop skirt, and put on a 5-layer petticoat. This thing is a monster! But adds so much more airy, fluffy volume.

The second hoop skirt I tried was a bell hoop skirt. This one has hoops built in all the way up the skirt, creating more of a...you guessed it...bell shape.

And then finally, for the ultimate princess vibes, I tried both the 5-layer petticoat and the bell hoop skirt together. It's giving fairy tale bride, for sure. Perfect for twirling in whilst you dance with your prince, princess or princep.

When ordering a dress from me, talking about what kind of silhouette you want is really useful. And I've got loads of seamstress secrets to achieve pretty much anything you can imagine!

#weddingdress #dipdyeweddingdress #seamstress #pinkweddingdress #princessweddingdress #balloonsleeves
"I cannot begin to put into words how thankful I am that I found you to make my wedding dress of my dreams. The dress was perfect in every way and the colours looked glorious in the Cornish sunshine. Everyone fell in love with the dress and I even got likened to the Porthleven mermaid! It even stood up to rambling down cliffs. You truly are a genius and I can never thank you enough."⁠

Nicola wanted an elegant and figure-hugging mermaid wedding dress made in pale ivory lace. To add colour to her look, she chose a vibrant yellow, orange, red and purple dip dye skirt. 

If you want to see how the dress looked on the day of Nicola's wedding, have a look at my previous post. I love how the colours of the dress really stand out against the dramatic setting of the Cornish coast.⁠
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If you're also looking for a completely unique wedding dress, then you've come to the right place. Starting with your ideas and working together during the entire process, I'll design and make your dream wedding dress. Drop me and DM and let's have a chat!
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Photography - Thomas Frost - @t.frost.photography⁠
Venue - Beacon Crag B&B, Porthleven - @beaconcragweddingvenue⁠
Flowers - Fullers Flowers - @fullersflowers⁠
Hair & Makeup - Amy Needham @amyellenhairandmakeup
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in