In a moment of more minimalist bridal dressing, brides are gravitating toward accessories that allow them to customize their looks — especially with bows or headbands.
“There’s less embellishment in some of the gowns right now,” said accessories designer Jennifer Behr. “It’s a little bit more tailored and clean. That’s the perfect canvas for a really chic accessory because I think you need to personalize that type of dress more because it is so clean. It’s having something that goes into your particular wedding look. The accessories for me are the most perfect way to do that.”
In the past year, fashion labels like Rebecca Vallance, Lele Sadoughi and Loeffler Randall have introduced bridal accessories collections, leveraging their popular design codes to create feminine footwear, veils, barrettes, headbands and jewelry meant to be worn for weddings and bridal events. And for each brand, the bridal business has accelerated — quickly.
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“The pandemic was hard for a family-run business like ours that had a big business in events, so obviously all the weddings were on hold and then we had suddenly this huge backlog of weddings and people were getting married,” said Jessie Randall, founder and creative director of Loeffler Randall, which debuted its first bridal accessories collection last year. “I always say this: my designer got married on a Monday. People were getting married every day of the week, so we just had this colossal boom for our bridal business coming out of the pandemic. It was huge for our business.”
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For Loeffler Randall, bow-embellished pieces were a top seller from the debut collection, which included footwear, handbags and headbands. The detail is seen on many of the brand’s footwear styles, such as its Natalia bow heel and Camellia pleated heel.
Sadoughi and Vallance have also seen a rising interest in bow-embellished styles, they said, including hair accessories, jewelry and handbags, which have been bestsellers in their respective collections.
“Bows have been really big and that is something that is coming from a lot of the [runway] shows from last season and this season, so I feel like that’s going to carry through, which is great,” Sadoughi said. “It’s kind of an exaggerated feminine feeling, which a lot of people would gravitate towards on their wedding day.”
More established players in the bridal accessories market are also seeing this bow trend, including Behr, who launched her bridal accessories collection in 2008. Her bestsellers include the Leander bow barrette, which is an oversize draped style, and the Belle bow barrette, which is embellished with crystals, she said.
“It’s just more interesting and fun,” Behr said about the trend. “Years ago, people wanted to look like the stereotypical bride and now I think they want to look like themselves, but in the most elevated way, so they’re wearing accessories that are more something they would wear regularly and look more like them, so I think there’s a wider array of options open.”
While the traditional white veil is a go-to for many brides, designers see headbands as a popular alternative this season, both in simple and more embellished styles.
Lele Sadoughi, who is known for her headbands, debuted her bridal accessories collection in February with an assortment of floral and pearl-embellished headbands, alongside jewelry, belts and handbags.
“There are so many trends happening right now and it’s so quick,” Sadoughi said. “Accessories is, in my opinion, quicker than ready-to-wear. I feel like a bride might want something classic for a dress that she’s going to keep as an heirloom and pass it down to the next generation and something that is not quite so trendy that she can look back and be proud of her wedding photos. I feel like accessory is the way where you can experiment, personalize and customize, and have a little bit of individuality.”
Designers see white and off-white selling well, and Randall said she’s also had success with pastel colors and printed pieces, especially in pale blue.
“It’s a fun way to kind of show your personality,” she said. “Especially for those other events, like a brunch or a bridal shower, not everyone wants to wear white to every single event surrounding the wedding. It’s just a fun little way to play on the theme of ‘something blue.’”
The designers explained that the many events leading up to a wedding give brides more opportunities to play around with accessories, which has led to the rise of bows and headbands.
“What we’re seeing in our shops is that the bridal trend has changed,” Vallance said. “Where back in the day people would concentrate on the big gown, whether it be a statement gown and that was the main focus, but what we’re seeing now is people are investing in also a second dress for the day, sometimes a third dress. We’re finding this whole requirement now for not just the bridal gown, but the cool dresses for around the wedding as well.”