But I did answer it, and good job too. It was the lovely ladies over at Eternal Bride, telling me that my wedding dress had arrived. So last Saturday I got the chance to go and see it and try it on again.
Now, when I originally bought the dress, I looked in the mirror and saw myself looking tall, elegant and slim. This time, I felt I looked odd and frumpy, short and swallowed by lots of tulle. I think part of this is because the dress is now too big for me, as I've slimmed down. Looking at the photographs, I've been trying to work out why I feel dissatisfied with them, and it clicked this afternoon.
Somehow, I think I expected that the minute I put the wedding dress on, I would transform into someone bridal. Instead, I just look like me, flaws and all, except in a wedding dress and veil. In my mind, wearing the wedding dress would mean that suddenly I would look exactly like the models, I wouldn't do my stupid gurny smile and that I'd know what to do with my arms for the first time ever. That out of nowhere I'd develop the grace and poise that I've previously never displayed, and would appear elegant and put together, instead of standing awkwardly, limbs at weird angles, a fixed grin and terror in my eyes.
Hanging around on wedding forums, I came across the concept of 'dress regret', but I find myself wondering how many people suffering from it are in fact instead suffering from the same misconception as I, that simply putting on a dress would make them look exactly like the models on the designer websites.
Important things I have realised:
- When we look at the model pictures, we're looking at someone who is not only in a fitted dress, but who has also had their hair and makeup done professionally, and then been professionally lit and photographed; as opposed to me, who did my own make-up in my typically ham-handed fashion, then walked uphill in a heavy coat in the freezing cold before going into a hot shop, to have my photo taken with my phone camera that has an unnecessarily powerful flash.
- They have possibly been also photoshopped a little too.
- Upon discussion with my consultant, I discovered that the models for the designers of my dress are approximately 6'3" tall, and probably like a size 2. I am 5'6", and a size 10-12. High heels can only do so much to address that issue.
- They are models, which aside from meaning that they are built like elegant human-giraffe hybrids, they also have been trained how to stand in front of a camera and manage to look like a normal human being. And, on the off chance that they forget how to do that, there is a professional photographer with a very large camera telling them exactly how to position themselves. I am utterly incapable of working out how to position myself, and when faced with a camera my expression becomes a rictus.
It's easy to forget, when surrounded by images of all these apparently perfect women, that to get to that final image there's a lot of work put in, and usually a large team behind it. I like to think that if you snapped a quick picture of any of these models on your phone camera, they'd also look shiny and a bit chinny.
However, there's very little that can be done about my inherent lack of grace and poise. So, to finish the post, have some illustrative gifs.
Models:
Me:
Models:
Me:
Models:
Me:
My wedding photographs will be interesting to say the least.
No comments:
Post a Comment