Golden Globe Red Carpet Inspiration

I finally had a chance to talk to my mom to get the skinny on what she thought of the Golden Globes (the poor thing has been so sick this winter). She was surprised at the lack of color compared to last year (I personally loved all the whites). She did mention she thought the skirt on Drew Barrymore's John Galliano's gown was beautiful.

I personally loved Kate Beckinsale's J. Mendel gown. So gorgeous. It reminds me of frosting. Yummy!

And just to prove how far bridal has come, one of the favorites of the night, according to Red Carpet Fashion Awards was a gown from Reem Acra Spring Bridal collection.

By the way, if you're looking for some red carpet inspiration you have to check out the blog http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/ . She does a fabulous job!!!

Fashion Bride

One of my favorite blogs these days is Fashion Bride. What an amazing resource for bridal gown collections. The author reigns from Bucharest, Romania, so I love to read her blog and see what is going on in the other part of the world. The photographs of the bridal collections that she posts are fantastic and gives me much inspiration and ideas for photographing MILLIE gowns.

We were extremely honored to be asked and are currently in the process of doing an interview with Fashion Bride. Be sure to check in and see what my mom has to say about the business! Should be fun! Thank you Fashion Bride!

Expert Advice

{"A bride should treat the purchase of her wedding gown

as an investment. It is the strongest representation of a

woman's personal style she'll ever have~ not to mention

the most important dress she'll ever wear."}

~ Oscar de la Renta

Have you grabbed your latest spring edition of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine yet? Fabulous as always...... a super interview with Oscar de la Renta on page 180. He gives a lot of great advice on how to choose the perfect wedding gown. I loved his response when asked, "What would you say to someone who is hesitant to splurge on her wedding dress?" Now, I realize he's a designer and his job is to sell wedding gowns, but his quote not only comes off as a great advertisement- it really has some truth to it!

I've been struggling with the idea of buying your wedding gown from "Wal-Mart" type of stores....Why would someone want to buy their wedding gown from there? Isn't anything sacred anymore?? I have a friend who just ordered two "Wal- Mart" dresses. When I asked about the quality, her fiance and her said at the same time, "Who cares? You're only going to wear it once." Hmmmmm...... Okay, so this is the mentality of buying your wedding gown??

I'm not saying you need to spend thousands to have a quality gown. A big reason why my mom started designing Millie is because she wanted to offer a quality gown without having to spend a month's salary on it. I know it's hard to spend a lot of money on something you only wear once, but it's your wedding day. You can wear "Wal-Mart" everyday of the year but please...not on your wedding day.

Wedding Shells

I went to Busch Gardens last week and fell in love with this chandelier I found in one of the little shops in the French village of Aquitaine (if you want a taste of Europe but don't have the time or money, check out Busch Gardens, Williamsburg). The guy let me take a quick picture, but he didn't know what kind of shells they were (it wasn't for sale). They were very thin shells and reflected the light so beautifully.....I'm sure they're super expensive, but I must find them!!

I could so see some Avant-garde dress with a skirt made out of these shells......Soooo cool but impractical of course.....But maybe some sort of embellishment?.....Straps? Ooooooh.....How cool would that be for a destination wedding dress?????

Vintage Wedding Inspiration

To continue with the old wedding photo inspiration idea, I thought I would dig into the old shoe boxes this week..... Can you guess who this is? It's my mom and dad!! Okay, so I know I'm a little bias, but how gorgeous are they?

The story behind the wedding dress you ask?? The last time my mother saw the dress, it was in the attic next to my dad's hunting clothes...about 27 years ago. When we moved from Michigan to Colorado in 1981, the hunting clothes made it but no wedding dress????? This is certainly an on-going dispute in the Panozzo household. Ha!

The dress was made with white silk and featured a boat neckline, three-quarter sleeves with a sheath skirt and detachable train. It also had a lace panel running down the front. My mother said it only cost her $150.00!!!! (Remember folks, it was 1966...those were the days eh?)

I'm digging the sheath skirt with the detachable train idea. It's a trend that comes and goes.....I would think this would be ideal for a destination wedding........ Do you think Oscar is feelin' it too?

{image from Martha Stewart Weddings, Gown is a Oscar de le Renta}

Palazzo ~ Couture Bridal Fashion

My maiden name is Panozzo.....So we gotta give some love to Palazzo. Absolute love.

Palazzo (meaning "Palace" in English) is a couture label out of Chicago, launched in 1997 by ready-to-wear designers Jane and Saeed Hamidi.

They get an A+ for photography and design- loving their crisp, fresh style... Some major design inspriation here for Millie.

Bridal Fashion Photography ~ Rodney Smith

{photos by Rodney Smith}

My true love is photography. That is what 'sparked' me to Millie. My mother was spending so much money on photography and not getting the results she wanted. She is determined to offer her brides photos with good detail of the gowns (it drives her crazy in the bridal magazines when you can't see the fine detail on the dress). The problem is when you focus on the fine detail, you tend to lose the artistic image. My quest is to create a beautiful image without losing the fine detail. Is it possible??? I'm not sure.....but I'm going to try.

Looking for inspiration, I turned to the blogging world. Two of my favorite "Inspirational Blogs" are Black Eiffel and Perfect Bound. They both have mentioned the photographer Rodney Smith. So I had to go check him out.....and yes, he is amazing. I absolutely love his style. This is my kind of photography- real simple but 'oh so' chic which I feel is very Millie. Millie is also youthful, fun, and bold so we could go bright and colorful, too. Hmmmm........ so many choices...What do you think?

Jenna Bush Wedding Gown

So you've probably heard by now that the First Twin, Jena Bush, is getting married in May. Not too long ago, they announced it would NOT be a White House wedding. Though I was disappointed to hear that at first (how fun would it be to see a White House wedding?), I absolutely love the fact that she is a good ole' country girl and would prefer to have a beautiful, outdoor, private wedding at her parents' ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Knowing this much, I'm going to go out on a limb and say she very well could be a Millie Bride. My Mom thought it would be fun to design a wedding dress for her. I absolutely love it and can't wait to see the final design. Are you a Millie bride?

A Wedding Gown with Confidence

I saw this commercial on Sunday during the Academy Awards and loved it! I realize it's an American Express commercial but couldn't help relating to the designer, Diane Von Furstenberg. It's wonderful watching a bride try on a Millie wedding gown and seeing her face light up- knowing that the feel and fit of that dress is fulfilling her dream of being happy and beautiful. There is something to be said about self confidence. I agree, self confidence should come from within. But isn't it true when you find that one piece of clothing that fits you perfectly....does it not make you feel like a Supermodel??

I loved my wedding gown, but it didn't fit great (this was before my mom started designing). When my sister got married, six months after me (my poor parents!), I remember being envious of my sister's gown. It wasn't a dress that would have looked good on me, but it fit her like a glove.... and she knew it. My sister is gorgeous anyway, but that day she looked like she stepped straight out of Brides Magazine. It wasn't because of the makeup, jewelry, or hair. It wasn't because of the actual dress. It was because of the way the dress made her feel. When something fits good, it makes you feel good.

I could get so much deeper on this topic. Of course, you're already going to feel wonderful because you're marrying the man of your dreams. And of course, that should be where your self confidence comes from on the day you get married. I get that 100%. But I will be the first to admit, when I look good, I feel that much better. Call it whatever you want.....I just call it how I feel it.

Millie's Favorite Red Carpet Gowns

[images from http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/]

After some more blog searching (Red Carpet Fashion Awards) and talking to my mom, we have narrowed it down to two favorites. My mom's favorite of the night was Jennifer Garner's Oscar de la Renta - a black gown made out of silk taffeta. My favorite was Kerri Russel's Nina Ricci gown - a very simple gown but I loved how the bodice fit (Probably helps that she's a size 0. Must be nice.....Ha!).

Red Carpet Inspiration?

[images from http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/]

I haven't talked to my mother yet to see what she thinks, but I wanted to quickly post some photos while the topic is still hot. I have to admit, I wasn't extremely impressed. When talking to my mom yesterday, she had mentioned there wasn't much to be inspired about from last year's red carpet. I'm really interested to see if she was 'moved' by any of the designs from last night....The obvious trends were red, purple, feathers, and one shoulder strap (Hmm....interesting? I wore a one shoulder strap gown several years ago to an Army Ball). Which ones do we like?

Bridal Gown Inspiration

WOW! I find it simply amazing that Vera Wang doesn't even have to use a model to advertise her dress. Truly a piece of art. Millie loves to get inspiration from high fashion couture labels such as Vera Wang. We also love to watch the Red Carpet for the latest on celebrity fashion. Be sure to watch the Oscars on Sunday, February 24th and tell us what you think!

[image from Brides magazine]