Continued.... My friend bought a pale blue wedding dress and ????

Question

What color bridemaids dress should we wear?
1. She doesn't want any more blue in the wedding- like Navy.
2. It's a winter wedding Jan
3. it's 40's 50's vintage style
4. We can't wear white because she is wearing a historical ivory dress in the church and then switching to the pale blue dress in the reception.

So the problem is half the pics will be in one dress and then the other blue dress. She wants the bridemaids to look nice with both dresses. I was also trying to find remakes of 40 and 50s dress we could wear. If anyone knows any websites, let me know.

Answer 1

She can go with contrast which would be a shade of red/pink.

Or tri-color which she could choose from the brown/tan or purple/lilac family.

Or she could use neighboring colors which would be varying shades of blue or green

Best bet would be to go to a paint store & look at the color samples. It's kind of like working a puzzle.

Answer 2

As far as 40s/50s style, those tea length, cinched waists dresses that are very 1950s inspired. However the 40s were completely different. So how exactly is this 40s/50s inspired...is it war bride--swing music, lots of elegance but simplicity--think Hepburns. Are you thinking more Katharine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn? Also, the 1950s inspired dresses are that shorter more everyday wear and not really the elegance of Hepburn so I kinda need more info...but...

Davids Bridal has tons of the 1950s tea length dresses. For ivory and blue--I think she should go with a red/purpleish color. Burgendy, violet, wine, berry, deep mauve...something along those lines.

Or black would be elegent and sleek.

As far as pictures go, the bridesmaids will only be "with her" in the church gown so thats the only one she really needs to consider coordinating. Perhaps an espresso brown would look nice. They have lots of browns though--chocolate, espresso, mocha, though I wouldn't go as light at latte. Plus depending on how blue that dress is, brown looks great with blue.

Definitely like everyone says dark, rich colors--not just b/c its winter but it also accents her very well. But I cant see blue looking good with much outside of black, navy (but you said no more blue), brown, or wine colors.

Answer 3

Well, do a search for images of 40s and 50s dresses. Here's what I came up with:

http://raspberryberet.com/1950s/images/1940s_swing_dress.jpg
http://coquette.blogs.com/coquette/couture1.JPG

These are great cuts for the dresses, but I think what's gonna make them pop is the hairstyles:

http://www.costumes.org/store/advertisers/amazon/books5/authentic1940shair.jpg
http://www.fashion-era.com/images/HairHats/1941_hairstyles.jpg

As far as the colors, I'm sorry, I've got nothing. The only thing that would look nice with her blue dress would be dark blue dresses.

Answer 4

Taupe or Brown would look great with her Ivory and her blue. I would try to stay with a lighter brown since it is vintage, but even Chocolate brown like another person suggested would look awesome. Here is a great pictures of a brown dress that kind of fits the period...I think this would be beautiful
http://store.tjformal.com/Bridesmaid_Dresses/Bari_Jay/Bari_Jay_Bridesmaid_Dress_305/

Answer 5

Your friend is starting to sound a little high maintenance. LOL

And finally, the 1950s look was a mix of pure pastels—any of the many shades of candy pink, blue, green, yellow or lavender would have been in vogue at that moment. You also can't go wrong with turquoise, gold or smoked colors like 'smoky raisin'. For those brides choosing a more 'Old Hollywood' influence, popular choices include shades of platinum, champagne, deep berry red, and of course, black.

Try these sites:
http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s_glamour.htm
http://fashion-era.com/Weddings/1958_old_wedding_photos.htm
http://www.avintagewedding.com/vintagewedphotos.html

Answer 6

For winter, a shade of deeper red, like a burgundy shade, or even darkest green would look fine. Any color, really, except that for winter, the color should be darker and richer than pastels are.

A good bridal shop should have some great ideas.

Answer 7

This is psycho bridesmaid, isn't it? You're a good friend to her, I hope she knows that.

What about burgandy or a wine color? Or a deep purple? I would go with more of a deep jewel tone as opposed to a more pastel color.

I do like the vintage styling though. I'll bet that will look awesome!

Answer 8

I think I like the chocolate brown, or maybe like a latte color? It's just a tricky time to coordinate with a pastel color. I wish I could see the dress, that would help. Silver dresses sound just awful to me tho I do know that! What about black with a light blue sash or something to that nature?

Answer 9

I also like the brown/latte color.
What about a dusty rose ?

What flowers does the bride want ? That may play a part in the dress color decision.

Good luck

Answer 10

Hemlock Vintage Clothing
Glorius Vintage Clothing
Vintage Baubles
There are a few to get you started!