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Dresses | September 30, 2024
How To Choose Wedding Dress Fabric Weights
DressesTips and Trends | October 5, 2024
Welcome to your own personal guide to wedding dress fabric weights! When it comes to choosing a wedding dress, which fabric you go with can make a big impact on the overall comfort and appearance of your gown! We’re here to walk you through all the different fabrics that fall under each weight to help you figure out whether you’re in the market for something soft and lightweight or thick and structured! Read on for all the info from our Maggie experts! But first, if you love content like this, make sure to follow us on Instagram for more!
Why Is Understanding Wedding Dress Fabric Weights Important?
Understanding wedding dress fabric weights is important to ensure you purchase a dress that fits your personal aesthetic and will leave you feeling comfortable while you dance the night away with your new spouse! Some brides are all about movement and airflow (we’re looking at you summer brides!), which might leave them wanting something airy and light that won’t weigh them down or make them too hot. Other brides, who are getting married during a cooler season or who like a more sturdy silhouette, might prefer one of the heavier wedding dress fabrics.
Fabric weights also play a huge role in the volume and shape of your dress, its durability, and how it feels on your body! Lighter fabrics are more soft and drapey, while heavier fabrics provide structure. Fabric weight can also impact the opacity of the dress. All in all, it’s just really good information to know going into your bridal appointment so you can ensure you get the look and comfort that you’re going for! Knowing what you like before you get there can help your stylist get you into your favorite dresses quicker, which is a total win in our book!
If you want to learn about even more wedding dress fabrics than we’ll cover in this blog, check out this great article by brides.com, A Complete Guide to Wedding Dress Fabrics and Materials! It’s one of our favs!
Lightweight Wedding Dress Fabrics
Chiffon
Chiffon makes for an effortlessly dreamy wedding dress due to its lightness and how delicate it is. It is great for add texture and flow to a wedding dress, giving it an air of gracefulness and sensuality. Because of its delicate nature, chiffon can easily be snagged and torn and is prone to wrinkling, but Chiffon is still a beautiful choice if you’re in the market for a whimsical wedding dress! Check out these chiffon wedding dresses!
Fabric Weights: Organza
Organza is lightweight but stiff. It can give a dress a lot of structure while maintaining the look of a breezy dress and won’t weigh you down. It drapes beautifully and is often used to create skirts with volume, despite how sheer it is. Organza is also known for being strong, so you don’t have to worry about snags and tearing as much with Organza! We love these dresses made with organza:
Tulle
Tulle is a super fine net-like fabric that flows beautifully to create a natural silhouette without a lot of drama. It is lightweight, simple, and probably what your wedding veil is made of! If you love a soft and airy feel that creates delicate styles but can also be easily shaped, tulle is definitely for you! Here are some tulle fabric wedding dresses that just might be right up your alley!
Medium Weight Wedding Dress Fabrics
Crepe
Crepe is a medium-weight fabric that is made of soft silk or lightweight rayon. It is gauzy, easily crinkled, and works best with soft silhouettes. It holds shape well and is fabulous for accentuating curves, but also looks good in more minimalistic designs. These gowns usually have a little stretch to them, but are stiff enough to be formfitting and structured. Head over heels for this fabric? Learn everything you need to know about crepe fabric wedding dresses on our blog! Plus, take a look at how stunning your crepe wedding dress options are here at Maggie Sottero:
Lace Fabric Weights
Lace fabric is a delicate, luxurious fabric that is timelessly elegant. It can vary in weight depending on how thick the lace is and whether it is embellished, but it typically tends to fall in the medium-weight category. It is intricately detailed, giving brides a look that can be opulent, soft, or shimmering! If you love these lace wedding dresses, see some more great options for cool-weather weddings! Here are two stunning lace gowns to give you an idea of what this fabric can look like:
Stretch Fabric
Stretch fabric is great for brides who want a wedding dress that is more elastic and form-fitting without the stiffness that can sometimes come with a thicker crepe, satin, or Mikado. It is soft and flexible, allowing brides to have a figure-flattering look that they can also move easily in. Stretch fabric makes for some pretty stunning styles, like these!
Heavier Wedding Dress Fabric Weights
Satin
If you’ve been eyeing satin, you’re not alone! Satin is one of the most popular wedding dress materials. It is smooth, sleek, and undeniably sturdy with a high-shine or glossy finish. Satin typically has an extremely lustrous front side and a more textured matte backside. It also tends to be more wrinkle-resistant and less delicate due to it’s weight! (Psst! Want to learn How To Care For Satin Wedding Dresses? Check out this blog!) If satin is totally your vibe, consider trying on these dresses at one of our Authorized Retailers during your bridal appointment:
Beaded Fabric
Beaded fabric is going to be heavier because of all the bling you’re adding to your dress. Sequins, glitter, beads, pearls, and anything else your dress is embroidered with are going to add it its weight. However, it also creates a stunning glittering effect to your bridal look that is sure to catch the light – and the eyes of everyone around you! It’s definitely a fabric that’s easy to fall in love with. Here are two great examples of beaded wedding dresses:
Jacquard and Brocade
Typically featuring a thick weave and interwoven designs, jacquard is a satin-like fabric with a highly structured feel. This luxurious fabric comes in an array of designs, including stunning florals. It is sometimes paired with other regal embellishments like pearls, crystals, and embroidered lace, but it’s often styled on its own as the main feature of a romantic gown.
Brocade is a subset of Jacquard fabric that is also known as embossed cloth or a patterned woven textile. In these fabrics, a pattern is woven in to create a unique and dimensional contrast between foreground and background.
You can learn more about these stunning fabrics on our blog, What are Jacquard and Brocade Wedding Dresses? Check out these beautiful dresses that are made with Jacquard and Brocade fabrics:
Fabric Weights: Mikado
Similar to Satin, Mikado is a heavier silk with a shiny finish that is very popular in the bridal world. It provides wedding dresses with a lot of structure because of how thick it is and can be molded to create sophisticated designs and beautiful drapery. Because of how structured and heavy the fabric is though, it is typically better for our cold-weather brides! Not sold yet? You will be after seeing these two Mikado wedding dresses!
Loving all these different wedding dress fabric weight options? We knew you would! Now that you have a better idea of what kind of fabric you’re after, browse our website to see more gowns that are made in that fabric, and schedule your appointment at one of our Authorized Retailers to try them on IRL! We can’t wait to see which one you’ll choose!
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