I’m not getting married, but I’m buying a wedding dress anyway

I found myself single two years ago and dizzyingly apprehensive about the future. Yet I’ve since bought my own country cottage, and secured a book deal – now I plan to party in excess after lockdown to celebrate my success and there’s no better way I can think to do so than in a free-falling white tulle gown - formally known as a wedding dress.

It’s a rising trend according to The Office of National Statistics. The number of people who have never married has increased by 35 per cent in recent years. In Korea the never-married ‘old Miss’ has been replaced with the ‘gold Miss’, a new club of women with luxury homes and designer wardrobes. It’s a term I can get behind, being single at 40, and the sentiments go some way to explaining my next big fashion buy.

It won’t be the first time I’ve been a solo bride. Sometime ago I worked with fashion’s ‘most on-it PR’ Mandi Lennard and a highlight was when she loaned me a signature Roksanda Ilincic dress to attend a LOVE Magazine party. It was the hottest party in London, doused in Chanel logos and lacquered lips, yet there was something about the dress that gave me a quiet confidence. The sumptuous, double-lined ivory satin pressing coolly against my skin. The huge puff sleeves adding a touch of 1980s Dallas glamour, and the covered buttons that took the help of an assistant to fasten – it felt empowering.

I’ve found several modern A-list ‘gold Misses’ to cite for inspiration. The actress Jennifer Aniston wore a white, silk, bias-cut, vintage gown with a bridal train by John Galliano for Dior for the SAG Awards in 2020. Charlize Theron at the Glamour 2019 Woman of the Year awards, also wore a Galliano - a backless white halter-neck that oozed the kind of confidence ‘gold Misses’ do (and should) boast today.

Naomi Campbell has been engaged twice yet just like me has never married. Campbell has worn several white floor length gowns over the years, including a white Givenchy dress to the Met Gala. Last year she wore a white Stephane Rolland dress, which blossomed out into a sculpted mermaid’s tail to the Grammy Awards.

British label Erdem has produced a dedicated white collection this season. Of note is a knee-length white smock-style wedding dress, Suzette, priced at £1,395. It’s made of ditsy cotton voile and has potential to be worn to lunch at The Ned or to a glitzy shindig – not just as a wedding dress.

In 2020 ASOS Edition sold one wedding dress globally every 3 minutes and a glance at their bridal collection shows why – I plan to buy a cami-style once they’ve restocked my size for a flattering cut on my apple shaped body. Whether it’s beaded, feathered, fringed or all three; ASOS wedding gowns in white are available from upward of £20 (in the sale) and can be worn in the evening for a red carpet-worthy look.

An upcoming label I love is Narces. Formally of London but now based in Toronto, the label’s creative director and founder, Nikki Wirthensohn Yassemi is of fashion stock – her mother was a tailor alongside Victor Edelstein who was couturier for many of Princess Diana’s gowns. A Narces off-the-shoulder white bridal gown full of layered tulle is a worthy contender to Zoom party in.

According to Wirthensohn Yassemi, bridal wear as eveningwear is a growing trend. “I’ve found red carpet stylists use my white dresses when they don’t want to make the wrong decision in dressing clients,” says the designer. “Black doesn’t stand out as much but teal could be a mistake. So white is the go-to shade for all seasons.”

Estonian fashion designer Kristina Viirpalu says that around one in every five bridal dresses she sells is actually worn as an evening dress. She tells The Telegraph: “There was one client who let her whole family gift her one of my more elaborate bridal dresses for her birthday, to be worn on her birthday party celebration.”

Brides asking people to wear white at weddings has also become a trend, says Wirthensohn Yassemi: “I had one client dress her bridesmaids in wedding dresses. For my own wedding I had a Marie Antoinette theme. I told guests: “Before you wear black, wear white.”

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