THE DOUGLAS HANNANT FALL 2010 BRIDAL COLLECTION – “NUANCE”

TEXT, VIVIAN G. KELLY
Images, courtesy of Douglas Hannant

After a technical hiccup and a last-minute change of run of show, the first model emerged from behind the crinkled white silk curtain.
As the Advertising Exec from Brides Mag [one of the magazine survivors] next to us explained, “At this time, there are 3 kinds of brides, but ALL are interested in style.
1. The Girl who’s on a budget and needs to keep it in the hundreds. She probably looks to David’s Bridal for her selection.
2. The Bride who’s in the middle. She’ll make sacrifices in order to land her dream dress. She’s likely to look to a Romona Keveza Legends priced collection.
3. The designer customer who will buy the gown she wants, no matter what it costs.
Undoubtedly, Douglas Hannant had the 3rd bride in mind when he designed this 12-piece collection. The title of the show, “NUANCES” fit the tone of the collection, at least, as far as five of the twelve exits were concerned.
We nodded happily at the celery tinted satin and organza gown that opened the show. The next two gowns in ivory were good examples of what Douglas does so well – interesting details such as horsehair trimmed tiers on an ivory gazar and satin gown.
The show then went in a very unexpected direction. It started with look # 4, with an accordion pleated flounce detail and some ruffles and then escalated to the overtly fanciful cream duchesse satin gown with a huge accordion [crumb catcher] neckline that took us straight back to the late eighties when a gown couldn’t be big ENOUGH.
Our guess is that the brides in the Middle East – just about the only region in the world that’s NOT suffering, may demand what we’ll term “important dresses”. We doubt that the ivory tulle satin gown with appliquéd rosettes that bears a more than passing resemblance to a silver gilded bombe glacee pastry was intended for the elegantly chic Douglas Hannant collection customer. She need not despair however as those first few looks are what she’ll gravitate towards. Who WOULDN’T love the lack of obvious embellishment and appreciate the artistically draped bodice treatments? Regardless of which dress you choose from this collection, note to self – start lifting those arm weights every other day – just about everything is strapless.