For many brides the strapless style is out and so is the plunging neckline. Currently the modest wedding dress, has made a resurgence again. And even when they're not "fashionable", a modest temple dress have always been popular among faith communities of all types and denominations. "They're very classic styles and very dignified styles," said Scott Wells. "They've become popular with our other brides as well."
Wells owns an online Store, along with his partners Jill Aldineh and Al Short. Recently they have received many inquiries about dresses that met LDS temple specifications. This is not a Church run business, but the partners have initiated a temple-ready line of bridal gowns to care for these brides.
Because of the quality and elegance of the styles the temple-ready line is also popular among the non-LDS community also. "Our core market for that line is the LDS bride, but surprisingly those aisles are quite popular in other segments of the population as well," said Wells. "For a bride who just wants a modest look, they've been very popular."
LDS businesses like eternity gowns sell upwards of 65 percent of their dresses to the non-LDS community. Muslims, Jews, and Baptists are among those who buy from the modest line. "It just makes logical sense that if you're growing as a religious company you don't limit yourself to one religion," said James Walker, owner of another online shop.
Religious views are not the only reasons why many brides to be buy modest wedding dresses. Generally speaking fashion is moving in a more modest direction. This trend supports the belief that fashion is cyclical, and that the current cycle is pointing to more modest-style gowns. "We've gone through a period of time during the last ten years or so that strapless gowns have been in fashion," said Walker, "but if we look at the runway of what's coming . . . modest gowns are becoming more mainstream." The new styles in wedding dresses include sleeves, higher necklines, more neck details, simple embellishments, and more attention on the bodice. This is good news for companies who already carry modest wedding dresses. Even though the stores already feature necklines and sleeves, which gives them a wider audience, people buy wedding dresses because they are beautiful, and modest dresses appeal to the taste of many women.
"They're not looking for that exact specification, but they look at it and think 'that's a beautiful gown,'" said Wells. "They don't know where it really came from, but they just see it as a beautiful gown and go with it."
Although their goal is to produce modest dresses, stores focus on creating beautiful dresses that many women will enjoy. "If we can get to the point where people buy our gowns just because they're beautiful dresses, then we will feel that we have succeeded in our business," said Walker.
So is modesty back in style? It looks like it's on its way. And whether it is or not, the modest wedding dress will always be appealing for their classic and simple beauty.
"It's the classic styles that really stick around," said Wells.
The staff at Bridal Online Store has over 22 years of experience in the bridal and wedding dress industry. Find out about the latest styles of wedding dresses and more at: bridalonlinestore.com,
