Bridal Style: A-Line Wedding Dresses

A-line wedding dresses are a classic for their versatility and near-universal ability to flatter any shape. We’ll explain exactly what an A-line wedding dress is, whether they’re trending, and more in a moment.

First, it’s important to think about the term A-line as a structural canvas. The term is meant to convey the overall shape of the dress. What makes a bridal gown formal, casual, elegant, glamorous, or vintage are the design elements, such as neckline, skirt fullness, and fabric choice, together with details such as draping, beading, or applique, that give a bridal gown its style identity.

What Is an A-Line Wedding Dress?

An A-line wedding gown has a fitted bodice with a gradually flared skirt that forms the shape of a capital letter A. Hence the term A-line. Typically, an A-line skirt opens from the natural waist or from a Basque-waist seam. Sometimes, the skirt can fall from the drop waist. It cannot be body-con and hug the curves of your lower half as a fit-and-flare or mermaid would. Nor can it be an empire dress, where the skirt falls from just beneath the bustline (à la gowns worn in Bridgerton).

A-lines are a classic in the sense that they’ve been around since time immemorial. However, that does not mean they can’t be fashion-forward or even unique. There’s a lot of liberty a designer can take with an A-line. The skirt can be cut in a circle for movement or have a narrower skirt for a more minimalist aesthetic. On top of that, the sky is the limit when it comes to infusing the design with an aesthetic, such as sleeves, textile choice, embellishments, seam finishing, neck and backline, color, movement…you get the picture.

Why Do Brides Choose A-Line Wedding Gowns

What makes an A-line so popular is that it compliments nearly every woman’s shape. That fitted bodice paired with an A-shaped skirt creates pleasing hour-glass proportions between waist, hips, and shoulders.

Depending on the textiles used, they can be very light and floaty or more structured. There is the argument that the A-line is lighter in weight than ball gown wedding dresses, and thus easier to wear. But that is not so. Fabric choice plays a major role, as does construction in a wedding dress’s ease of movement. For instance, a bride wearing an organza ball gown will feel her garment is nearly weightless, while a duchess satin A-line with corded lace overlay has more heft.

The other reason A-lines are always in style is their versatility. Just about any combination of elements can be used to develop a design aesthetic.

Fabric:

Fabrics with body, such as taffeta, dupioni, jacquard, duchess satin, lace, Mikado, brocade, and tulle, are ideal for constructing the A-shaped skirt. Drapeier fabrics, such as chiffon, crepe, silk charmeuse, or English net, are less of a natural fit. That does not mean those textiles can’t be used – just that they’re trickier. For instance, if you want a chiffon A-line bridal gown, you’ll need a stiffer fabric beneath along with a petti coat so that iconic A shape is achieved. That same approach would be necessary for an organza A-line. The fall and weight of charmeuse and crepe make them less than ideal for this silhouette.

An A-line can also be crafted using a mix of textiles. You could have a Mikado A-line with a satin cuff at the straight across neckline, or a lace A-line with layers of organza beneath a Chantilly lace overlay and a satin sash cinching the waist.

Neckline:

Though for many women when they imagine an A-line bridal gown, a strapless comes to mind, any neckline or sleeve is well-suited to this silhouette. So, as you shop, you’ll come across off-the-shoulder A-lines, V-neck A-lines, halter A-lines, those with cat’s eye necklines, and others with pointed sweethearts. There are also A-line wedding dresses with long sleeves, but sometimes they’re strapless gowns paired with a jacket or bolero.

Train:

Chapel, cathedral, sweep, or even an A-line wedding dress with no train are all options.

Details:

Just about any other element, such as sashes, applique, corseting, sheer panels, and seam work, can be worked into an A-line to further the style story a designer wishes to tell.

A-Line Wedding Gowns

With so much style variability, A-lines will always be a timeless wedding dress choice! To give you an idea of just how diverse the silhouette is, we’ve gathered the A-lines from our Lea-Ann Belter and Astrid & Mercedes lines below!