At last you’ve done it! After trying on dozens of wedding dresses and looking at hundreds of pictures you have finally found ‘The One’, the dress of your dreams. Now you have the potentially daunting task of deciding if you need an wedding petticoat or not and if so, selecting the correct style to show off your gown to its full potential. We understand that this can seem overwhelming when presented with a vast array of wedding petticoats in various different shapes and sizes some with hoops, some without so we have prepared this simple guide to the most popular wedding dress shapes to help you to decide if you need a petticoat and if you do, to assist you in choosing the perfect style for your dress.
A wedding petticoat or underskirt can really make a huge difference to the look and feel of your gown as well as providing practical benefits. If your wedding dress is full skirted then an underskirt will help to hold the shape of the skirt and also show of any detail such as beading or embroidery. If you have a full skirted bridal dress in a heavy fabric or sometimes lots of layers, then a wedding petticoat with hoops can be essential to ensure that your dress looks as beautiful as the designer intended.
There are a number of practical reasons why you might wish to consider a wedding petticoat, one being their ability to keep the dress fabric away from your legs. The last thing a bride wants to worry about as she walks down the aisle is her dress getting wrapped around her legs as she walks!. An underskirt with a hoop will effectively hold the skirt of your gown away from your legs allowing you to walk with confidence down that aisle! This can be even more important if you are also getting married somewhere hot. Wedding dresses tend to be incredibly warm to wear – just think of all those layers, dress fabric, linings, net – a hooped wedding petticoat will allow a lot more air to flow around your legs helping to keep you cool.
Another plus of a wedding petticoat, especially one with hoops, is that they can sometimes mean the difference between having to have the length of your hem altered and not.
No bride wants to incur more expense at an already very expensive time and if you dress is just a little too long a hooped petticoat can just bring up the length by that crucial amount meaning you may be able to avoid that costly alteration!
If you are wearing a gown with a fishtail or mermaid style skirt such as the and feel you require an underskirt consider the Jupon 189, Jupon 190 and Jupon 191.
The Jupon 189 has no hoop and uses flared net to give shape to your gown. The Jupon 189 wedding petticoat gives quite a soft, unstructured look due to its lack of hoop and may be suitable for lighter weight dresses or if you just want to hold the shape of your skirt without adding too much additional fullness. The gorgeous Mila by Amanda Wyatt (pictured) is a perfect example. The Jupon 189 will gently hold the shape of a skirt of this style without giving a very full, structured look.
If you feel that you would like more fullness and more structure the Jupon 190 wedding petticoat is the same shape and size as the Jupon 189 but has the addition of one plastic coated metal hoop towards the hem of the underskirt to add fullness and hold the shape of heavier fabric skirts.
The pictured gown, the stunning Brogan wedding gown from Amanda Wyatt’s Blue Iriscollection gives a good idea of the look that can be acheived by wearing the Jupon 190 wedding petticoat with your fishtail or mermaid gown. The addition of the hoop underneath the net helps to create as much fulness as possible whilst holding the sexy shape of this style dress and helping to ensure any detail on the skirt shown off to perfection.
If you have chosen a fishtail or mermaid weding dress which has a train with detail that you wish to show to its full potential the Jupon 191 may be the style for you. The Jupon 191 wedding petticoat again has the same basic shape as both the Jupon 189 and the Jupon 190 and is slim fitting around the hips and thinghs before flaring into fullness towards the bottom. In addition to its one plastic coated metal hoop, the Jupon 191 also has a fabulous medium sized flared net train at the back. This will help to hold the shape and support to the train of your dress and make sure that any beautiful detail is not concealed in folds of fabric.
Hollywood Dreams Lauren, mermaid style. Jupon wedding petticoat 190 or Jupon 191
A-Line /Princess Line Wedding Dresses.
The A-Line shape wedding gown in one form or another is probably still the most popular style. A-line and Princess line shape skirts have a flattering shape for most figures which ensures their continued popularity. A-line dresses gracefully skim the figure and gently flare from the hip area into a medium full skirt which can help balnace out pear shape figures but also large busted frames too. The gorgeous Snowdropgown (shown on the left) from Amanda Wyatt’s new Blue Iris collection is a good example of a traditional A-line shape.
If your gown is this style/shape or similar we would recommend the Jupon 163.
The Jupon 163 wedding petticoat has three layers of tulle over one hoop for a smooth gentle flare, which works wonderfully with many dresses. The hoop can also be removed if a softer look is desired.
If your A-line skirt is slightly slimmer than
Josephine by Amanda Wyatt, Slim Aline. Try Jupon 116 or similar
ephineby Amanda Wyatt(pictured right) this or you want to create as little fullness as possible – just hold the shape of your skirt, you may wish to consider the Jupon 116.
This style has two plastic coated metal hoops towards the hem but has no net so will hold the shape of A-lines wedding gowns beautifully without adding too much overall fullness. The Jupon 116 is also ideal if you are getting married somewhere hot as the lack of net does mean it is a cooler underskirt to wear!
Fuller A-Line/Princess Line Wedding Dresses
For fuller skirted A-line and princess line gowns the Jupon 165 wedding petticoat should be considered.
Nadia by Hollywood Dreams, full A line. Try Jupon 165 or similar.
This style is the same shape as the Jupon 163 with flat net and one plastic coated metal hoop but this style has five layers instead of the three in the 163. The extra layers of net mean this style will add fabulous fullness to your skirt.
The flat net ensures a smooth shape is given to your gown with no lumps and bumps showing through the fabric. The flat net styles are particulary advised for dresses in very lightweight fabrics such as chiffons.
The Jupon 165 underskirt will perfectly show off a beautiful full skirted A-line gown such as the exquisite Nadia(pictured left) which is from Hollywood Dream’s fantastic 2014 collection
Full Ballgown Style Gowns
If you have decided that a full ball gown or fairytale style wedding dress is for you the Jupon 128 may just be the perfect wedding petticoat for you. If you have a gown of similar size to the pictured dresses and you want to add even more fullness or just hold the existing shape of your full skirted gown the Jupon 128 is definitely an option. The 128 has eight layers of tulle with a tier towards the hem over two plastic coated metal hoops. All the layers of net means the 128 wedding petticoat adds fantastic shape and fullness, while the two hoops adds strength to the underskirt meaning it will hold the shape of gowns in heavier fabrics and those with lots of layers. Dresses shown are the gorgeous Odette(pictured left) and Isis, both from Hollywood Dreams’breathtaking 2014 collection.
Odette by Hollywood Dreams. Full, ball-gown style. Try Jupon 128 or similarIsis by Hollywood Dreams. Full ball-gown style. Try Jupon 128 or similar
