“We had plans for a big wedding that were scuppered by Covid. But, determined to do something nice amongst all the uncertainty, we kept our registry date [in July 2021] to get married at our local town hall in London, with just our families present. I love the idea of marriage: two people drawing a circle around them in the sand and saying, I promise to have your back forever. But weddings can so often be stuffy and archaic, and especially infantilising of the bride. Being a wife with a capital W… eek! How are you meant to know what your wedding dress style is if you only wear a wedding dress on your wedding day?
“So many wedding dresses out there felt twee to me, reminiscent of communions and christenings… either too much going on, or not enough. That’s what I think Vivienne Westwood does so perfectly: she understands women’s bodies, but channels sensuality and sexiness not through fragility and elegance, but structure and power. There is so much romance in the draping of her wedding gowns, but the silhouette is harsh and exacting, exhibiting the woman who wears it. Maybe it was my teenage self clutching my Vivienne Westwood bag, or that Carrie Bradshaw moment, or just the quiet hum of anarchy in me, who loved love, but wanted a white wedding on my terms. But I knew that if it really was just this one dress on this one day, it had to be Vivienne Westwood. Putting on my dress for the first time I felt so unmistakably, unapologetically me. A strapless, off-white, corseted Betty Boop style that just skimmed the floor but I had altered to hit my ankles, it was my armour to march down the aisle in, ready for the next chapter. It was perfect, and me and my 16-year-old self will be forever indebted to queen Viv for that.”
