Customer Reviews

Accessorizing The Bride: Vintage Wedding Finery Through The Decades

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Readers may find it difficult to believe that author Norma Shephard has such a magnificent collection of wedding accessories. And then to see them photographed so beautifully is almost beyond the realm of imagination. But it is true. Most artifacts exhibited in Accessorizing the Bride, Vintage Wedding Finery Through the Decades are part of the Mobile Millinery Museum's Wedding Collection and yes, she did all the photography in her tiny Burlington, Ontario studio.
What makes this coffee table book so fascinating? It may be the detailed pictures of fabrics, styles, hues, beads, sequins and lace. Or it may be the memories and dreams that it ignites as we flip from era to era and maybe for the first time experience what grandmother or greatgran or even her mother may have worn on her wedding day.
If a bride-to-be is lucky enough to view this book before she's selected her gown and accessories, it may help her decide about a veil, train, headpiece, waistline or hemline.
And for the many ladies who donated or loaned gowns to the Mobile Millinery Museum's Wedding Collection, the book takes on a magical quality of pride and appreciation to know that their wedding finery is being admired all around the world.
What Shephard shows she also tells and her apparent wealth of knowledge goes beyond fashion. Between the lines of real-life stories, anecdotes and progression of style, she subtly integrates the social history of women's movements, traditions, issues and advancements.
Collectors, historians, curators and fashion aficionados will devour this tome of information and illustration, but Accessorizing the Bride, Vintage Wedding Finery Through the Decades offers more than that. While many wedding books feature gowns of celebrities, this issue credits everyday women like you and me with the ability to select, design or create that special gown for that very special day.
Whether chosen as a reference or as a keepsake, this is one high quality coffee table book that will be opened over and over for second, third, fourth and more perusals.

Norma Shephard's book is a beautifully nostalgic tribute to the wedding fashions and trends of generations past and present. It is as delightful as it is informative.

Sentimental,enlightening and gorgeous. I especially liked the non-traditional wedding gowns and bridal stories.

Accessorizing the Bride is one of the most detailed and comprehensive coffee-table books I have ever seen. The author is meticulous in her description of each garment and article. The top-notch photography brings detail to life. This book is a must read for collectors, historians, or anyone interested in the evolution of wedding apparel.