Wedding dress styles have changed over the years from the voluminous gown n with flowing train to the full gown with a moderate train. And, in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s the dress looks more and more like a casual dress and less like a gown of full length dress.

The styles of the full length gowns and the far shorter dresses worn by brides all have similar bodice styling. Older styling features are things like mutton sleeves, shirred waist full skirts, puffy lace sleeves, and actual covered buttons down the full length of the back of the dress.

Today’s gown will borrow from the past, but the skirts are rarely shirred at the waist. They are flat at the waist accentuating the bride’s slim figure and flaring away as it moves toward the ground. If it’s not full at the ground it flutters away in a bias cut maybe even accenting a high cut slit showing some thigh.

The bodices often show an abundance of bare arms and tight waists. Beads and lace still decorate the bodice of princess line boat necked, V-necked, scoop necked, and crew necked dresses. The V-necks sometimes show up in the front of the dress and dip exceptionally low and sometimes those depths are reached in the back neckline too.