2016 Bridal Trends from Chicago Bridal Market

At the end of September, the Miss Ruby Boutique buying team visited Chicago for 2016 Bridal Market. This yearly event features each designers brand new collections to bridal stores across the country. 

As we walked the market (its HUGE!) and visited the booths of our favorite designers, there were definitely some trends that you will soon see hitting bridal racks in 2016. Some we expected - others were a complete surprise. 

For the low-down on whats going to be popular in 2016 bridal fashion, read on for our take on the trends we saw at this years Bridal Market. 

Crepe 

For those who are not versed in fabrics: Crepe is a light, soft, and thin fabric with a more textured surface than silk or satin. This fabric makes for simple and sleek designs that feature clean lines and edges. 

With lace being the go-to trend for the last few years, dresses designed in a non-patterened crepe are meant to usher in the next generation of bridal gown trends. Rather than the rustic-elegant look, stylists are now leaning more towards an aesthetic that is more modern and sophisticated. 

We love lace, and were perhaps the most surprised at seeing this fabric in nearly every designer's 2016 bridal collection. With that being said, we are excited to show our brides some of our new crepe gowns and see how they go over with Milwaukee brides! 

Long Sleeves

Brides have asked - finally, designers have answered! Bridal gowns with long sleeves were a trend that designers and consumers have been slightly unsure about in the past. Now, we're happy to announce that designers have embraced the trend head on, creating beautiful, long-sleeved gowns that are more modern than they are modest. 

While Kate Middleton made wearing long sleeves look easy, almost all of our brides who walk in to our boutique wanting a long sleeved bridal gown end up walking out wanting something completely different. With exquisite designs that balance out the excess fabric on the arms, 2016's long-sleeved gowns are a style that all brides can embrace

Flowers Everywhere

From flower crowns to floral bridesmaids dresses (and everything in between), brides who aren't afraid of floral patterns will be in luck in 2016. This trend can be styled in so many different ways - boho brides will love a soft crown of greenery, while more traditional brides will find prints for their bridesmaids that match compliment their bouquets. 

Flowers have always been a staple in the bridal world, but now we are seeing more ways than ever to incorporate them into your wedding fashion. We can't wait to meet bridal parties that a bold enough to wear flower prints on the big day!

Questions on how to style these trends? 

We've got you covered!

 Stop by Miss Ruby Boutique to see our new styles and ask any questions you may have! 

Chicago Bridal Market 2015 - Recap

At the end of September, the Miss Ruby team traveled to Chicago for Bridal Market!

For those of you that aren't familiar with this event, Bridal Market is where designers bring their collections to Chicago's Merchandise Mart and bridal stores around the country send their buyers to pick out what dresses & collections their store will carry for the upcoming year. Part trade show, part sparkly wonderland - bridal market features the latest in US bridal, bridesmaid, and prom fashion. 

Day 1

We started our day bright and early at Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago. Fueled by lots of Starbucks, we immediately jumped in to bridal fashion by taking a look at new dresses by some of our favorite designers. We began by looking at the James Clifford collection, which specializes in bridal gowns for girls who aren't afraid of a little sparkle. 

We also got the opportunity to sit down with our favorite designer, Robert Bullock, and view his new collection piece by piece. We can't say enough great things about Robert Bullock and his team. He not only poses for photos with us, but also takes our design ideas to heart when designing his gowns. A few suggestions by Jimmy last year at Bridal Market led him to create a beautiful lace gown - aptly named the "Jimmy" dress! We can't wait to have this personal favorite in our store for our brides!

After lunch we went across town to the Allerton Hotel on Michigan Avenue for the Wtoo and Willowby fashion shows. Seeing the dresses in person certainly did not disappoint. There were more than a few that got "oohs" and "ahhs" from our buying team. If we know our brides (and we like to think that we do!), there are going to be lots of favorites from these new collections. 

 

Day 2

With bridal gowns selected for our store on Day 1, Day 2 at Chicago Bridal Market centered around Bridesmaids and Accessories. We viewed collections from the Dessy Group and Bari Jay, among others. We are very excited about the dresses from these designers. We can already picture some well-dressed bridal parties walking out our doors. 

  

Believe it or not, picking our accessories was probably one of the most difficult aspects of our day. With so many jewelry pieces, hair pieces, and veils to choose from, its definitely hard to keep track of what we want to feature in our store. Luckily, we have great options to choose from - Meg Jewelry had excellent gold and silver pieces for our shelves, Richard Designs had beautiful headbands for boho brides, and Jennifer Leigh had veils and flower crowns that are right on trend. 

 

After making lots of tough decisions, our buying team was ready to head back to Milwaukee! Now we just have to wait for all of these great pieces to arrive at our store (were expecting to them to trickle in starting Spring 2016). 

In just two days, Bridal Market 2015 was a wrap! See you next year, Chicago!

Time to select our Jim Hjelm Occasions Fall 2015 bridesmaid dresses. So many styles & colors to choose from!  We love our job!

Chicago National Bridal Market

At the beginning of April, we visited the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for one of our favorite times of the year: Bridal Market! Check out some of our pics from our hard work during our trip!

It's such an exciting time for us to get to see the new styles from our designers - we were definitely in love with so many things, it made the decision process of what to buy difficult, but the good news is that everything was so great, we couldn't have made a bad choice! 

Robert Bullock Bride 

Hard at work making decisions on which Robert Bullock dresses to add to our collection!

Obessesed with the low back on one of Robert Bullock's new Fall 2014 gowns

 Watters and Wtoo

Watters sales rep Jessica walking us through some of the features and benefits of their new brides maids styles

A preview of some of Watters new Fall 2014 Bridesmaids dresses!

A preview of a new gown for Fall 2014 from Wtoo--think you'll see this one at Miss Ruby? You'll have to wait and see! 

We don't want to give away too much in the interest of the designers hard work and when they'll be unveiling their Fall collections but we can say that you won't be disappointed! So many new and unique styles with classic elegance.  One trend we were seeing across the board was a focus on interesting backs, whether they dipped low or featured intricate details! 

Check back at our blog to see more pictures in the next weeks showcasing what we saw from our other designers Mikaella and James Clifford!