Haute Couture bridal ensemble & dresses

Left to right:

Bridal ensemble / Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Haute Couture / Wool tweed, passementerie trim / France, Fall/Winter 1992-93 / Lent by Chanel Inc.
Wedding dresses are often characterized by historical elements, including corsetry. Typically, the historical reference is to the Victorian era. In this case, however, the elegant fashions of the 18th century inspired the designer.

Evening dress / Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Haute Couture / Velvet, wool muslin, silk / France, Fall/Winter 1992-93 / Lent by Chanel Inc.
Coco Chanel (1882-1971) claimed to have liberated women from the corset. Although no one person was responsible for the disappearance of the traditional boned corset, she was certainly instrumental in creating the easy elegance that has characterized 20th-century fashion. When Karl Lagerfeld was hired to revitalize the House of Chanel, he retained some characteristics of her style, but he also brought the fashions up to date. Many of his most important evening designs of the 1990s have featured corsetry.

Corset (stays) / Silk brocade, boning / France, c.1750 / Gift of Miss Adele Simpson / 68.144.14

Evening dress / Vivienne Westwood / Metallic leather, chiffon, lamé / England, 1988 / P89.60.1
Vivienne Westwood was closely involved with both the punks and the new romantics, two style tribes that adopted corsets. The calculated shock value of punk style tended to give way to historical revivalism in her work. This particular ensemble comes from the aptly named Time Machine collection.