Disney’s New Versions of Style

Disney-branded dresses aimed at placing women in the beloved and coveted role of Princess seem to be becoming more common. 

While shopping for wedding dresses last year I couldn’t ignore Alfred Angelo’s line of Disney gowns for brides, bridesmaids, and flower girls.  The bridal line was called Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, and was paired with the hyper-feminized terms of “Disney Maidens” and “Disney Blossoms” for the bridal party. 

"Transform into the beauty you imagined..."    (Link A)

17 different bridal styles are designed to mimic the iconic dresses of Princesses from Snow White to Rapunzel, but it looks like they couldn’t stray too close to the real things because these dresses look, well, like normal wedding gowns.

This is Jasmine.  Duh.    (Link A)

The Maiden dresses are even more loosely tied to Princesses, as they don’t even have Princess names labeled to the styles.  However I can clearly identify which one they were trying to mimic for a few of them.  There is a clear Belle, Ariel, and Pocahontas while the brides dresses only yielded one that KINDA looked like Belle (Pictured above). 

Clearly Pocahontas here.    (Link A)

The Blossoms were even less true to the Princesses’ styles, as I thought one was tied to Belle but in fact was supposed to be Ariel. 

This is Ariel, NOT Belle. Whaaat?   (Link A)

So honestly if I were using these styles in my wedding I’d practically have to announce that it is a Disney themed wedding, because no one would be able to tell on their own based on the dresses only.

For the slightly younger female trying to live out their Princess fantasies, the companies Ashdon and Disney have just announced their first Princess-inspired prom dress line.  The D23 article states that the designs are “inspired by the personalities and stories” of the Princess they are portraying.  Which I don’t really get because the three dresses shown for Snow White, their first Princess, do not really invoke sweet innocent little girl vibes, but tones of sexy and sultry.  So I’m not sure how Snow White’s personality and story reflects in these dresses at all.  The article mentions the red poisoned apple and flora and fauna but I feel like that's kind of a stretch.  So is the "Belle" line going to be half red too, because of the enchanted rose?  I don't get it.

Prom 2013 look out!  (Link B)

The article does go on to say if offers a "fresh perspective" on a classic and there are seven dresses ranging from "sweet and demure to dramatic and intense."  Yeah, cool, but I don't see any examples of sweet and demure in this article so I get the feeling they don't anticipate those to be big hits compared to these.

I know Disney has a way of making females of all ages want to be Princesses, and these seem like a decent way they can live out their fantasies though certain special occasions in their lives.  But with such loose interpretations such as these I wonder if it’s a question of getting too close to the real thing for Disney’s comfort or if the true looks of the Princesses are too modest for today’s fashion.  I can’t really picture today’s prom queens bumping and grinding while wearing Snow White’s getup, floor-length and high collar and all.  I just know if one walked up to me in any of these gowns gushing that it was a Snow White dress I’d be quite skeptical.  Any thoughts?

Link A

Link B