The fancy-white-dresses in Tash's lovesphere.

As I lie in bed, about to Google various things for assigments and keep writing the hugely hyperbolic scene which is my Intro to Short Story assignment, I'm sort of distressed at how odd I am. I mean, there's a point where I'm okay with it. I completely appreciate that I spent the other night feeling resplendent in green, Wicked-esque glasses which Kathryn left here, while listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and the Beatles. I completely appreciate that I have a penchant to listen to 'lame' musicians such as Ricky Martin, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias, because they sing in Spanish and this makes me happy. 

What's causing me some concern is a post on Facebook:

My penchant for wedding dresses.

Not for the ceremony, not for the pomp and circumstance. But for the dresses. At some stage, I want to get into bridal writing. My reasoning:

1. These are the only dresses in the world which every single woman gets to wear - hopefully - at least once. I mean, sure, couture. But pretty. I find the two can sometimes be synonymous, but heck. Those dresses are awesome.
2. As useful as it is to know about what skinny jeans are best for my figure (read: none) and what hideously overpriced number is gracing every model's wardrobe and thus must grace mine, the dresses are classics. The dresses are a capsule to a day of either awesome or... well... not so awesome. I love it. 
3. They are heckofallfuns to draw. (Don't ask me what heckofallfuns means. Just accept it.) I also love doing fashion illustration, and although there is little colour, that's how I like it. The silhouettes are amazing. The detailing is intricately perfect. 
4. In continuation with number 3, this is like costume design. And before I decided I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to get into costuming. Senior textiles project, I was going for a gothic-lolita style combining old and new into awesome. (It was a bit more detailed in my design brief and analysis.) Senior textiles was eventually dropped at the urging of my mother, because she hated my mess of pins, but I still sit and draw the figures for fun. Now I have a tome of wedding dresses which cost $9.95, I am suitably impressed and sit there drawing them and variations. Also, even though I get expressions of disgust when I try telling my friends what sort of wedding dress would suit them (mainly because they were hoping for something opposite, but I cannot help what body type they have. There's also fear at "Why are you considering this?!" which, yes, is a reasonable reaction), I still like doing it. It's fun.

But I am sort of concerned. I mean, I'm all for having quirks, but this is odd. Weddings themselves, they're nifty - I'm not considering them too fully until they directly impact me in some way - but bridal gowns.
Maybe I'm drawn towards white dresses in general. For instance, this Kate Beckinsale number I saw earlier tonight - I was instantly wanting it. Never mind that I couldn't pull it off unless I got a pair of killer heels, but I was in love with that dress. The elegance and glamour, a definite nod to the now-gone era of Hollywood's sirens? You can see it in all of the big-name actresses:

Jean Harlow. Thank you, Bride Chic.
Although, not a bridal gown.

Of course, Audrey Hepburn.
Thank you Vintage Culture.

Not complete without it.
Cliched, but necessary.
Thanks to Cool Marketing Thoughts.

The silhouettes themselves just scream class. (Screaming class is kind of oxymoronic, but I like it.) And it's becoming echoed in the dresses of today. Kate Winslet here - perfect example. It's almost reminiscent of the all-white scene in Pride and Prejudice. If you don't have a clue what I refer to - here, and here. And back then, the silhouettes were kept fairly simple but elegant. Empire lines, anyone? I myself prefer lower waistlines, but it doesn't change the fact that this look is classic beauty - read, awesome.

So maybe it's just white dresses, or maybe I'm odd and, at 18, find myself fascinated with wedding dresses. I was on Suzanne Neville's site today, and was enthralled. Pretties. Pretties living everywhere. The cuts. The colours, different in such subtle ways. The details. The way they all fuse together to create the one and only Wedding Dress. That wedding dresses are a long-standing thread through history (nods to the past in non-facepalming ways)... for instance, that their primary colour has been white ever since 1840, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. 1840. 170 years later, and white gowns are still being sashayed down aisles and bridal shows.

I'm not yet at that stage where I'll creep on into a bridal store, defying all social conventions. I much prefer to satisfy these infatuations online, and also - online, there are no price tags, so I can imagine that I can have a pretty white dress, no strings attached, no debts incurred.
I also do the same for the little black dress... but that's for another time.