The Wedding Wardrobe: everything i wore to my fall NYC wedding!
secondhand finds, last minute pickups, #rewearthat moments, and 1 magical simone rocha archival gown
Hello and welcome to the relaunch of Cyclical!!! Cyclical will be a twice weekly newsletter covering trend analysis + forecasting (my bread and butter,) fashion insights, personal style and cultural critique— plus a good mix of fluffy fun content too like emerging brand spotlights, shopping roundups, runway reviews, interviews and the occasional podcast episode! Free subscribers will receive at least two articles a month. Paid subscribers will have access to all articles, podcasts, and archives. Each week I will choose a free subscriber who is active on Cyclical (restacking, commenting, liking ect) and update to paid for 1 month. Since it’s my first time back this issue will be free! We’re starting off easy with a piece about my wedding wardrobe, would love any feedback and hope you enjoy. Damn it feels good to be here.
I fucking hated wedding planning. Absolutely loathed it to the point where my respect for event planners is now second to teachers and healthcare workers. The clearheadedness and organizational skills required to plan a wedding are just not in my DNA. The only skill I was able to tap into was the wardrobe, and even that was a masterclass on what NOT to do, and how to procrastinate to the point where it’s the day before your wedding and you still need a slip and party shoes. This issue of Cyclical is sort of like a part 1 of 2— covering style in part 1, and the wedding itinerary + cost in part 2.
My husband and I were engaged for 2+ years before getting married, and during that time I didn’t think too much about what I wanted to wear. Running off vibes and instincts only is probably bad advice to give, but it’s the truth and it worked for me. I’ll try to summarize my instincts because they really helped guide me through the process of creating a wardrobe that looked and felt like ME, which is really the only thing that matters.
I wasn’t trying to look timeless. In fact, I was pretty set on only selecting pieces that made my heart glow in that very moment. Letting the idea of timelessness control the decision making process did not feel productive or important. In 10 years if I look back on our photos and regret something I’m wearing, I’ll have the conviction of knowing I absolutely adored it and felt so special in the moment.
All vintage. Something about an all vintage look has always felt soooo chic. Partially because it requires masterful shopping skills, and having a fantastic eye. Finding vintage pieces to wear is exactly the kind of painstaking, time consuming, slightly masochistic challenge I love taking on.
If it doesn’t feel right LISTEN. Confession time… I actually bought a wedding dress online a few months before securing the one I ended up wearing. The second I put it on I knew it wasn’t right. Instead of returning it and getting my money back I stubbornly held onto it thinking maybe I can make it work for another event?? (what other event Mandy?) Anyway, for curious minds you can check it out (and even buy it) here.
Don’t be above rewearing things you already have. My shoe collection is so special to me and I knew I’d be double dipping for the wedding wardrobe.
I didn’t want to be the cool bride, or the Simone Rocha bride, or the vintage bride, or the fashion bride. I just wanted to be me.
That’s enough yapping, time for the outfits.
THE MARRIAGE LICENSE
The week before the wedding my husband and I made a trip to Brooklyn City Hall to obtain our marriage license and used the occasion as an excuse to dress up! Just a tip if you’re thinking about getting married in NYC— go to the Manhattan location, it’s worth the trek. Brooklyn is much more meaningful and special to us, but the vibes and beauty at Brooklyn City Hall don’t compare to Manhattan.
It’s a pretty low pressure occasion to get dressed for. No photographer, no guests, just us and a piece of paper. It felt like the perfect time to slap together the all vintage look I dreamed of wearing at some point during the wedding.
The bonnet from Self and Others is the first thing I bought for the wedding. I wasn’t sure when I’d get a chance to wear it, but remember we’re going off instincts here. It ended up being perfect for BK city hall.
The 1930s vintage dress is from Eveliina Vintage. I’ve been following Emilia for years and wanted a piece from them for ages— their curation and passion for vintage is very inspiring. Buying clothes from women who make them and curate them is so important to me, it’s what resonates most with my style and was just a no brainer.
I think there’s an expectation everything you wear on your wedding should be shiny and new. Why? I wore two pairs of shoes I already had in my collection including these gold glitter tabis, and they felt just as special as the day I opened them, if not more because they were laced in memories with my husband. I’d really like to continue challenging this idea and expectation…. because it’s fucking weird.
The slip is Simone Rocha from The Real Real. Over the summer I started consigning some of my designer pieces and used credit to buy the slip. It wasn’t quite right for my wedding reception dress, but worked for this look. It’s a blush pink color and had such a sweet antique feel against the sheer 1930s polka dot dress. I’m going to dye it black this winter so it can have a new life.
THE CEREMONY
I’ll spare you the details on how this dress came to be, if you’re interested I tell the story on tiktok and instagram. To summarize, I wore an archival sample dress from Simone Rocha’s SS22 collection. It was unbelievably magical.
One of the most difficult decisions putting together this look were the shoes. Shoes are my favorite category, my favorite thing to collect and marvel at. Finding the perfect pair kept me up at night honestly— there are SO many choices. I knew I didn’t want to wear tabis on my wedding day, I felt people expected me to. After hours of browsing I landed on these Tory Burch sculpted peep toe heels. I saw them backstage in February, and while they didn’t scream wedding I immediately took a liking to them. This was the same season the viral pierced heels were released, the sculpted peep toe didn’t take off in the same way which drew me to them even more.
I didn’t expect to wear such a classic shoe on my wedding day but the curved heel! The freak toe cutout! The bone ivory color! They were perfect and comfortable.
Loved this dress so much. It’s probably the most exquisite thing I’ll ever wear, and yes it did get a shout out in my vows.
THE PARTY
After our city hall ceremony my husband and I hosted a party at The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club for 50 of our closest friends. We have been playing in the league for 2 years, and it’s become our third space. The community is incredible, the venue is large, the energy is intoxicatingly fun, and the drinks are STRONG.
I wanted my reception dress to represent the party- fun, light, and personal. A dress I had been eyeing from current season Simone Rocha felt like the right choice.
The giant puff sleeves are so me. The cheeky crystal applique are so me. Waiting until the day before to buy a white slip so I wouldn’t be attending my own wedding reception n*ked was so me. It was so easy to move in, play shuffleboard in, hug my friends in and run around in. Part of me wants to take it to the tailor and have the top and skirt separated so I can rewear it more easily, but as time passes I think preserving it’s beauty the way it is feels better. Let me know your thoughts on altering wedding looks after they’ve been worn.
These are the second pair of shoes I rewore. They are from a few Simone seasons ago and have been cobbled twice. When my best friend and I were shopping for my slip, we stopped into Jil Sander, Loewe and Prada (there was a line just to get into Miu Miu lol) to see if we could find anything that would work. We came up empty handed but the best part of that experience was the absolutely fabulous staff working at Jil. I will be back.
THE END
In part 2 I’m going to cover our itinerary and how much we paid all in to get married in an unconventional way in NYC. The biggest takeaway from this entire experience is IT DO take a village. Lean on your friends and community for help and pay it forward when it’s their turn. I fucking love weddings and despite the procrastination and stress, I really loved putting together my looks.
Please consider subscribing for more Cyclical! Would love to hear your feedback on this one, I feel a little rusty. Also, fun fact about OLIB, I am technology challenged so bare with me while I figure out how to use Substack again.
Best,
Mandy
As someone who can’t wait to get married but has genuinely never seen a wedding dress I liked, I am unbelievably obsessed with this 🤍 so glad everything worked out so perfectly!
I actually tried on your reception dress as an option for my wedding next year!! It didn’t feel true to me the same way it does for you. Love all your wedding looks and your thoughts on rewearing and reusing what we already have since they’re already full of happy happy memories!