Description. It’s an essential ingredient for any fiction, adding colour and depth and context to a story. In romantic writing, description must be carefully crafted to create a mood. All details matter, from the look of a garden and the food on a plate to the hue of a sunset and the scent on the air. And when it comes to character description, fashion matters!

When I’m writing a novel, some of the descriptions I most enjoy writing are those of characters’ attire – particularly the heroine’s. Take, for example this extract from my novel The Echoes of Love:

Standing in front of her cheval-mirror, Venetia studied herself with critical eyes. She wore a blush silk chiffon bustier-gown that showed off the curve of her shoulders and delicate collarbones. From the cleavage of the snug, draped bodice, the petal-thin material fell in a cascade of romantic folds to the floor. The internal corset, which consisted of an under-wired bra and boned waist, molded her to perfection, ensuring a statuesque silhouette.

And another example, from Burning Embers:

The long dress was an ethereal work of art that suited Coral so much, it looked like it had been created especially for her. Combining dreamy ecru chiffon with matching silk lace inserts, the skirt had an intricate cut and molded to her hips before falling with fluid grace in full folds to the ground. The silk lace motifs embellished with pearls and ton sur ton crystal beads depicted leaves, tendrils, and flowers in full bloom — a design of the utmost feminine allure.

Were Venetia and Coral wearing jeans and t-shirts, the effect would be quite different!

Fashion has such power to create sensuality and beauty and romance, never more so than when it comes to bridal attire. Which is why top of my list to visit on my next trip to London is the ‘Wedding Dresses 1775–2014’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A describes it thus:

This exhibition will trace the development of the fashionable white wedding dress and its treatment by key fashion designers such as Charles Frederick Worth, Norman Hartnell, Charles James, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood and Vera Wang offering a panorama of fashion over the last two centuries. On display will be the most romantic, glamorous and extravagant wedding dresses from the V&A’s superb collection and will include some important new acquisitions as well as loans including the purple dress worn by Dita Von Teese for her marriage to Marilyn Manson and the outfits worn by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale on their wedding day. The exhibition will highlight the histories of the dresses, revealing fascinating details about the lives of the wearers and offering an intimate insight into their circumstances and fashion choices. 

Here’s a wonderful sneak peak at some of the gowns on display:

Follow Victoria and Albert Museum’s board Wedding Dresses #SavetheDate on Pinterest.

Beautiful! Have you seen the episode of the sitcom Friends in which Monica, Rachel and Phoebe spend the day in wedding dresses and would really quite like to wear them for evermore? These dresses conjure up that feeling for me!
If you’d like to visit the exhibition, which runs from 3 May 2014 to 15 March 2015, you can find details at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/wedding-dress-1775-2014/.