by Patricia Pirkis
When people envision wedding garments their minds tend to automatically head towards paler palettes full of pink, cornflower blue, and pale green. While this is an accurate view of wedding clothes, it completely ignores the fact that an equal number of weddings use a much darker or stronger palette. For instance, a bride might opt for sapphire blue, hunter green, or burgundy garments for the wedding party too. At such times it is going to be necessary to scout out all of the appropriate gowns, and might include something like a burgundy flower girl dress as well.
After centuries of conditioning of the female into the condition of perpetual girlishness called femininity, we cannot remember what femaleness is. Though feminists have been arguing for years that there is a self-defining female energy, and a female libido that is not expressed merely in response to demands by the male, and a female way of being and of experiencing the world, we are still not close to understanding what it might be. Yet every mother who has held a girl child in her arms has known that she was different from a boy child and that she would approach the reality around her in a different way.... She is a female and she will die female, and though many centuries should pass, archaeologists would identify her skeleton as the remains of a female creature.
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
It is important to note that burgundy is a color suitable for all four seasons of the year. Many people might automatically leap to the conclusion that a burgundy flower girl dress would be ideally suited to an autumn or winter wedding alone, but this is not the case. Consider the many types of "fairy tale" gowns available in this particular hue. A bride could easily find a summer or a winter weight burgundy flower girl dress in such a style.
Alternately, the bride who has opted for a deep and rich burgundy in the bridal party might find a burgundy flower girl dress that uses a much paler base and relies on an overlay of burgundy embroidery or burgundy accents instead. This would be the ideal way to present the flower girl in coordinating colors without requiring that she also wear the remarkably adult palette that the rest of the party is wearing too.
Logic and hope fade somewhat by thirty-six, when endings seem more like clear warnings than useful experience.
—Jane O’Reilly, U. S. feminist and humorist. The Girl I Left Behind, ch. 2 (1980)
Before putting any child in a gown of dark burgundy, however, it is a good idea to see how her complexion works with the color selected. Not everyone can wear a color with such plum accents as burgundy, and some shades might leave a child looking pale or washed out. This is usually the reason that wedding professionals advise their clients to order color swatches or to take the attendants with them on shopping trips. Not only will this help to ensure that the color of the gowns work with each person's complexion, but it also helps in selecting the right cut too.
Most flower girl dresses tend to have fuller skirts that allow for a wide range of motion, but there are some A-line and fitted styles available too. Before asking a little girl to wear a more restrictive garment it is always a good idea to have her try it on to see if she is comfortable enough to wear it throughout the wedding day. About the Author- Patricia Pirkis is writing articles for shopbriarpatch, We specialize in children special event clothing, flower girl dress, flower girl dresses and many more.