Getting Married in Topshop

Wedding season is upon us once again and the Semple office is buzzing with wedding chatter a go go. This is not because a member of our team is getting married (guys, you still have a chance) but instead this delirium is fuelled by outright shock and disgust stirred up by Richard Nicoll’s Topshop collaboration. The press images were released all the way back in May and were met with mixed reviews. It was not until the dresses themselves went on sale a month ago that people learned to love the idea of a high street wedding.

Ever since I was a little girl I have spent countless hours planning every inch of my wedding day. Many girls my age have! All we are waiting for now is to find our Prince Charming! Saying this, never have I ever envisioned spending my wedding day in a dress bought from Topshop, after all, it is the only day in a girl’s life that she can be treated like a princess and that is exactly how I intend to spend the day. Give me Temperley over Topshop any day!

The ‘Tie the Knot’ collection designed by Richard Nicoll aims to offer a fresh, affordable, spin on the traditional ‘meringue’ silhouette. The collection consists of seven dresses in varying shades of petal pink and soft cream each one boasting a pretty frill, fun peplum or a sophisticated silk bodice. The designs are simple and feminine. Perfect for a Boho summer beach wedding. Sitting at my computer, my mind is whisked away by the prospect of a laid back beach wedding, with me in a long flowing Topshop wedding dresss surrounded by my nearest and dearest. It is a beautiful scene, but it is not long until the reality hits me like a dead weight. These dresses are far too simple and unimportant to be the dress I get married in. After all, who would wear spaghetti straps on their wedding day?! At a stretch these dresses may be appropriate for a bridesmaids dresses, however, I know for a fact that if I put my bridesmaids in one of the ‘Tie the Knot’ dresses, the likelihood of me still having best friends after the wedding would be slim.

The collection boasts being fresh and affordable but on closer inspection, the most expensive dress is £300. This is a small price to pay for a wedding dress, but in my eyes, it is a rather large sum to pay for a mass produced, 50% Polyamide 50% Viscose dress. The cheapest dress of the collection, priced at £75 is 100% silk and although it is indecently short and is held up by spaghetti straps (both factors make it unsuitable for all weddings in my eyes) it turns out to be the nicest garment in the collection.

It is such a shame this collection is a disappointment; I was rather looking forward to seeing a good bridal collection from Topshop. It seems like such a strange thing for them to branch into that I would have thought that it would have been executed with extreme attention to detail and a focus on a strong aesthetic presence. It ended up looking like the last dregs of a middle class charity shop jumble sale. Definitely not the image thousands of young girls have been aiming for throughout their entire lives.

It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that these dresses have probably been made in a workshop in the middle of the third world, that they were designed by Richard Nicoll or even that they are totally overpriced for what they are made from. What bothers me the most is that they are just so ugly. A big fat U G L Y… Ugly! It is shallow of me, I know but when it comes to weddings, for me, it is all about the image. Sadly these Richard Nicoll dresses do not cut the mustard.

It is a clever idea for high street retailers to produce wedding dresses and the more I think about it the more I warm to the idea. A girl’s wedding dress instantly becomes a treasured garment regardless if it was purchased at Primark or Prada so with that in mind, I am eagerly awaiting a high street bridal line that is both chic and elegant. After all, what you save on your dress can go towards your numerous other outfit changes for the big day. Why stick with one wedding dress when you can have five?!

Shop the collection here…

By Grace Molan