From Princess to [Mc]Queen

Though we’ve been hearing about the Royal Wedding for months, today was the day to really gauge reactions to the most important part of the cermony: The Dress. Many news outlets, bloggers, and people we’ve over heard on the elevator have already speculated that this is the day long sleeved wedding dresses made their comeback.

So Adam and I set up our own GutCheck on this trend, setting up a chat guide to dig deeper into what women who were planning on getting married in the next five years thought of the dress. I mean, what kind of U.S. Americans would we be if we didn’t want to know?

(image via The Atlantic photo gallery)

In the recruitment engine we specified that we wanted to only talk to women aged 18-35 who were not currently married. We then set up custom questions to find respondents who were in a committed relationship or engaged and planned on celebrating a wedding or civil union in the next 5 years. Next, we both logged into team edition so we could get 4 chats in an hour, and we asked away. And it turns out? Women really wanted to talk about their future wedding dresses and give details about what did and didn’t work for Kate’s. For example (all quotes are verbatim and [sic]):

“i mean that it seems like a dress that you would see in the fairytale wedding that you watch on tv.It is not unique and is a dress that seems like it belongs to a certain venue (such as a church). It isn’t the kind of dress that can be worn anywhere and can’t be worn by every body type. It is cliche in that it fits theprincess fairytale wedding” – Respondent A, age 25, living with partner, described personal style as “trendy, flashy,  and new age.”

“The lace fits but I would have an open back and i would not have long sleeves. but it is definitely a beautiful dress that I am sure plenty of brides will copy.” – Respondent B, age 24, living with partner, described personal style as “traditional, comfortable, and classic.”

One woman really loved the dress and overall aesthetic, and could see herself emulating the look:

“The detailing on the dress is amazing. I also like how it’s simple but elegant. Nothign over the top, but beautiful in the exquisite details… I’ve just never been an over-the-top kind of dresser or anything like that, but I have always been drawn to the little details of clothes, dresses, etc., so I am going to probably be the same way for my wedding dress.” – Respondent C, age 23, engaged, described personal style as “simple, sporty and modern.”

And as for the sleeves? Surprisingly, none of our four respondents saw themselves resurrecting the full, long sleeved look. Here’s what two had to say:

“I am not a big fan of sleeves, and I really like the sleeveless look of a wedding dress. I think it looks beautiful on her, but it’s not something that I would go for in my dress.” – Respondent C

“the dress looks similer to what I have in mind. I dont care fo rthe full length sleeves, I would look for something with 3/4 sleeves or witha removable over lay/lace jacket. I like the idea of a strapless dress but have something to cover my arms.” – Respondent D, age 28, in a committed relationship, described personal style as “vintage, casual, fun.”

While some of us here at the GutCheck office were more interested in The House of McQueen’s showing than others, we had fun asking young women about their own future wedding gowns, and they responded eagerly, with very little probing or follow up. After an hour, we ended up with 8 pages of transcript and lots of ideas for wedding dresses. Not too bad for a couple of office dwellers curious about long sleeved dresses!

(And no, we didn’t dress up for the occasion, though had someone offered us scones, tea, or wedding cake we wouldn’t have turned it down).