{"id":4234,"date":"2015-06-02T16:42:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T20:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/?p=4234"},"modified":"2019-09-27T11:53:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T15:53:32","slug":"pretty-gowns-ii-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/2015\/06\/02\/pretty-gowns-ii-redux\/","title":{"rendered":"Pretty Gowns in Bloom, II, redux"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Indian\/American<\/a>
Devina and Matthew, wed in Milwalkee, Sept. 2013: http:\/\/www.wedplan.com\/featured-wedding-devina-matthew\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several weeks ago I wrote about wedding magazines up in the Periodicals and Electronic Resource Services on the 6th floor.\u00a0\u00a0 Those magazines were so blond and white, I am embarrassed for them.\u00a0 They don\u2019t look anything like the FIT students and industry professionals working in our reading room!\u00a0 So I set myself the question of \u201cWhere are non-Anglo Americans getting their wedding inspiration?\u201d<\/p>\n

We get several magazines aimed at specific ethnic\/sociographic communitites.\u00a0 Several others we have tried to get, like Azizah<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, have failed, and some we just can\u2019t find a distributor for here in New York.<\/p>\n

But I looked in Ebony<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,Essence<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and Vanidades<\/em><\/strong><\/a>for bridal tips, and found very little.<\/p>\n

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\"Ebony<\/a>Ebony<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flipping through the spring issues, when most bridal editorial is produced, I found very little.\u00a0 In the June 2014 issue, there\u2019s an article on the \u201cSecrets of Happy Marriages\u201d.\u00a0 The Ebony<\/em><\/strong> website tells me that there was an article in February of this year reporting on the \u201cSay Yes to the Dress\u201d episode where WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson choose wedding gowns, but most of the talk about marriage in this magazine is about how to have a good one.\u00a0 Frankly, this is much more important stuff than the wedding itself, but we still want to look at pretty dresses.<\/p>\n

StyleCat search for “bridal”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Wedding<\/a><\/p>\n

Essence<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n

This title offers slightly more of the \u201cOooh Aaah\u201d effect by providing an article on an actual bride, radio host Shirley Strawberry, complete with details of her gown, headpiece and accessories.\u00a0 (April 2015 issue) But again, this isn\u2019t coverage of either bridal fashions or less-famous real brides.<\/p>\n

So where are African-American women of style going for information on bridal products?\u00a0 We know the bridal industry is huge in this country, so they have to be consuming in this market, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s where the internet is my friend.\u00a0 When I began to look online, I found tons of Wedding Industrial Complex aimed specifically at the African-American market.\u00a0 Here are a few of the more comprehensive sites I found:<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/a>
Munaluchi layout inspired by Gustav Klimt, spring 2015: art-inspired-shoot-mint-wedding-ideas-munaluchi-026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Here are some websites aimed at African\/American women:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.blackbride.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/blackbrideandgroom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.african-weddings.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/munaluchibridal.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Vanidades<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Vanidades:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But what about Hispanic brides? We subscribe to Vanidades<\/strong><\/em>, a title aimed at Hispanic women in America.\u00a0 But it doesn\u2019t have much coverage of the wedding industry, either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Vanidades<\/a><\/p>\n

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I found one mention of a fairy-tale wedding in the April 2014 issue.\u00a0 But even this article reads more like a paparazzi-fed celebrity report than wedding-industry romance about the dress, the shoes, and the tiara.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So where are Hispanic brides getting their wedding inspiration from?\u00a0 This question is complicated by the number of different countries of origin among Hispanics in America.\u00a0 But here in the library, we have all kinds of demographic records!\u00a0 A quick search through Statista<\/em><\/strong> (https:\/\/libproxy.fitsuny.edu\/login?url=https:\/\/www.statista.com<\/a><\/strong>) produced the breakdown, by percentage, of country of origin among all Americans identifying as \u201cHispanic\u201d.\u00a0 Once in Statista<\/em><\/strong>, I searched for \u201cHispanic population in the U.S., by origin 2010\u2033 (census date).<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/a>
Regina and Zaheen serenaded by mariachi band in 2011. Photo by Aaron Delesie. Zacatecas, Mexico. http:\/\/snippetandink.com\/destination-wedding-zacatecas-mexico\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I discovered that people of Mexican descent make up the vast majority of the Hispanics in this country.\u00a0 Puerto Rican descent is the next largest, then Cuban, then Salvadoran, then Dominican.\u00a0 Since I know that a large percentage of those here in New York are of Puerto Rican or Dominican heritage, I focused on trying to find any websites devoted to weddings in these traditions.<\/p>\n

And couldn\u2019t find much.\u00a0 Lots of questions on larger wedding-planning sites from Puerto Rican and Dominican women, but nothing that was marketed directly to them.\u00a0 Here are some of the sites I found:<\/p>\n

Puerto Rican\/American wedding customs from Latina Abroad blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Puerto Rican\/American wedding customs from The Knot blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Dominican wedding customs from The Knot blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

(shout out tohttps:\/\/www.theknot.com\/<\/strong><\/a> for embracing so many cultures!)<\/p>\n

Dominican\/American wedding customs from Dominicans to the USA blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/prezi.com\/9y8t5gtx0rnz\/weddings-in-the-dominican-republic-3\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ironically, both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are popular places for Anglo-American couples planning destination weddings.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese\/American<\/a>
Chinese-American wedding in Manhattan, from Atlantic Monthly article, March 8, 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another large culture found in the New York area is American-born Chinese.\u00a0 While we\u00a0 subscribe to several major Chinese fashion magazines, the language barrier makes it difficult to get information on the variations of Chinese wedding customs celebrated in the U.S.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are helpful sites with detailed instructions:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.ourweddingday.com\/10-Chinese-Wedding-Traditions-14172876<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theknot.com\/content\/ancient-chinese-wedding-traditions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Indian\/American<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
Photo by Krista Lee Newbill, event by http:\/\/lauriedeanneevents.com. More about this wedding: http:\/\/lauriedeanneevents.com\/blog\/blended-indian-american-wedding-bringing-two-cultures-together\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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http:\/\/fortune.com\/2014\/08\/08\/indian-weddings\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to this article in Fortune<\/em><\/strong><\/a>magazine, August 8, 2014, \u201cThe average American wedding costs $29,000 and has 140 guests\u2026\u00a0 The average cost of an Indian wedding in the U.S. is $65,000 with 500 guests,\u201d says an planner who specializes in Indian-style weddings.\u00a0 This kind of ceremony has generated it\u2019s own multimillion dollar wedding industry.\u00a0 Despite this, American bridal magazines don\u2019t address this sort of ceremony at all.<\/p>\n

Indian-American culture clearly embraces the\u00a0 colorful wedding ritual.\u00a0 Unfortunately, other than the recently-created Vogue India<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, we have been unable to find any American vendors who carry Indian-fashion magazines.<\/p>\n

Yet again, the internet helps solve this problem.\u00a0 The growing network of wedding planners, venues, and suppliers who specialize in Indian customs can easily be found by the click of a mouse.\u00a0 I found many sites, all of which have lavish images of red and gold bejeweled brides and grooms wearing turbans or riding horses.\u00a0 Here are just a few, to inspire you.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.indianweddingsite.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.marigoldevents.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve only written about several ethnic-American cultures here, due to space concerns.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly non-Anglo Americans are finding the information and resources to plan the weddings they desire outside of traditional print sources.\u00a0 Thank you, internet!\u00a0 The bigger question remains, however: \u201cdoes it matter to non-Anglo Americans that mainstream bridal magazines don\u2019t reflect their presence in this market?\u201d\u00a0 Unfortunately, it would take more resources than I have available to resolve it.\u00a0 In the meantime, enjoy all the pics of gorgeous gowns and decorated venues.\u00a0 And happy wedding season!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devina and Matthew, wed in Milwalkee, Sept. 2013: http:\/\/www.wedplan.com\/featured-wedding-devina-matthew\/ Several weeks ago I wrote about wedding magazines up in the Periodicals and Electronic Resource Services on the 6th floor.\u00a0\u00a0 Those magazines were so blond and white, I am embarrassed for them.\u00a0 They don\u2019t look anything like the FIT students and industry professionals working in our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[167,147,14184,14],"tags":[50339,50341,50340,50342,36109,50338,36106,50343],"class_list":["post-4234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-fashion","category-libraries","category-media","tag-american-born-chinese","tag-indian-american","tag-mexican","tag-non-traditional-weddings","tag-wedding-gowns","tag-wedding-planning","tag-weddings","tag-www-theknot-com"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hRtx-16i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}