What Is "Couture"

The word "couture" gets thrown around a lot in the fashion and bridal industries, but what does it really mean? And why does it matter?

"Couture" is a term of art, and definitions vary. Historically, it meant that a garment was made to measure, but today, the concept is broader than that. Among professional seamstresses, designers, fashion historians, and yours truly, there are a few common elements to the definition.

At Vionnette, "couture" means that the wedding dress meets the following qualifications:

1. Exquisite fabrics and laces

It starts with the fabric. A true couture garment is constructed from the highest-quality fabrics and laces. These textiles are almost always woven with natural fibers like silk, linen, and cotton; and they're typically woven in France or Italy. It's not impossible for a polyester textile to be high quality; there are many beautiful polyester fabrics being produced by Italian mills today. But it's much less likely.

Here are three examples of wedding dresses constructed from couture-quality silk fabrics:

The quality of the dense, heavy silk crepe in this vintage Vera Wang is evident even from afar.

Another vintage Vera Wang wedding dress. This one is constructed from an incredible quality silk duchess satin.

This '90s Kaat Tilley wedding dress was made from a beautiful quality handwoven raw silk. It is probably the finest textile in our shop.

And here is an example of a couture-quality French lace, again from a vintage (circa 1992) Vera Wang:

2. Handmade embellishments

The embellishments and beading on a couture garment are typically made or applied by hand instead of by machine. In the 1990s, Vera Wang's wedding dresses were beaded by the artisans at the famed Maison Lesage in Paris. Today, it is rare for a wedding dress to be beaded or embellished by hand.

Technological advancements have made it much easier and less expensive to produce heavily beaded and embellished fabrics (like the 3-dimensional laces that are so popular right now). But some luxury bridal designers, such as Monique Lhuillier, continue to produce couture, hand-sculpted embellishments.

The embellishments on the bust and waist of this Italian 1990s wedding dress were sculpted and applied by hand

The hand-embroidered buttons of Vera Wang's Eleanor gown are a beautiful couture detail.

The rosettes on this vintage Monique Lhuillier wedding dress were folded and attached by hand. The modern analogue of this dress uses the same technique.

3. Traditional construction techniques

A couture garment is made using traditional couture construction techniques like hand-finished hems, underlining, couture corsets (as opposed to simple, basic boning), and hand-applied zippers.

Carolina Herrera wedding dresses have a separate internal corset, which provides unparalleled structure and support

4. Ethical labor practices

Not everyone will agree with us about this, but in order to qualify as couture, we believe that a garment must have been created by skilled technicians under fair labor conditions. This often, though not always, means that a garment was produced in the same country in which it was designed. We do not believe that a garment produced by exploited labor can ever truly be couture.

Our namesake, the early 20th century couturier Madeleine Vionnet, agreed. Vionnet was a strong proponent of labor rights and provided significant labor protections to her employees. In her ateliers, she offered workplace benefits that are virtually unheard of even today, including on-site childcare and on-site medical care.

Evening dress by Madeleine Vionnet, circa 1935. In the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Image credit: V&A Museum.

What Couture Isn't

"Couture" is not a synonym for expensive, or eveningwear, or trendy. Nor is it synonymous with vintage. Just as few modern wedding dresses are couture, so are few vintage wedding dresses. Polyester and plastic-based/plastic-derived materials flourished in the bridal industry from the 1970s onward, just as they did in the garment industry more broadly. The aphorism "they don't make things like they used to" might be true for sofas, but not for wedding dresses.

Why Does it Matter?

Your wedding dress is important.

A wedding dress is a once (or twice)-in-a-lifetime garment that should be made with great care and skill. We believe not just in wearing vintage, but also in supporting modern designers and artisans who are producing thoughtful, well-made garments using materials that will stand the test of time -- instead of wedding dresses by mass-production designers whose prices reflect their marketing budgets, not material and construction quality.

We believe that couture and historical methods of constructing and embellishing garments are important, and worth preserving. Today, most of us will have a single opportunity to wear a couture gown: our weddings. If we are to preserve historical construction and embellishment techniques, we must do so in the context of bridal fashion.