Taigan Fetch Magazine by Taigan

I got married at such an advanced age—forty-two—that Anna Wintour asked me to write a piece for Vogue about “being an old bride for the first time.” Needless to say, I did not wear white. I wore, instead, lettuce green. But I still had the big dress, complete with train, designed by the ever fabulous Carolina Herrera and Herve Pierre, her design director and one of my favorite people in the world. When I walked down the aisle—well, actually, across my parents’ front lawn—people broke out in applause. I still don’t know if it was prompted by amazement that I was finally doing the right thing or the dress.

Either way, the dress was totally gorgeous with a crinoline underneath where Herve had thoughtfully sewn a blue satin ribbon. It was just not something I had any intention of wearing for any length of time. I needed to run around, speak to people, have fun–unencumbered. As soon as the photos were over and I’d polished off my second or third glass of champagne, I enlisted my good friend Andre Leon Talley to get me out of it. Andre is so tall he could pull this enormous dress off me in one stroke. Plus, he’s seen me naked and he doesn’t care.

Andre had been in on the dress from the get go and attended every fitting. It was at the last one when the idea of a second dress was born. “Y’all,” I said, “I can’t possibly wear this enormous dress all night. What should I change into?” I then answered my own question and offered up a black chiffon Akris I already owned, which Andre immediately nixed: “You are not wearing black on your wedding day.” In Carolina’s collection that spring, there had been a sexy silk cocktail dress with a flattering low neckline and three-quarter trumpet sleeves. It was in turquoise, which is definitely not my color, so we pulled out the fabric swatches and settled on an unlikely—for me—French blue with off-white polka dots. I loved the frivolity of the dots, the dress was sexy as hell, and I bought some five-inch Manolos in silver leather to go with it.

I do not dance, but in that dress I danced so much I could not feel the balls of my feet for a week. I danced with my new husband, I danced with my father, I danced with my best friend. When my husband took the stage with the band (in a previous life he was the lead singer for The Mersey Shores), I danced with my old boyfriend.

My husband and I and a half dozen or so other stalwarts were the last to leave the reception at 3:30 AM. We had a blast and I know it was the dress that did it. So I wholeheartedly endorse the idea of a short post-ceremony dress. One of my favorite songs is Nick Lowe’s “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll.” I can now rewrite it. Isn’t “I Knew the Bride and She Still Rocks and Rolls” so much more fun?

Pictured above: a white Marchesa cocktail dress from Mimi flanked by details from two Vera Wang bridal gowns, also from Mimi.

– Julia Reed

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