Yes, say Keira Knightley and Liberty Ross...
When Liberty Ross hit the red carpet at the Oscars after-parties yesterday, she wasn’t wearing just any old bespoke dress. She was wearing her wedding dress, a John Galliano custom gown of goddess proportions, turned edgy with a black clutch and pearl earcuffs. Cool, right?
Yes cool on the red carpet, you might say, where the anything-goes style barometer can see celebrities dressing up as everything from Disney Princesses to pizzas –and it’s all totally acceptable.
But what about in real life? Can wedding dresses really ever be re-worn?
Granted that Liberty did, on this occasion, have something she wanted to shout about. She married music mogul Jimmy Irvine in a private ceremony on Valentines day, her fresh start and happy beginnings after ex-husband, director Rupert Sanders, had an affair with Kristen Stewart, and this was her chance to tell the world. But even if you weren’t planning a post-wedding, big reveal to your adoring and awaiting public, why shouldn’t you celebrate that frock in all its ivory glory?
You’ve spent months searching for the one, after all, and it’s probably the most expensive piece of clothing you’ll ever buy in your life. The whole cost-per-wear argument would otherwise go out the window, but if you re-style and recycle your investment, you might find yourself looking at a versatile, quality addition to your wardrobe, not to mention a boost to your eco-credentials.
Of course, Liberty’s not the first A-lister to recycle her bridal look. Keira Knightley famously revealed that she wears her Chanel couture confection all the time and, in fact, it wasn’t even a new dress to start with.
'Karl [Lagerfeld] very kindly designed me a jacket to go with it,' Keira told the Telegraph back in 2014. 'I'd worn the dress lots. It was my something old. And I liked not making a big deal about it. I just wanted to be in something I had had a great time in, something I would have a great time in again.’
‘It's now got red wine spilled down the front because the last time I wore it my friend went like this [she juts out her elbows], and now it's everywhere.’
Classic.
So perhaps the trick to pulling this off IRL is all in the cut of the gown that you buy, then. Keira could team that tulle mini with a biker jacket or a blazer, doing a bit of a Carrie Bradshaw when running around town. Liberty, meanwhile, might struggle to take her gown out of the occasion wear zone, as its floor length proportions and satin fabrication are oh so formal – but she could potentially alter it into a slinky slip dress, if sartorial surgery wasn’t too heartbreaking.
What do you think – would you ever wear your wedding dress again? Tell us what you think on Twitter @MarieClaireUK