Focus on Fashion

I’m one of those annoying people who channel surfs during commercials. I’ve been known to switch between three different shows in one half-hour time slot.

It’s really amazing what’s on television today. Shows are being produced on a dime by being more reality-based, because there’s not much production cost in filming what people are already doing.

This weekend, I was doing my usual channel surfing and I came across “Say Yes to the Dress.”

This show is on all of the time. I’m surprised when I don’t come across it on a regular basis, and even though I watch the show, it still irritates me.

I love seeing the dresses and the women’s faces when they find their perfect dresses, but this show isn’t just a form of entertainment.

“Say Yes to the Dress” is a marketing maneuver, and the spin-off show, “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta,” is just giving southern girls a half-hour period in which to fantasize about a wonderland of pricey gowns closer to home.

These shows are ways to get girls to want to shop at Kleinfeld Bridal, the bridal boutique where “Say Yes to the Dress” is filmed. I’ve gone to its website to check out the Wedding Gown Search, and I’m not even in a relationship, so I give the business a good grade for advertising purposes.

There’s drama between bridezillas, crazy bridesmaids and mothers to make for a little bit of entertainment, but, for the most part, this program is just a way for Kleinfeld to show women it has thousands of dresses and will find any woman’s dream wedding dress.

Here’s my problem: These women are buying thousand-dollar dresses for a one-day event.

In one episode, a woman even said her dress was the price of a down payment on a house.
In my opinion, that’s kind of crazy. And people who watch “Say Yes to the Dress” should realize this isn’t the norm in wedding dress shopping.

You can still feel like a princess on your special day without breaking the bank.
Weddings are important. They give you something to look back on for years to come.
But the bride and groom are celebrating their commitment and union to each other. Shouldn’t that be enough?

I’m not here to admonish anyone for paying exuberant amounts of money for a dress; if you can afford it, and it makes you feel like a princess, then it is your right to do as you wish.

I’m just saying that while this program can show you dresses that are “in fashion,” it is just another advertising gimmick.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a day special. If you can’t afford the clothes you see on TV, that’s okay. A price tag, or a specific shop, doesn’t make an expensive item more important than a more economical counterpart.

—samkirby@indiana.edu