Top 6 Wedding Dress Trends from New York Bridal Fashion Week
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I recently got back from the most unreal three days at New York Bridal Fashion Week, and let me tell you—it was a dream come true. Lifelong bucket list item checked off for sure. And now, I’ve put together a breakdown of NYBFW wedding dress trends so that you know what to expect, and what’s going to be hot in bridal fashion over the coming years!
My overall impression: The trends at this year’s New York Bridal Fashion Week really revolved around giving brides OPTIONS, and I think that pairs so well with the current Gen Z focus on individuality. On letting go of the idea that you need to fit in with the crowd, and making your unique stamp on your bridal look. The variety, the innovation, and the creativity I saw made me SO excited to see what’s to come in 2026 and beyond. . . now, let’s take a look at the top 8 NYBFW trends that I’ve been dying to share with you!
Top 8 Wedding Dress Trends from New York Bridal Fashion Week
1. Feathers
Let’s start off with what was undoubtedly the strongest trend, and is going to be the next it girl of the season: feathers. Feathers were EVERYWHERE this year, in almost every single collection I saw: on long gowns, short party dresses, veils, gloves, you name it and I’d bet you it involved feathers!
Selfishly, I love, love the way that a feather dress photographs on camera. Feathers naturally have a lot of movement, blowing around in even the gentlest of breezes, and add so much fun texture to any style of bridal look. They’re perfect for the bride who wants to bring allll the main character energy to her special day in the most glamorous way possible.
What I find extra interesting about this trend is that Taylor Swift’s new Life of a Showgirl album hadn’t even been announced by the time that most of these designers had designed pieces for these collections—and if you know anything about my love for Taylor, it’s that I’ll ALWAYS look deep into the imagery and symbolism of everything she puts out. Those feathered headdresses across her limited-edition albums covers made a statement for sure, and I think it worked out serendipitously that the feathers featured in NYBFW just met the moment! (Especially the iconic orange cover of her “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” vinyl collection—I bet we’ll see it inspire many wedding dresses in the near future.)
2. Veil Innovation
In the past, veils have been more of a complement to the main hero of the gown than anything else—but this year, I feel like the veils were the stars of the entire show.
Let’s talk about what I mean by “veil innovation:” the veils were such an important piece of every look at New York Bridal Fashion Week this year, so much so that it almost felt like the looks were incomplete without the innovation of the veil. The amount of variety I saw in the silhouettes was staggering, displaying an array of colors, a variety of appliques. . . there was just SO much creative innovation that I hadn’t ever seen before, and it really made everything feel so fresh. I think that’s what excited me the most!
We’re talking short, blush veils that subtly cover the eyes, with a little bit of beading lining the edges.
We’re talking hooded silhouettes in place of the traditional style of veil that is affixed to the back of your head, draping down your shoulders—instead, a lot of what I saw this year was veils affixed to the top, draping down the sides and, in some cases, designed to be an actual hood.
We’re talking Daisy Buchanan-style, 20’s-inspired veils that cover the top of the head, draping down with appliques on the sides. This style is going to be super popular for the badass, boho brides who want to add a touch of edge to their look, and is probably the one I’m most personally excited by.
Emma wore one of my favorite veils I’ve seen, a vintage lace mantilla veil that stunned for her mansion wedding.
3. Convertible Designs
It almost felt like convertible designs were the standard this year at New York Bridal Fashion Week, prevalent across almost every single collection I was able to view. It felt like bridal designers were meeting the moment, and really answering to brides who want those second, even third bridal looks for their big day. I LOVED the different types of conversions that I was seeing, as a bride myself who really wanted two separate looks: one for the daytime, and one for nighttime on the dance floor. It was so fun to see these designers really lean into that and provide solutions for brides who want something that’s cohesive, comfortable, and easy to change into/out of throughout the night.
Not only were these designs super practical and innovative; they had SUCH fun aspects to them, too! We’re talking removable sleeves, skirts, and trains like you would expect, as well as other accessories like multiple belts to change into. There was even this one design that I saw with removal hip padding that you could use to create that exaggerated, hourglass look, and maybe go for a sleeker look later in the night. There were simply so, so many examples of convertible looks that I truly feel like this is going to be the standard moving forward—and what an exciting way for brides to be more creative with their looks than ever before!
Take a peek at one of my favorite examples of detachable sleeves EVER from this Floral Editorial Shoot ❇️
4. Gloves
It should come as no surprise to anybody who has been tuned into fashion over the last couple of years that gloves are hot right now. They were everywhere at New York Fashion Week, and then they were everywhere at New York Bridal Fashion Week! Earlier this year I purchased a pair of gloves for a bridal shoot with these drippy gems that were so popular around the glove styling this year—it was so fun to see the trend in action.
The prominence of gloves at this year’s NYBFW felt like such a blend between the worlds of street style and bridal fashion, many of the designers having so much fun innovating around gloves. There was quite a bit of variety, from little lace gloves that barely touched the wrist to long, opera gloves with lots of lace, and even full-length sheer gloves that were almost meant to look like they added to the design of the full gown. This type of glove isn’t necessarily meant to fully look like an accessory, but rather add to the full vision of the look, and I adored seeing the ways different designers played with that.
The sheer gloves that my past bride Kelsey wore for her engagement were *chef’s kiss.*
5. Collars, Capes & Cloaks
This was a really fun one to see, and I know you’re going to looove the way that designers are helping brides show off their unique styles through accessories like these.
Let’s start off with collars: I saw many designers using collars to add emphasis to the more simple gowns of the week, making use again of that convertible trend that allows you to have a little bit of variety in your look. In particular, I absolutely loved the collars from Milanova; these beautiful lace collars that felt almost like chokers, but went down a bit lower.
Capes are nothing new—we’ve seen them in years past, for sure, but I would definitely say that capes were absolutely still prevalent in this year’s New York Bridal Fashion Week. And often paired with feathers! I just love this option for brides who have shorter hair or just don’t want that traditional veil look, but still want the volume and the drama of a sort of train that you can detach later on.
Last but certainly not least, cloaks were such a fun trend to see more of this year. As somebody who loves a cozy hood, I loved seeing designers incorporate hooded cloaks into their looks, even sometimes pairing them with veils! I feel like these are perfect for winter weddings, or for any bride who likes a hood in general. Berta did a fabulous job with their cloaks and I’m excited to see what other designers follow suit.
6. Color
Designers have always tried to offer options for brides who don’t want a traditional white dress, but the use of color this year absolutely blew me away. I’m going to call out 3 designers in particular whose collections were just so different in their use of color, and just so truly stunning for all different types of brides.
First up? Alexandra Grecco. This is really for that romantic, androgynous bride who wants an intentional pop of color—this year we’re talking muted maroons, robin’s egg blues, plums; tones that are so deep and romantic and had me drooling at NYBFW.
The second designer that I have to call out is Ines di Santo, who developed a custom collection for the movie Wicked: For Good. It’s truly SO stunning and as a Wicked fan, I was delighted by this collection!
Last, but certainly not least, is Harleen Kaur. She developed a gorgeous, vibrantly bright and colorful, gender fluid collection using sustainable materials, and it was such a fun one for me! My jaw was to the floor for almost the entire runway show.
And that is that! My breakdown of all my favorite things I saw at New York Bridal Fashion Week, though it felt impossible to narrow it down to just a few. While you’re watching for the surge in these hot wedding dress trends, be sure to also watch out for these 5 Bridal Designers that I’m keeping my eye on in 2026 👀
