“The world is quite mad but quite beautiful,” says Alice at the end of her Wonderland adventure.
Certainly, that applies to fashion, too—especially the new GALA VIII Collection by Galia Lahav and Sharon Sever.
A range of exquisite wedding gowns inspired by Alice in Wonderland’s gorgeous fantasia, the collection is—in Lahav’s words—“giving the bride an alternative to the obvious, with trendy but classic and elegant moods all in one collection.” That includes jaw-dropping details like textured embroidery, pumped-up sleeves, and luminous plays on glossy silks and matte lace.
But the GALA VIII Collection isn’t just magical—it also continues a tradition of Alice in Wonderland stoking fashion’s artistic fires. Ever since the classic book was published in 1865, stylish women have been emulating the iconic heroine, first with “Alice Bands”—replicas of her famous black ribbon headbands—and later with her trademark whimsical dress. By the 1880s, girls attended tea parties dressed deliberately as Alice (striped stockings and all), and until the 1960s, “Alice Dresses” were a reliable best-seller in department stores.
Of course, that’s when the fun really began.
As fashion magazines became conduits for the Swinging Sixties, iconic models like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton posed for Alice-themed photo shoots, while bands like Jefferson Airplane crooned about the heroine at Woodstock and Glastonbury. When Princess Diana herself sported Alice Bands in the ‘80s, the heroine became a fashion inspiration again as all of London’s style set clamored to join the (mad tea) party.
