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Another day, another internet controversy. What are the people of the internet talking about today? Well, the latest thing to stir up widespread outrage is Olivia Culpo's wedding dress.
Olivia Culpo, former Miss USA and reality star, got married to San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey on June 29. Naturally, the pair had a rather elaborate society wedding that was covered by British Vogue. Also natural is that with all of this coverage came plenty of opinions — and most of those opinions centred around Culpo's wedding dress. In short, some people kind of hated it — but not for the reasons you may think.
Olivia Culpo's wedding dress
Culpo's first dress, which she wore for the wedding ceremony, was a long-sleeved white gown with a high round neckline and a bell-shaped skirt by Dolce & Gabbana.
“I had a very clear idea of what I wanted for my ceremony dress,” Olivia Culpo said to Vogue of the dress, adding, “I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way, shape or form. I wanted it to feel effortless and as if it’s complementing me, not overpowering me. There’s so much beauty and simplicity.”
She went on, “When I think about Christian and what he loves and the moments that he thinks that I’m most beautiful, it’s absolutely in something like this: timeless, covered and elegant."
While Culpo was going for “beauty and simplicity,” the internet used other adjectives to describe the dress.
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What did Kennedy Bingham say about Olivia Culpo's wedding dress?
“I have been a bridal creator for four years now, and I've never said this before, but I do not like this wedding dress,” said wedding stylist Kennedy Bingham, aka Gown Eyed Girl, on TikTok in a viral video. She went on, “This is a great example of how fashion is so much more than just what you see on the surface… it's all the stuff surrounding the dress that leaves kind of a bitter aftertaste.”
According to Bingham, the “way that [Culpo] was talking about [her dress]” was “pushing this idea of what she thinks all brides should look like.” She explained that Culpo's comments about the dress seemed to be “marketing and pushing this conservative agenda.”
Bingham also opined that there was “no personality” in the dress. She went on to comment on the many controversies that have surrounded the Dolce & Gabbana fashion house — the brand has been accused of homophobia and racism in the past.
“This was not a wedding. This was a conservative campaign,” Bingham said, before concluding, "You took this disingenuous ‘pick me’ route that honestly felt more like you were thinking about your narrative than your actual marriage."
After two lavish, weekend-long pre-wedding celebrations, Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are set to get married from July 12 to 14.
How has Olivia Culpo responded?
The video quickly went viral and, before long, Culpo commented in response. “Wow what an absolutely evil person you are,” she commented on the video. "I hope no one ever tears you apart in this way because it's extremely hurtful. I love this dress, and it was everything I wanted and more."
McCaffery also chimed in, commenting, “What an evil thing to post online. I hope you can find joy and peace in the world, the way my beautiful wife does.”
Other critics of Culpo's wedding look took aim at her minimal makeup — the reality star noted in her Vogue interview that she skipped mascara, lip liner and brow tint. “I never felt more beautiful than when I was in my ceremony dress and under my veil — I really wanted the simplicity of each component to harmonise perfectly,” she explained.
However, as both Bingham and Jessica Weslie Arena, another TikToker, noted, Culpo likely had other treatments to help her achieve her look instead.
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“I'm going to need Vogue to be astronomically real right now, because we know Olivia Culpo has had a lash lift — like, please zoom in,” said Arena. “For Vogue to even point these things out just gave me such weird vibes,” she added, “'cause obviously Olivia Culpo did something in order to not wear mascara, in order to not wear lip liner, in order to not wear a pencil on her eyebrows.”
Culpo – who has actually shared she got a lash lift for the wedding – also responded to this video, commenting, “It was an interview….. they asked me what my makeup was………………………..”
Naturally, all of this back-and-forth has sparked plenty of other opinions. While some agree with Bingham and Arena's assessments of Culpo's “conservative agenda," others claim that these critiques are unfair and, ultimately, inappropriate.
One commenter replied: “Olivia's choice to dress modestly does not demean others who do not. In fact, Olivia chose to express herself differently throughout the night. Representing what I can imagine might be the varying intersections of her personality and style. For the ceremony itself, which was held in a church, she dressed how she saw fit. It's an incredible leap to claim she is pushing some conservative agenda. Please use your platform to support all women. This content perpetuates the very patriarchy you claim to criticise.”
One could argue that it is not the actual wedding photos but, as Bingham put it, “all the stuff surrounding the dress” that the internet is actually picking at. And one could further argue that potential veiled political messaging and the reinforcement of unrealistic beauty standards is worth picking at a little. Others will say everyone's entitled to their opinion. After all, fashion and beauty choices at a highly-publicised wedding do have the power to make political and social statements — and brides who are in the public eye ought to be aware of the messages they are sending out. But we'll leave that for you to decide.
Or a ‘Til Death do us Part-y’, if you will.
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