千禧一代婚姻观念发生变化，美国最大婚礼服装零售商面临破产

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A few years ago, if you were a bride on a budget, you could head over to your local chain bridal store, pluck a few bedazzled dresses off a rack, have a meltdown or two in the dressing room in front of your mom and call it a day.

几年前，如果作为新娘的你预算有限，你可以直奔当地的连锁婚纱店，挑上几条仙气十足的婚纱去试衣间换上，在妈妈面前崩溃个一两次，一天就结束了。

These days, however, there’s a world of options available for brides-to-be, from bespoke wedding dress companies to indie bridal gown designers to — gasp! — choosing not to wear a traditional wedding dress at all. The latest sign of the impending fall of the bridal-industrial complex: David’s Bridal, the largest wedding retailer in the country, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov.19.

然而如今，准新娘们有着更加丰富的选择——订制婚纱公司、独立礼服设计师，甚者（令人惊讶的是）根本就不把传统的婚纱列入考虑范围之内。婚礼服装零售商正面临着危机。最新的一个迹象便是美国最大的婚礼服装零售商David’s Bridal在11月19日依据破产法典第十一章申请了破产保护。

The company’s bankruptcy won’t necessarily affect customers: According to court records, it has reached a deal with lenders to substantially reduce its debt by $400 million, which will allow its 300-odd locations across the country to remain open. Yet the company has been in financial trouble for quite some time, as have other traditional bridal retailers: The national chain Alfred Angelo, for instance, shut down last year. And industry analysts suggest that the dreaded millennials may be responsible.

该公司的破产申请并不一定会影响到顾客。法庭审理记录显示，David’s Bridal已经和债权人达成协议，在它的所有债务中，高达4亿美元的债务将会得到缩减，它在美国的300多家门店都将继续营业。然而该公司早在一段时间以前就已陷入了财务危机，其它传统婚礼服饰零售商的也是如此。比如，美国婚礼服饰连锁店Alfred Angelo在去年关门大吉。行业分析师表示，千禧一代难辞其咎。

For starters, millennials are increasingly delaying or eschewing marriage altogether, opting to cohabitate or focus on their careers instead of walking down the aisle. As of 2017, the median age of a first marriage is 29.5 for men and 27.4 for women, up from 23 for men and 20.8 for women in 1970. Between 2012 and 2017, the marriage rate dropped slowly but steadily at a rate of 1.2 percent per year, according to a 2017 report from the industry and market research firm IBISWorld, thus “limiting the pool of customers seeking bridal gowns and other wedding accessories.”

首先，越来越多的千禧一代正推迟或完全避开结婚。比起步入婚姻的殿堂，他们更倾向于同居或者专注于事业。2017年，初婚男性的中值年龄为29.5岁，女性为27.4岁；1970年，初婚男性的中值年龄为23岁，女性为20.8岁。行业市场研究公司IBISWorld的2017年报告显示，从2012年到2017年，结婚率以每年1.2%的速度缓慢而稳步地下降，因此“限制了购买新娘礼服和其它婚礼配饰的顾客数量。”

Even those millennials looking to get married aren’t necessarily interested in buying off the rack. Generally speaking, there’s been an industry-wide “push toward customization,” says Meghan Ely, owner of OFD Consulting, a wedding publicity firm in Richmond, Virginia. “Couples are a little bit older when they get married. They’re a little bit more established,” she said. “So they have a desire to have these wedding celebrations be a reflection of their personalities ... [they’re] a little more informal in their 30s, and they have no desire to walk down the aisle in a big poofy dress.”

就算是计划着结婚的千禧一代也不一定有兴趣买现成的婚纱。一般来说，这与全行业掀起的“私人订制潮”有关。佛罗里达州里士满一家提供婚礼策划服务的OFD咨询公司的老总Meghan Ely说：“这几年来，社会平均婚龄有所变大，因此新婚夫妇会更理性、更成熟一些。他们希望自己的婚礼能够反映自己的个性。过了而立之年的新人往往不那么拘泥于正规和传统，也不再愿意穿着膨大的、脂粉气息浓烈的传统婚纱步入婚姻殿堂。”

This trend toward customization has led to the advent of indie designers and bespoke wedding dress online retailers like Anomalie, which aspire to serve a hipper clientele than David’s Bridal. The Anomalie website features a diverse array of slender young couples gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes in Valencia-hued promotional shots. It’s an eminently Instagrammable aesthetic that retailers like David’s Bridal have tried to imitate in their own marketing materials, to mixed success.

私人定制的大势带来了独立设计师的涌现、催生了提供婚纱定制服务的线上零售商，比如Anomalie公司。与David’s Bridal公司相比，它更能吸引注重时髦的客户群体。在Anomalie公司网站展示上的瓦伦西亚色调的系列宣传照中，年轻夫妇深情凝望着对方的双眼，这类照片反映出一种极具“INS风”的美学。David’s Bridal这类传统公司也正尝试在营销广告中模仿这种风格，结果成败参半。

There’s additional evidence to suggest that brides are also becoming more averse to traditional bridal gown price tags. According to a 2017 survey from the Knot, budget-conscious millennials are spending less money on their weddings in general, and they’re also allocating their budgets differently: Instead of spending money on a dress, they’re splurging on cool venues or unique guest amenities (see: post-reception food trucks or cornhole) rather than spending money on a dress.

越来越多的证据表明，新人们对传统婚纱的价格也显得心有余而力不足。The Knot（一家婚礼策划网站）在2017年进行的一项调查显示，总的来说，精打细算的千禧一代在婚礼上的花费有所减少，并且，他们在分配预算的方式上也有差别：他们更乐于把钱花在租订豪华场地和为客人带来独特体验上（见于婚礼后的加餐车和为客人们准备的玉米沙包游戏），而不是购置昂贵的婚纱。

Ely says that brides are increasingly opting for rental services like Rent the Runway’s recently launched wedding concierge program or recognizable brands like Anthropologie and ModCloth (which both have their own wedding lines) in favor of traditional bridal boutiques. “People are saying, ‘Listen, you don’t need to stick to a particular formula for what you’re spending. At the end of the day, pick what’s most important to you and spend your money there,’” Ely said. “So we’re seeing as a whole a huge increase in attendee experience.”

Ely说，越来越多的新人倾向于选择婚纱租赁服务，比如参与Rent the Runway最近推出的婚礼礼宾项目，或是选择Anthropologie以及ModCloth（这两家公司都有各自的婚纱系列）的服务，以支持传统的婚庆品牌。她认为，人们不喜欢墨守成规，反而更倾向于选一个愿意为之剁手的东西。由此，我们可以看到新人们越来越注重婚礼来宾的体验。”

It’s also worth noting that younger people don’t necessarily conform to the gender stereotypes that have traditionally been the currency of old-school bridal retailers. Same-sex and gender-nonconforming couples getting married aren’t necessarily interested in conventional wedding styles, which has led to increasing demand for nonbinary wedding attire.

同样值得注意的是，刻板的性别观念依然被传统守旧的婚纱商家广泛认可，但年轻人可不见得会对此买账。即将结婚的同性夫妇以及性别不适者并不一定喜欢传统的婚礼风格，而这也增加了非二元式婚礼服饰的需求量。

“Personalized styles are much more embraced than they were even just a few years ago — on hetero and LGBTQ, alike,” said Brittny Drye, editor-in-chief of Love Inc. magazine, which published a nonbinary wedding fashion issue in 2015. “A bride wearing a pantsuit would have been considered ‘offbeat’ seven years ago, whereas today, celebrities are constantly wearing them for their weddings and the styles are being featured in major wedding magazine fashion editorials.”

杂志Love Inc.的主编Brittny Drye表示：“相较于几年前，异性恋者和性少数群体也同样更倾向于个性化风格。” 该杂志曾在2015年报道过非二元婚礼渐成时尚的现象。“七年前，人们会觉得一个新娘穿着裤装礼服很另类。可是如今，名人们经常会在婚礼上这么穿，而且主流婚纱杂志还对这种款式进行了专题评论。”

While the IBIS report notes that some vendors have responded to increasing competition in the bridal space by “offering to provide bridal apparel to plus-size individuals, same-sex couples and consumers who wish to purchase nontraditional dresses or accessories,” traditional retailers have been relatively slow to meet that demand — or at least, that’s the cultural perception.

IBIS的报道指出，为了应对婚纱销售领域日益激烈的竞争，一些厂商已经为大码顾客、同性夫妇以及不愿购置传统礼服或配饰的顾客量身打造了婚礼服饰。而传统商家则在满足顾客需求方面慢了半拍，至少大众的文化感知是如此。

David’s Bridal does currently offer a fairly wide range of options for plus-size brides, as well as pantsuits and jumpsuits. But Drye says it might not have been enough for the brand to combat its reputation as a “traditional” wedding dress vendor, “even though their collections offered more modern and fresh silhouettes and collaborations with well-known bridal designers.”

目前，除了长裤套装和连体裤外，David’s  Bridal还为尺码偏大的新娘提供了相当广泛的选择。但是Drye说，对于该品牌而言，这些可能还不足以改变其在人们心中作为“一个传统婚纱商家”的印象。“尽管他们推出了更为时尚新潮的系列款式，还与知名婚纱设计师进行合作。”

At the end of the day, it does seem that the image of the ethereal blushing bride that traditional retailers have pushed for years has lost sway over millennials, who are increasingly viewing their weddings as experiences rather than as mandatory rites of passage. That’s bad news for David’s Bridal and other retailers that have profited from traditional bridal tropes. But it’s undeniably good news for brides who are interested in bucking old-fashioned traditions in favor of creating brand new ones.

归根结底，对于多年来传统商家强推的优雅娇羞、充满仙气的新娘形象，千禧一代似乎并不感冒。他们更多地将婚礼视为一种体验，而不是一种带有强制性的必经仪式。这对于从传统婚纱行业中盈利的David’s Bridal和其他商家来说不失为一记重击。但不可否认，对于试图打破传统、打造全新婚礼的新娘来说，这是个好消息。

The average wedding in the U.S. now has five bridesmaids—according to an annual survey conducted by the wedding-planning platform The Knot—a number that is up from four in 2007 and appears to be steadily rising. It’s now common, several wedding experts saids, for a bride to have 10 or 11 maids.

根据TheKnot的一项年度调查报告，美国人的一场婚礼中平均有5位伴娘，这个数据比2007年调查的4位有所增加，并且似乎还在稳步上升。一些婚礼专家说，现在新娘有10到11个伴娘是常见的。

In pursuit of aesthetically pleasing photos and a tidy recessional, couples typically choose the same number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. But multiple people in the wedding industry told me that while groomsman numbers are growing, too, it’s likely bridesmaids— and thus brides—who are behind the ballooning attendant numbers.

为了追求好看的照片和整洁的退场，新婚夫妇们通常会选择相同数量的伴娘和伴郎。但许多婚庆行业的人士告诉我，虽然伴郎的数量也在增长，但伴娘的数量却大幅上升，新娘很可能是这激增数字的幕后推手。

Today the role of the bridesmaid is almost entirely symbolic—but that hasn’t made it any less popular. For brides, it’s a rare opportunity to officially announce to the world, “These are my people.” I love them, they love me. While romantic partners are singled out for celebration all the time, there aren’t many opportunities nowadays to publicly honor a friendship, says Keene, who regrets her decision to forgo bridesmaids at her wedding. Ten years later, she knows exactly who they would have been. “I miss being able to look back and say, ‘That person was my maid of honor.’”

今天，伴娘的角色几乎完全是象征性的，但这并没有降低它的受欢迎程度。对于新娘来说，这是一个难得的机会向全世界正式宣布:“这就是我的挚友们。”我爱她们，她们也爱我。Keene表示，对于爱人而言，每天都可以是纪念日，但对于朋友而言，如今公开表达友谊的机会却并不多。Keene对自己在婚礼上没有邀请伴娘的决定感到遗憾。十年后，她清楚地知道当时该找哪些人做伴娘。“我错过了能够向别人介绍‘那个人是我的伴娘’的机会。”

Now that wedding photos inevitably make their way onto Facebook and Instagram, bridesmaids and groomsmen continue to be honored and recognized long after the wedding is over. Even people who weren’t invited to the ceremony will observe the group—who’s in it, but also who’s not. By asking someone to be a bridesmaid, the brides felt they were making a clear investment in the future of the relationship. If they left close friends off the list, they worried that they might send the opposite message: In a few years, I’m not sure you’ll be around.

如今，婚纱照不可避免地会出现在Facebook和Instagram上，伴娘和伴郎在婚礼结束很久之后仍会受到尊重和认可。即使是没有被邀请参加仪式的人也会观察这个团体——谁参加了，谁没有。通过邀请某人做伴娘，新娘们觉得她们是在对这段关系的未来做出明确的投资。如果他们把亲密的朋友排除在名单之外，她们担心自己可能会发送出相反的信息：再过几年，我不确定你还会在身边。