Once a bride glides down the aisle in layers of lace, silk, and tulle, her majestic white gown rarely sees the light of day again. It has its moment in the spotlight, only to be carefully tucked away in the depths of a wardrobe – or, for the less sentimental, passed on to a new home.
It's even rarer for a wedding dress to be worn again by the woman who first said "I do" in it. But that's not a rule Kelly Ripa has ever felt compelled to follow.
Kelly and Mark Consuelos tied the knot in 1996, when they eloped in Las Vegas a year after meeting on the set of the soap opera All My Children. They went on to welcome three kids – Michael, Lola, and Joaquin.
© InstagramDuring an interview with People, Kelly revealed that she often recycles her "off-the-rack" wedding dress from Barneys New York. "I took the tags off to wear it to our wedding and I wear it all the time now as a beach cover-up," she shared, adding that the piece cost her "a lot of money" at the time.
In fact, the garment was never intended to be used as a wedding dress when the TV star first purchased it. "I didn’t buy it as a wedding dress. I just bought it because it was really pretty," said Kelly during an episode of LIVE back in 2016. The dress had an under-$200 price tag and was acquired by Kelly while she was working on the soap opera All My Children.
© Getty"I said to myself, 'I bet if I buy this maybe it will be an investment piece. Maybe I will wear it more than once,'" she added. It turns out Kelly's foresight was correct as she wore the white slip dress during her 20th-anniversary getaway with Mark.
The wedding dress featured a sleeveless design with delicate spaghetti straps and a figure-hugging silhouette. The entire gown was adorned with intricate lace detailing and finished with a graceful, floor-sweeping hem. Due to its wearable design, the bridal number has been easily reinvented by Kelly on vacations as a simple summer dress.
Kelly's style agenda
© Disney via Getty ImagesDespite her flair for experimenting with her fashion, Kelly knows what items she stays clerk from on her sartorial agenda. "There are so many things that I just can't or won't wear. I'm literally making a list in my head. I really try not to, at this age, [wear miniskirts] – and especially since I spend most of my time sitting in a stool or a desk, I try to wear longer skirts," she told People.
"Today was a special occasion. Lola asked me to put on [the] skirt [she's wearing] and I said, 'I just cannot.' Simply cannot. Past a certain age, you got to know when to hang up your disco shoes!"
