She Had Everything She Needed for the Biggest Wedding of the Year and Chose a Short Dress With Blue Shoes

When an heiress to one of the twentieth century's largest fortunes gets married, you expect a six-metre train and a cathedral. Isabel Getty did the opposite: a short dress, a hat with netting, and blue.

The wedding was on 4 September, intimate, with only the closest family. The groom is financier Faris MacKinnon. Their son Vigo, born late last year, was there with them - which in itself says this is not a wedding staged as an event, but a wedding that happens when people are already living together.

Who is who

Isabel was born in 1993 in New York. Her father is Christopher Getty, grandson of J. Paul Getty - the man who founded Getty Oil. Her mother is Pia Miller, daughter of Robert Warren Miller, co-founder of DFS, the duty-free retail chain. She is also a niece of Marie-Chantal of Greece and a cousin of Olympia of Greece.

With a biography like that, any dress you put on reads as a statement. Which makes what she chose more interesting.

The dress

Short, minimalist, referencing the sixties and seventies. Sleeveless or with thin straps, with a square neckline front and back. Over it - a matching jacket with a slightly raised collar and a small ruffle. On her head a pillbox hat with a small bow, an almost direct nod to Jackie Kennedy.

And the shoes. Cobalt blue satin Manolo Blahnik Hangisi - the same model Carrie Bradshaw made famous on the show. That is not a randomly chosen detail. It is the only colour in the entire look, and the only thing people will remember.

Why this works

The long white dress is the safe choice precisely because it says nothing. Everybody wears it, so it exposes nobody. A short dress with blue shoes is a decision - somebody sat down, thought about it, and accepted that the decision would be commented on.

Around here a wedding is still an event at which something is proved to somebody else. That is why the dresses grow, the guest lists multiply, and the bill is paid off over years. This bride had everything she needed for the biggest wedding of the year and chose the smallest. That is a luxury money alone does not buy.