Molly Guy ’99 is making weddings cool.
In 2011, Guy founded Stone Fox Bride, a bridal boutique that has become the go-to spot for betrothed millennials. The boutique is hailed as the “current wedding-wear darling of the jammin’ and Instagrammin’ set” by the New York Times.
Guy said she created Stone Fox Bride because she saw a gap in the market between swollen taffeta gowns and less formal wear. She astutely anticipated that New York would embrace a shop catering to the “it girl” with a ring on her finger.
“I was disheartened by my career path, and then I got engaged and got married, and I saw that there was a void,” she said.
Guy left her job at a beauty company and set out to create an alternative wedding experience where the bride could ditch the stuffy tradition and instead strut down the aisle in sheer lace and a plunging neckline.
By now, Guy has sold hundreds of these dresses to women ranging in age from 22 to 45 — women whom Guy describes as having “their fingers on the pulse of fashion and culture and are pretty cynical about all things mainstream.”
With an unofficial motto of “fuckweddings,” Guy caters to these counterculture brides-to-be by stocking her shop with flowing frocks and vintage slips. The only semblance of traditional wedding dresses is their off-white color.
And what better models to show off these anti-wedding wedding dresses to millenials then the cast of HBO’s “Girls”? Jemima Kirke, who plays the character Jessa, and Zosia Mamet, who plays Shoshanna, have both modeled for Stone Fox Bride in the past, while Allison Williams wore one of the shop’s layered silk gowns as her character Marnie in the show. Guy still remembers Williams arriving at her apartment three days after she had her baby for a fitting.
To go with the custom-made dresses, the boutique offers fresh-flower crowns and curated vintage and made-to-order veils. Guy also offers a concierge service to arrange appointments with trainers, nutritionists, financial counselors and even sex therapists.
Beyond the boutique, Guy has made a name for herself as a writer, staying true to her Brown degree in creative nonfiction. She has a wedding column on Vogue.com and a book coming out next year. But her writing on Instagram has also brought her marked success, winning her over 116,000 followers on her Stone Fox Bride account.
Though Brown prepared Guy for a life of writing and killer Instagram captions, it did little to prepare her for the world of fashion. The only Brown-based experience she cited was thrifting at Savers Thrift Store and taking one leather-clad walk down the runway in 1995 for the Rhode Island School of Design’s fashion show.
Though Guy attended Brown over 15 years ago, she experienced the same fear of what the world outside of College Hill would hold. “I was so frightened. I still four or five times a week have a nightmare that I’m graduating. … and I’m still as terrified as I was in 1999.”
