There is a phrase that nearly every bride utters in the weeks following their engagement. Amid the cooing over carats and endless retellings of the moment the question was popped, friends or bridal stylists usually ask some version of, “So, have you thought about a dress yet?” The bride-to-be usually counters with a laughing, slightly overwhelmed, “I have no idea,” followed by a quick caveat, “but not a mermaid.”

The reaction is so common it almost feels like bridal gospel, though it wasn’t always this way. French couturier Marcel Rochas first brought the mermaid dress into the spotlight in the 1930s. His elegant, subtly sultry creations—donned by movie stars and cover girls alike—are practically unrecognizable when compared to the bedazzled, overdramatized caricatures that have since become synonymous with the silhouette.

The style’s unfortunate association with mason jars and teal bridesmaid dresses has trapped it within an early-2010s time capsule, alongside skinny jeans, chevron prints, and the Sepia Instagram filter. Come 2020, brides had abandoned the figure-clinging shape for understated slips and anything with a basque or drop waist. But history—especially fashion history—repeats itself. And if the fanfare surrounding 2016 earlier this year is any indication, fashion may be due for a trip down memory lane.

Brides need look no further than the red carpet and recent ready-to-wear and couture shows for inspiration on a modern mermaid. Teyana Taylor has stayed true to the style throughout the 2026 awards season, sporting designs by Schiaparelli, Burberry, Tamara Ralph, Ashi Studio, and Tom Ford, each reinterpreting the classic mermaid silhouette in a new light. Her One Battle After Another co-star, Chase Infiniti, has also embraced various takes on the trumpet silhouette from Louis Vuitton, including a contoured, sculptural burgundy gown with a dramatic, undulating flare at the knee—and, in the ultimate callback to the 2010s, a mirrored peplum top paired with a mermaid skirt.

Perhaps the best proof point for a mermaid revival is Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights press tour wardrobe, styled by the brilliant Andrew Mukamal. The campaign treated the silhouette as something of a north star, with standout looks including a black-to-red ombré number from Schiaparelli, a feathery, romantic tulle mermaid gown from Ashi Studio, and a sheer, hairy (yes, you read that correctly) mermaid dress from London-based designer Dilara Findikoglu.

Findikoglu also designed the custom wedding gown of photographer, director, and Vogue bride Harley Weir, which featured a subtle mermaid flare at the back of the skirt, embroidered with faded pink bows. The wedding’s gothic setting—an Irish castle—and the couple’s handmade wax wedding bands, juxtaposed against Weir’s ultra-feminine gown and her bridesmaids’ pretty pink dresses by Simone Rocha, recalls a scene that could have been lifted straight from the pages of a Brontë sisters novel.

This renaissance isn’t happening in a vacuum. “When a culture moves towards romance and sensuality, which we’re seeing across the board in 2026, sculptural silhouettes, like a mermaid, start to reappear,” says Chelsea Jackson, bridal cultural analyst and founder of Showroom Theory. Recent examples include Danielle Frankel’s Luna—rebranded as a more consumer-friendly “fluted” silhouette—and Harris Reed’s cream-colored Debutant, a body-hugging column that blossoms into a ballgown style skirt at the knees. Reed included the gown as one of four in the launch of his Fluid Bridal line for his eponymous label during last month’s London Fashion Week.

“Almost every season I’ve ever done on the catwalk has always involved a mermaid gown,” Reed says. “I love it because it takes up space; no matter if you're short or tall, you can give yourself an extreme silhouette.” For Jackson, the renewed interest also reflects fashion’s “reinvestment in the body” after years dominated by softer, slinkier shapes. “It’s the perfect counterpoint to the bias-cut slips that defined bridal for so long,” adds Lizzie Wheeler, founder of vintage bridal boutique Studio Dorothy. “It’s structured, but it’s still slim.”

Designers, however, are careful not to recreate the overelaborate versions of the mermaid that defined the early 2010s. As one bride-to-be admits, “the [mermaids] I had seen prior to trying on dresses myself were very glitzy and extravagant, which isn’t aligned with my personal style. It wasn’t the shape I had a problem with so much as the other elements I associated with the gowns.”

The trick to designing a desirable mermaid, according to Reed, is to stick to modern materials that aren’t too fussy, and to refrain from overwhelming brides with over-the-top detail. “I think the modernity of the fishtail is about stripping it back to the core of the construction,” he shares. In other words, it should look clean, but pack a punch. Wedding dress designer Pnina Tornai agrees. “I think we will see more unembellished gowns, elegant long sleeves, and a rise in dropped-waist gowns that flare higher than a classic mermaid,” she clarifies.

The pared-back mermaid dominating Western bridal runways isn’t the only version gaining traction. In South Asian bridalwear, where embellishment and grandeur are part of the tradition, the fishtail silhouette—as it is commonly called—is finding new life in a more ornate form. Bridal stylist Alisha Datwani, who specializes in weddings that have both a white dress and Southeast Asian ceremonies, has seen her clients increasingly gravitate towards fishtail skirts for their lehengas. “It’s a great solution for brides who don’t want to be overwhelmed by the size of a ball gown, but still have that level of drama,” she observes. Datwani recently dressed Vogue bride Madeleine Kelley in a red-and-gold embroidered lehenga with a subtle fishtail skirt by Indian designer Anita Dongre, and another of her brides is set to wear a more pronounced, at-the-knee flare this April. If these early examples are any indication, the mermaid’s comeback is unfolding across bridal traditions, increasing its odds of staying power.

Still, translating runway momentum into widespread bridal demand takes time. “The bridal industry typically moves one or two seasons behind traditional fashion,” explains Jackson. Once a style begins to trend in ready-to-wear, it is not broadly available to brides for at least a year, due to the slow, seasonal cadence of the bridal fashion calendar and the made-to-order nature of the business. Wheeler, however, is optimistic that the mermaid will shed its stigma and gain significant market share by the summer of next year.

“I find that trends operate following a 15-year cycle,” she mentioned via a TiKTok video posted in January. “By this logic, this 2012 Oscar de la Renta mermaid is ready to go to her 2027 bride.” The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the studio’s sales. Based on the aforementioned hunch, Wheeler began slowly folding mermaids into her collection—and brides, even those who at first asked for anything but a mermaid, began buying them.

In December alone, 21% of the wedding dresses sold by Studio Dorothy were mermaid shapes, making it the atelier’s fastest-growing silhouette. Wheeler herself admits that her small vintage studio is no foolproof bellwether of bridal trends—but a place like Kleinfeld, which hosts the world’s largest selection of bridal inventory, certainly has the data points to back up a growing movement. Dorothy Silver, Kleinfeld’s director of merchandising, notes that the store has seen “an increase in requests for mermaid-style and trumpet gowns,” although she emphasizes that fuller, more traditional silhouettes are still number one.

This slow shift in perception might be just what the mermaid gown needs to leave a lasting mark. “I think it's the most exciting piece I get to make for my brides,” exclaims Reed. “There’s something a bit nostalgic about it, like My Fair Lady, or glamorous old Hollywood.” Brides may still walk into their first appointment insisting on anything but a mermaid. Increasingly, though, the brides who want to bring a little flair to their wedding day are walking out with one.