Did you know that the typical wedding dress was not always extravagant and white?  The reason they are may not exactly be what you think.

I don’t know about you – but I was always told that the wedding dress has always been white and that it was only suposed to be worn (white)  by a virgin.   This may be the newer traditional meaning over the centuries  (certainly not the modern meaning in this day and age though)   After taking some time to really find out the history behind the wedding dress – it’s pretty interesting.  
In America, most brides wore their best dress.  This wasn’t always a white one and sometimes it wasn’t even all that spactacular.   Some brides who had a little money could actual afford to make a special linen homespun dress for their day.  The dresses could then be used again as a “best dress” in the future.
But really – why has the traditional wedding dress been white for centuries?   Well we can all thank Queen Victoria for starting the trend in the 1840′s and Coco Chanel for continuing it in the 1920′s. 
The first known white wedding dress was worn in 1499 by Anne of Brittany when she married Louis XII of France… it wasn’t made popular until Queen Victoria set the trend though. 
Although, in some Asian countries white was a traditional wedding dress color, because it was the color of Mourning… (yes white – and not black)   The reason the bride would wear white was in mourning of leaving her old life, her family and her name and becoming part of the new one… her old life was to die on the day she was married.   In Europe and the Americas white was also considered a color of mourning; because of this, it was not a popular wedding dress color.  Instead, brides wore bright colored wedding dresses which symbolised their happiness. Many affluent medieval brides wore expensive fabrics like fur, velvet or silk on their wedding day… this was to show off their higher social standing

In the year 1840 Albert of Saxe-Coburg took Queen Victoria as his wife.  On that day she was bold to wear a gorgeos WHITE dress.  It was adorned with orange blossoms and had an extraordinary train of 18 feet long. When brides of her time and decades following saw her photo that was published in thousands of new papers across the Western World, it influenced the trends.  From that time on – the tone for wedding dresses was set for white.  Although many brides still wore bright colors, the white dress gained popularity more and more in parts of Europe and in North America to the point that it was considered out of the norm for a bride to wear anything but White or a shade close to it in Ivory. 

Another reason white became so popular during Victorian times is, it was a status symbol.  Since white was so incredibly difficult to clean and not warn but once on the special wedding day -  it showed that the bride had the money to be able to afford such and extravagance as this. 

As you can see – trends come and they go.  We are in the midst of a fashion trend swing for sure!  This past decade since, I’ve been in the wedding industry, there have been more and more colors and theme ideas being introduced into wedding attire and decor.  The brides are embracing it with a bear hug!   I see brightly colored wedding dresses as a big thing to come.   Mark my word – with in this next decade colored wedding dresses will be making their mark in the western world more and more!

Do you like the vintage style wedding dresses of decades and centuries gone past?  Did you know you may purchase patterns and have a beautiful wedding gown made by your seamstress.  A great place to search for some vintage dress patterns is at the Vintage Fashion Library.  I’m sure Lisa would be happy to help you.

Victoria Joanne

Photo Credits 
Antebellum 1850s Decolletage
Victorian 1890s Wedding Dress

References
Origins of Wedding Attire
The Fabric of Weddings – the wedding dress
New York Times – March 27, 1863
NewYork Times – July 7, 1893
Suite101 – History of white wedding dresses