The History of the Wedding Dresses: From Beautiful Gowns to White Weddings

Especially for the lower classes, it was impossible for brides—or their families—to pay for a special dress for the day. In the majority of cases, the women would wear something that they already owned or a dress of their mothers/grandmothers. It was usually the finest dress available to them and more often than not in a colour other than white.

One of the most common colours worn at weddings was actually black! Dark colours were extremely common, as they would show up less dirt when walking around. Dark colours would also hide stains better, meaning that the clothes could be worn more than once. It was a completely different time when laundry wasn’t completed as quickly as it is now and finances were much tighter.

When brides wanted a different colour, there were some that were more popular than others. Blue wedding dresses were extremely popular. The colour was a sign of purity and piety because it was the colour that the Virgin Mary was always depicted wearing. This would usually be a darker blue, despite the Virgin Mary wearing lighter shades.

Green was a colour usually avoided. This colour was associated with bad luck and which bride would want that on their wedding day. Throughout history, women have been continually blamed for poor marriages, lack of children (especially boys) and various issues in the marriage. If a bride wore a colour that was bad luck, she was setting up her marriage to fail. Remember that people were traditionally very superstitious.

1401 is the first sign of brides choosing to wear white. However, the trend didn’t set until Queen Victoria. The gown was beautiful and a true image of the time. It helped that in 1850, one of the first American women’s magazine called Godey’s Lady’s Book stated that white was the best hue for brides.

White became the must have colour. Those who didn’t wear white were seen as a lower class. However, the colour wasn’t the only necessity: the quality of the material was considered. For the first time, brides started to buy their wedding dresses specifically for the day; even though they would only wear them once.

It took some time for women in the lower classes to afford white. It was a hard colour to find, which meant many dresses had to be specifically made for the woman. Only those with money were able to afford the dresses; after all, weddings were traditionally paid for by the bride’s parents at this time.

The dresses weren’t pure white at the time either. If you look back at pictures of “white” wedding dresses, you will see that they are usually off-colour. Some even look yellow or gray. This was due to the lack of bleaching agents and the ability to use them at the time. As the technology and means developed, the dresses became brighter and more glamorous.

During the World Wars and Great Depression money was extremely tight. Brides couldn’t afford, or justify, buying a dress that they would never wear again. The tradition went backwards to wearing their finest gowns that they already owned. These were back to the darker colours that historic traditions followed.

It was after the Second World War when the brides went back to beautiful white gowns. One of the first and most notorious after the War was Grace Kelly, whose dress inspired Kate Middleton for her marriage to Prince William. The dresses also became more extravagant and moved with the fashion of the era, as noticed by Princess Diana during the 1970s.

White wedding dresses are only followed by Western cultures. When you look at other cultures, especially the Japanese, Chinese and Indian ones, you will find that multicoloured or red dresses are more popular.

These colours are now being used more and more in Western weddings. People want something different or want to match their personality, whether it has a gothic style or is in a completely different colour. This has been noticed more since 2008 and the economic downturn. People are beginning to struggle to pay for designer wedding dresses in a traditional colour and need to buy something they can wear again.

Wedding dresses have changed over the years. Whether it is the style or colour, there have been changes over the years. It was quite easy at first, where the bride would wear her finest gown. However, they are now dresses that you wear once and white is tradition.

And the history of the groom’s wear? Easy: just match the bride, without knowing what the bride will be wearing!

Image by: Viethawk