High waistline, puffed sleeve, the most tender translucid streamy fabric of a long white dress… The Empire era complimented brides with not only antique style fashion, but also with a bridal array colour – the colour of ancient greek pillars and statues. Prior to that a wedding dress could be of any colour but white – as it was considered a mourning colour. Princess Murat, Napoleon’s younger sister, challenged traditions in the beginning of the 19th century. Her wedding drapery radiated with whiteness. However, ambitious Carolina, Bonaparte’s favorite, was not destined to become a white wedding dress fashion queen. It was Victoria, queen of Great Britain, ancestress of the Windsors. The whole world saw the photographs of her wedding with prince Albert in 1840.
The white satin dress of the queen, decorated with orange blossom and trimmed with the finest lace became the standard for brides all over Europe. By the way, queen Victoria brought in a new style of the wedding dress: narrow bodice, hoop skirt and long train. It has become a common practice to call such a design Victorian. The train symbolized the dower and the colour…at that time white colour was rather a sign of luxury and wealth than innocence and purity. Snow-white dress was a costly affair, not everyone could afford having a robe for only one occasion. Easily soiled, it was not suitable for further casual wear. Milky, chalky, soft ivory tinctures of white emerged.
- Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Wedding
That said, it is the white wedding gown that is deemed canonic for more than 200 years. What is the secret? Aleksander Vasiliev, a Russian fashion historian, considers it to be a peculiarity of human psychology. In his opinion, one of the essential features of a wedding gown is its conventionality, even old-fashionedness, if you wish. A bride in her array should not be super-modern. It does make more sense to be in line with the older generation’s tastes, mainly, those of future in-laws. To comply with traditions, be righteous, associate with forefather’s era – that is an important psychological issue to be necessarily taken into consideration while preparing a bridal array. And the vast majority of brides do take it into account! Style and design may vary, but, at least 8 out of 10 women choose a white dress for their first wedding. One thing they can be sure of – expectations of their fiances will be met. After all, in general, men know little of the wedding fashion, they are just convinced that white is the bridal colour…
Main image: Joem Aldea Photography.
