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The white wedding dress is a tradition that has been popularised by royalty and Hollywood. The tradition is commonly credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. Before this, royal brides wore a variety of colours, with red being a popular choice in Western Europe. White dresses were reserved for debutantes being presented at court. As accounts of Victoria's wedding spread, the white dress became a symbol of status and wealth, and later a connotation of innocence and virginal purity.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 February 1840 |
| Bride | Queen Victoria |
| Groom | Prince Albert |
| Colour | White |
| Fabric | Spitalfields cream silk-satin |
| Details | Flounce of Honiton lace at the neck and sleeves, slim waist, full crinoline petticoat, and lace embellishments |
| Symbolism | Wealth, status, purity, innocence, virginal purity, and chastity |
| Influence | White wedding dresses were popularised by Victorian era elites, Hollywood, and royalty |
| Other | The white wedding dress was first advertised in 1927 and became the norm; it became more affordable in the 1930s and 1940s with the rise of synthetic fabrics |
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What You'll Learn
Queen Victoria popularised the white wedding dress in 1840
The white wedding dress is commonly associated with Queen Victoria, who wore a white gown when she married Prince Albert in 1840. Victoria's dress was made from Spitalfields silk and Honiton lace, with a deep flounce of lace at the neck and sleeves, a pointed basque-style waistline, and a full, floor-length skirt. The dress was considered unusual at the time, as royal brides typically wore more elaborate gowns in colours such as silver, gold, or red. White was also the colour of mourning in the mid-19th century.
However, Victoria's choice of dress was not without precedent. White had been a popular colour for wedding gowns for centuries, and Mary, Queen of Scots, wore a white wedding dress in 1559. Debutantes were also required to wear white court dresses for their first presentation at court. Victoria's dress received a great deal of attention due to the publicity surrounding the royal wedding, and it is said to have influenced the popular American magazine Godey's Lady's Book to declare in 1849 that:
> "Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue [for brides], whatever may be the material. It is an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one."
Following Victoria's wedding, wearing white quickly became popular among wealthy and fashionable brides on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it was not until after World War II that the trend was fully adopted by middle-class brides in Europe and North America. The increased prosperity of the 20th century also contributed to the idea of wearing the wedding dress only once, as it became more affordable for women of any class to have a single-use white wedding gown.
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White symbolised wealth, status, and virginity
The tradition of white wedding dresses is commonly credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress to her wedding with Prince Albert in 1840. Before Queen Victoria, brides simply wore their best dress, with royal brides choosing "heavy brocaded gowns embroidered with white and silver thread", and red being a particularly popular colour in Western Europe.
White wedding dresses were originally a symbol of wealth and status. White fabric was not only expensive but also difficult to maintain—it was hard to keep white clothing bright, and constant hand-washing was a chore. Therefore, only the rich could afford to wear white dresses, and they were often only worn once. The longer veils and trains of royal brides further emphasised their status.
White dresses also showed up well in the era's grayscale and sepia photos, and the colour white had associations with purity and virginity in Victorian times. The veil, too, was a symbol of virginity and modesty, as well as youth and purity. Etiquette books helped to turn the practice of wearing white into a tradition, with the white gown becoming a popular symbol of status and virginal purity.
By the end of the 19th century, the white dress was the garment of choice for elite brides on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it was not until after World War II that middle-class British and American brides fully adopted the trend. With increased prosperity in the 20th century, the tradition grew to include the practice of wearing the dress only once.
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White wedding dresses were hard to maintain
The white wedding dress, now a common tradition in the Western world, was popularised by Queen Victoria when she married Prince Albert in 1840. She wore a white court dress made from Spitalfields cream silk-satin with a flounce of Honiton lace at the neck and sleeves.
The white dress also carried a connotation of innocence and virginal purity. It was also believed that white symbolised purity, warded off evil spirits, and signified wealth—white was a colour reserved for women being presented at court. As society became more prosperous in the aftermath of World War II, the white, single-use wedding dress became more common.
The portrayal of weddings in Hollywood also helped cement the notion that marriage demanded a white dress. In 1956, film footage and photographs of Grace Kelly in her wedding gown quickly made their way across the globe. In 1981, 750 million people watched Charles, Prince of Wales, marry Lady Diana Spencer, who wore an ivory silk taffeta gown with a 25-foot train.
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White dresses became popular in Hollywood and the media
The white wedding dress became popular in the mid-19th century, after Queen Victoria wore a white gown at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. The style and colour of her gown were copied across continents, with women aspiring to look like the young, attractive queen. White wedding dresses were soon associated with wealth and status, as only wealthy brides could afford to wear a white silk gown that would be ruined by any sort of work or spill.
The rise of mass media, fashion magazines, and Hollywood films in the mid-20th century further cemented the association between white dresses and weddings. The portrayal of weddings in Hollywood, as well as the easy accessibility of images of celebrity weddings, helped reinforce the idea of the storybook wedding and the expectation that brides should wear white.
In 1956, photographs of Grace Kelly's wedding gown circulated the globe, and in 1981, 750 million people watched Lady Diana Spencer marry Charles, Prince of Wales, in a white silk taffeta gown with a 25-foot train. These high-profile weddings further contributed to the popularity of white wedding dresses and reinforced the notion that marriage demanded a white dress.
By the mid-20th century, white had become the standard choice for brides, with the colour symbolizing purity, innocence, and wealth. The mass production of synthetic fabrics in the 1930s and 1940s also made it more affordable for women of all classes to own a white wedding gown, contributing to its widespread adoption.
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White wedding dresses were not always popular
In the Victorian era, white wedding dresses became popular among the elites, and they gradually gained new symbolism—the colour began to signify purity and innocence, in addition to wealth. White dresses were also favoured as they looked good in early black-and-white or sepia-toned photography. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that white became the standard choice for brides across social classes in Europe and the US. This was due to several factors, including the rise of mass media, fashion magazines, and Hollywood films, which further cemented the association between white dresses and weddings.
The wear-once, special-style white wedding dress was first advertised in 1927, and with the development of synthetic fabrics in the 1930s and 1940s, it became more affordable for women of all classes to obtain a white wedding gown. World War II also played a role in the popularisation of white wedding dresses. U.S. wartime rations limited the amount of fabric that could be used for dresses, and with a surge of weddings as American soldiers returned from war, there was a push to maintain the tradition of "getting married in a traditional way".
While white wedding dresses are now considered iconic and timeless, they were not always the norm, and brides throughout history have worn a variety of colours and styles that reflected their personal preferences, cultural contexts, and social standing.
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Frequently asked questions
The tradition of wearing a white wedding dress is commonly credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840.
No, before Queen Victoria, royal brides wore wedding dresses in a variety of colours, with red being one of the most popular.
Intent on making a statement, the fashion-loving Queen chose a non-traditional dress and flower crown for her wedding.
