Junior Rasmussen
The tradition of wearing a white wedding dress is less than 200 years old. Before Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, brides wore a variety of colours, including red, violet, blue, yellow, green, and brown. The colour of a wedding dress was often chosen to reflect the bride's social status, purity, joy, or hope. Today, white wedding dresses are still the most common choice for brides in Western cultures, but off-whites, champagnes, and other colours are also popular.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time period | Before the mid-1800s, 18th century, 19th century, Medieval Times, Renaissance |
| Colors | Gold, blue, red, violet, yellow, green, burgundy, black, brown, grey, dark blue, white, cream |
| Fabrics | Velvet, silk, fur |
| Symbolism | Royalty, purity, virginity, wealth, social status, joy, hope, fertility, life, happiness |
| Culture | Western, Eastern, Greek, Chinese, Kurdish, Finnish |
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What You'll Learn
- White wedding dresses were influenced by Queen Victoria's choice of dress in 1840
- Before the 19th century, wedding dresses were colourful and made from rich fabrics
- In ancient times, brides wore bright colours to celebrate the occasion
- In the Middle Ages, brides wore blue, red, yellow, or green
- Black wedding dresses were popular before 1840
White wedding dresses were influenced by Queen Victoria's choice of dress in 1840
Wedding dresses have historically been associated with various colours, reflecting different cultural beliefs and traditions. In ancient times, brides often wore bright colours like reds and violets to express their happiness during this special occasion. During the Medieval period, blue was a popular choice as it symbolised purity. With the Renaissance, burgundy became the preferred shade, and corseted, bell-shaped gowns with long trains emerged as a fashionable style.
However, a significant shift occurred in 1840 when Queen Victoria, marrying her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, chose to wear a white wedding dress. This decision broke with royal customs and initiated a lasting trend in Western bridal fashion. The dress was crafted from Spitalfields silk and Honiton lace, featuring a structured eight-piece bodice, short puffed sleeves, and a deep v-shaped pointed waistline. The floor-length skirt was full and pleated, and Victoria paired it with a satin train over six yards long, carried by twelve attendants.
Queen Victoria's choice of a white wedding dress carried symbolic significance. At the time, white was a rare and expensive colour, conveying wealth and elegance. Victoria herself noted that the white satin gown showcased the delicate Honiton lace, which was only available in white at the time. The colour also aligned with the Victorian ideals of purity, innocence, and romance, further reinforced by media representations and fashion magazines.
The influence of Queen Victoria's wedding dress extended well beyond its time. Illustrations of the queen in her bridal attire were widely circulated, and the rise of photography and wedding portraits further popularised the white wedding dress trend. Victorian ideals of weddings, romantic love, and purity were retroactively projected onto the choice of white, rewriting it as a symbol of innocence and virginity. By the 1850s, women's magazines proclaimed that white was not just the best choice for a wedding dress but had always been the most appropriate, co-opting the trend as a longstanding tradition.
Today, white remains the default colour for wedding dresses in Europe and European-dominant countries, with deviations from this standard often seen as a departure from the norm. While the pressure to select a stark white gown has lessened, off-whites and champagne hues have gained popularity, and brides often incorporate colours through accessories. The legacy of Queen Victoria's wedding dress continues to shape bridal fashion, demonstrating the enduring influence of royalty on wedding traditions.
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Before the 19th century, wedding dresses were colourful and made from rich fabrics
The tradition of wearing a white wedding dress is less than 200 years old. Before the 19th century, wedding dresses were colourful and made from rich fabrics. In ancient Greece and Rome, wedding dresses were vibrant and bold, with popular colours including flame, saffron, purple, and yellow. Saffron dye was expensive, so it indicated wealth and high social status. Similarly, in medieval times, brides wore colours such as blue, red, yellow, or green, with blue being the most popular choice as it represented purity. During the Renaissance, burgundy became the colour of choice.
In the 18th century, white or cream wedding dresses became more popular, particularly among the wealthy, as a status symbol since keeping the dress spotless required immense resources. However, it was only in the middle of the 19th century when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, that white wedding dresses became ubiquitous. The rise of photography, and wedding portraits in particular, also went a long way in popularizing the white wedding dress trend as white dresses looked good and stood out in the sometimes muddy-looking new black-and-white or sepia-toned photographic portraits.
Before the 19th century, the colour and style of wedding gowns followed fashion trends and were often a display of wealth and social status. Brides from wealthy families wore rich colours and exclusive fabrics, such as bold colours and layers of furs, velvet, and silk. The extravagance of the gown was essential because the wedding became the venue to showcase the wealth of the family. Brides from lower social classes, on the other hand, wore their best church dress, often in darker colours like black, brown, grey, or dark blue, to conceal dirt.
In Eastern cultures, brides often choose red wedding dresses to symbolise auspiciousness, while in Western cultures, white wedding gowns have symbolised purity and grace since the 19th century. In traditional Kurdish weddings, a first-time bride wears a red dress to symbolise the postcoital bleeding she will experience when she loses her virginity, while a bride who has been married before wears pink. In China, brides wear sleek red phoenix dresses with mythical roots.
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In ancient times, brides wore bright colours to celebrate the occasion
In ancient Greece and Rome, wedding dresses were vibrant and bold. Popular colours included deep saffron, purple, yellow, and crimson flowers in the bride's hair. These shades were associated with fertility, life, and happiness. A dark flame dress was believed to ward off evil spirits that could curse the couple's marriage. Saffron dye was expensive, so it also indicated wealth and high social status.
In medieval times, brides wore blue, red, yellow, or green. Blue was the most popular colour because it represented purity. During the Renaissance, burgundy became the colour of choice, and corseted, bell-shaped, long-trained dresses came into fashion. In China today, brides still wear sleek red phoenix dresses with mythical roots. In Kurdish culture, first-time brides wear red to symbolise postcoital bleeding after losing their virginity, while previously married brides wear pink.
Before the 1840s, wedding dresses in Western Europe were usually made from rich, elegant, and rare fabrics such as velvet and silk, with some incorporating fur. The colour and opulence of the gown were a way to assert the wealth and social standing of the bride's family. Brides from lower social classes wore their best church dress, often in darker colours like black, brown, grey, or dark blue to conceal dirt.
Queen Victoria is credited with initiating the trend towards white wedding gowns when she married Prince Albert in 1840. She chose white to showcase the delicate Honiton lace produced by the then-struggling British lace industry, and this was widely covered in the media. Initially, only wealthy brides could afford to follow this trend, as white dresses quickly showed dirt and required immense resources to keep spotless. However, the white dress soon spread across all economic classes and became an established tradition by the 20th century.
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In the Middle Ages, brides wore blue, red, yellow, or green
Wedding dresses have evolved significantly over time, influenced by cultural traditions, societal values, and fashion trends. In the Middle Ages, brides wore a variety of colours, including blue, red, yellow, and green. This period marked a departure from the vibrant and bold hues favoured in ancient Greek and Roman times, such as flame, saffron, purple, and yellow, which were associated with fertility, life, and happiness.
During the Middle Ages, the colour blue was particularly popular for bridal gowns, as it represented purity. Brides from wealthy families often wore rich colours and exclusive fabrics, such as bold colours and layers of furs, velvet, and silk. The choice of colour and fabric served as a testament to the social standing and wealth of the bride's family. Red was also a favoured colour among the nobility, as it was associated with social status. Deep greens signified fertility, while navy silk indicated a prosperous family.
Brides from the lower classes during this time typically wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The fabrics and colours chosen were more modest, with darker hues like black, brown, grey, or dark blue being more common. However, pops of colour might be added, such as a red or green ribbon sewn onto the sleeve.
It wasn't until the 19th century, with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert in 1840, that white wedding dresses became popularised. Victoria's choice of a white gown, trimmed with delicate Honiton lace, was widely publicised in newspapers and magazines, influencing bridal fashion trends. White was also considered a status symbol, as it required immense resources to keep the dress spotless. While white became the dominant colour for wedding dresses in Western cultures, Eastern cultures often continue to embrace colourful wedding attire, imbued with symbolic meanings unique to their regions.
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Black wedding dresses were popular before 1840
Wedding dresses have evolved significantly over the centuries, reflecting the shifting societal values, cultural norms, and aesthetic preferences of their time. Before the mid-19th century, wedding dresses were often fashioned from rich fabrics like velvet and silk, adorned with fur, and showcased vibrant and bold colors. The extravagance and color of these gowns served as a display of the bride's social status and her family's wealth.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, weddings among the nobility were frequently driven by political considerations rather than romantic love. Marriages were arranged to strengthen political alliances or promote the family bloodline, and the bride's attire was chosen to reflect the status of her family. While white dresses were already associated with purity and innocence, they were not yet ubiquitous, and only the wealthy could afford to wear pale colors that would quickly show dirt.
In Western cultures today, white wedding dresses are considered traditional and symbolic of purity and grace. This shift towards white wedding gowns is largely attributed to Queen Victoria, who wore a white dress when she married Prince Albert in 1840. The choice of white was reportedly to showcase the delicate Honiton lace produced by the then-struggling British lace industry, and it was widely covered in the media.
Prior to Queen Victoria's influential fashion choice, black wedding dresses were common, particularly in Western Europe. Black was a practical choice, as it was the least conspicuous for stains, and it was also more affordable for ordinary women, as pure white lace was expensive and typically only available to aristocrats. In Spain, wearing a black wedding dress symbolized the bride's vow to love her groom until death.
While the white wedding dress became established as a tradition in the 20th century, modern brides have more freedom to express their individuality and choose their own styles. Off-whites, champagnes, and even black wedding dresses are now embraced as symbols of modernity, minimalism, and a new era of wedding fashion.
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Frequently asked questions
Wedding dresses were often colourful before white dresses became popular in the mid-1800s. In ancient times, brides wore bright colours to express their happiness. In Athens, brides wore reds and violets. In medieval times, brides wore blue, red, yellow, or green. Blue was the most popular colour as it represented purity. Burgundy was the colour of choice in the Renaissance. Wealthy brides wore rich colours and exclusive fabrics, such as bold colours and layers of furs, velvet, and silk.
The popularity of white wedding dresses is largely attributed to Queen Victoria, who wore a white dress when she married Prince Albert in 1840. White lace was reportedly chosen to showcase the delicate Honiton lace produced by the then-struggling British lace industry. Newspapers and magazines widely covered the royal wedding, influencing wedding trends at home and abroad. White dresses also looked good and stood out in the sometimes muddy-looking new black-and-white or sepia-toned photographic portraits.
In Western cultures, white wedding dresses have symbolised purity and grace since the 19th century. However, the colour white was not always associated with purity in wedding dresses. Before the ubiquity of white wedding dresses, the colour of a bride's dress reflected her place in society and the values of the time period. For example, navy silk indicated a more prosperous family, while red was favoured for its association with social status.
