The Language Of The Wedding Gown

The wedding gown is a dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The style, colour, and ceremonial importance of the gown can vary depending on the culture and religion of the participants. In Western culture, for instance, wedding gowns are typically white, a fashion trend popularised by Queen Victoria when she married in 1840. In Eastern cultures, brides often opt for red, which symbolises auspiciousness.

The colour white symbolising purity and innocence

The colour white is often chosen for wedding gowns in Western cultures, symbolising purity and innocence. This tradition was started by Queen Victoria when she wore a white wedding dress in 1840. Although it was later assumed that the colour white was intended to symbolise virginity, this was not the original intention. In fact, it was the colour blue that was once connected to purity, as well as piety, faithfulness, and the Virgin Mary.

In colour psychology, white is associated with a sense of austerity and minimalism. It is often used in interior design to make rooms seem larger and more spacious. In marketing and branding, white conveys a feeling of safety, purity, freshness, and cleanliness. In fashion, it evokes a sense of purity, innocence, freshness, or cleanliness. It is often worn in the summer months to help stay cool.

In some cultures, white is linked to death and sadness. For example, in many Eastern cultures, white is used in funerals and other mourning rituals, in contrast to the colour black, which is preferred for mourning in Western cultures. In Japanese weddings, a traditional pure white kimono is worn to symbolise purity and maidenhood, but the bride may change into a red kimono after the ceremony for good luck.

The influence of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria is often credited with starting the tradition of white wedding dresses in the Western world. On 10 February 1840, the 20-year-old queen wore a white satin gown with a deep flounce of Honiton lace to her wedding to Prince Albert.

However, she was not the first royal to wear white. In fact, before the 19th century, white was a popular choice for wedding dresses among the wealthy nobility. For brides, white was a symbol of wealth—the ability to afford a dress for one-time use. For Queen Victoria, the choice was also about practicality and patriotism. As head of state, she wanted to support and stimulate Britain's lace industry, which was facing poverty due to the invention of machine textiles. She chose a large piece of handmade Honiton lace, and white was the best colour to showcase this.

The visual ideal of the bride clad in pure white spread quickly, largely owing to the rise of print media and newspapers, and their lively descriptions of society weddings. Fashion plates, adverts, valentine cards and sheet music, all sold the image of the white dress and lace veil as a model of romantic propriety and purity. As a result, if a bride was marrying for the first time and could afford it, a white wedding dress became the norm.

Queen Victoria's wedding was widely publicised and widely copied, sparking a huge increase in the number of brides who wore white. However, it wasn't enough to make white the standard for every bride. In the 1840s, white was still a very expensive fabric, and only fairly wealthy women could afford a white dress. It wasn't until the 1850s and 1860s that the trend became widespread, with the high-profile marriages of other British royal brides, such as Victoria's daughter, who followed the traditions set by Victoria.

The role of religion and culture

In Eastern cultures, red is a popular choice for wedding gowns, symbolising good luck and auspiciousness. This is particularly true in Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani cultures. In Chinese weddings, the bride may opt for a Western dress or change into a red gown later in the day for the wedding tea ceremony. In Indian cultures, red saris, lehengas, and salwar kameez are traditional garment options for brides, although colour options have expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow. In Taiwanese weddings, the bride may choose to wear red or white, but the formal wedding banquet is usually done in the traditional red silk garment.

In Japanese weddings, the bride wears a pure white kimono for the formal ceremony, symbolising purity and maidenhood, and may change into a red kimono afterward for good luck. In the indigenous cultures of the Americas, wedding dresses vary according to the specific tribe and region. For example, the Hopi tribe traditionally had the groom and other male participants weave the wedding garments, which included two all-white wedding robes. In contrast, the Delaware tribe's wedding attire included a knee-length deerskin skirt and a band of wampum beads around the forehead, with the body bare from the waist up.

The social status of the bride's family

The wedding gown is a key indicator of the social status of the bride's family. Historically, weddings were often a union between two families, two businesses, or even two countries, and the bride's dress was chosen to reflect her family's wealth and social status.

In the Middle Ages, brides from wealthy families wore expensive and exclusive fabrics, such as furs, velvet, and silk, in bold colours. They dressed in the height of fashion, with the richest materials their families could afford. On the other hand, poorer brides wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The amount and price of the material in a wedding dress reflected the bride's social standing and indicated her family's wealth to the wedding guests.

In modern times, the wedding gown continues to be a marker of social status, family ties, and identity. It is a deeply personal choice for the bride, influenced by fashion trends, cultural norms, and the expectations of her social circle and family. The purchase of a wedding gown is a significant ritual and a rite of passage for the bride-to-be, marking her transition into a new stage of life. The bridal gown is also one of the most expensive items in a wedding, after the engagement ring, further highlighting the financial investment and social status associated with the occasion.

The fashion of the time

Brides from aristocratic and wealthy backgrounds often wore jewel-toned dresses, adorned with fur and embroidered in gold and silver. These dresses were designed to make a statement and showcase the family's affluence. For instance, Margaret of York's wedding dress in 1468 was so heavily adorned with heirloom jewels that she had to be carried into the church.

However, a notable shift in wedding fashion occurred in 1840 when Queen Victoria, at her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, chose to wear a simple white gown made of spun silk and satin with Honiton lace accents. This unexpected choice, as white was associated with mourning during the 1700s and 1800s, was intended to convey the Queen's practicality, prudence, and sense of responsibility as a young monarch. The white gown also highlighted the delicate lacework and symbolised the Queen's purity, innocence, and love for her future husband.

Queen Victoria's choice had a profound impact on bridal fashion, and white quickly became the dominant colour for wedding gowns in Western culture. This trend was further reinforced by Godey's Lady's Book, a prominent publication at the time, which proclaimed that "white is the most fitting hue" for brides, embodying "the purity and innocence of girlhood".

While white wedding gowns became synonymous with Western traditions, other cultures continued to embrace different colours and styles. For instance, in Eastern cultures, red is often chosen to symbolise auspiciousness and good luck. Similarly, traditional Indian weddings feature red saris, lehengas, or salwar kameez, while Japanese weddings may include a red kimono for the events following the ceremony.

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