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The white wedding dress has become a staple of Western wedding traditions, with 83% of brides opting for a white dress on their big day. The tradition is often credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress to her wedding with Prince Albert in 1840. The white dress was chosen to symbolise the Queen's role as a bride rather than a ruler, and the style was soon replicated by women across the world. White wedding dresses became a symbol of wealth and status, as well as purity and innocence.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Colour | White |
| Purity | Innocence, Virginity, New Beginnings |
| Wealth | Status, Conspicuous Consumption |
| Timelessness | Elegance, Grace, Vintage |
| Family | Respect for Customs and Values, Honouring Tradition, Family Expectations |
| Youth | Freshness |
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What You'll Learn
White wedding dresses were popularised by Queen Victoria in 1840
White wedding dresses were popularised by Queen Victoria when she wore a white gown to her wedding to Prince Albert on 10 February 1840. The dress was made from Spitalfields silk and ornate Honiton lace, with a deep v-shaped waistline and a full, floor-length skirt. It was considered a bold choice, as white was the colour of mourning in the mid-19th century, and royal brides typically wore silver or gold.
Queen Victoria was the first royal to wear white, and her choice sparked a trend among the elite on both sides of the Atlantic. Etiquette books soon turned the practice into a tradition, and the white dress became a symbol of status and purity. However, it was not until after World War II that middle-class brides fully embraced the trend. The white wedding style was further popularised in 1981 by Lady Diana Spencer, who wore a white taffeta dress with an 8-metre train when she married Charles, Prince of Wales.
Today, white is still the most common colour for wedding dresses, though it is no longer the only acceptable choice. In many societies, white symbolises purity and virtue, and some brides may wear white to represent elegance and grace. However, it is important to note that before Queen Victoria's wedding, brides often wore dresses that fit the fashions of the day or chose practical colours like black, brown, or grey.
The tradition of wearing a white wedding dress has evolved over time, and it is interesting to see how Queen Victoria's choice continues to influence bridal fashion even today.
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White symbolises purity, innocence, youth and new beginnings
The white wedding dress has been popularised by Victorian era elites after Queen Victoria wore a white lace dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. The white wedding dress is a symbol of status and a connotation of innocence and virginal purity. In many societies, the color white has long been associated with purity and virtue, and that is why some brides choose to wear white, especially in the West.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that white symbolises youth, joy and purity. In the Victorian era, white dresses provided an opportunity for conspicuous consumption. They were favoured primarily as a way to show that the bride's family was wealthy and firmly part of the leisure class. Only wealthy brides could wear a white silk gown, as they were wed in clean, elegant places that were removed from the muck and grime of life during the mid-19th century Industrial Age.
The white wedding dress is also a nod to older eras and customs. It is a way for the bride to blend the new chapter she's starting with her family history, creating a powerful and emotional connection to the past. It is also a symbol of new beginnings, a dream, and a dress of ceremony and ritual.
In some cultures, the white wedding dress has a different meaning. In India and China, for example, white is worn at funerals and red is the most auspicious shade for weddings.
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White wedding dresses are a status symbol
The white wedding dress has become a status symbol for brides, with its roots in the Victorian era. Queen Victoria's choice of a white court dress for her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840 is commonly credited for the popularity of the white wedding dress. As accounts of Victoria's wedding spread, fashionable people, particularly the elites, followed her lead. The white dress was soon regarded as a symbol of status and wealth.
Before the mid-19th century Industrial Age, brides typically wore their best dress or a new dress in a variety of colours, including blue, yellow, and practical colours like black, brown, or grey. However, with the advancements in technology and the emergence of magazines and newspapers, Queen Victoria's wedding images were widely distributed, influencing women across continents to emulate her style.
The white wedding dress became a way for brides, especially those from wealthy families, to showcase their social status and detachment from manual labour. White dresses were favoured as they represented conspicuous consumption and were seen as a way to display the bride's family wealth and leisure status. The elaborate gowns, often made of white silk, were susceptible to stains and could be easily ruined by any sort of work or spill, making them unsuitable for everyday wear.
The colour white itself also carried symbolic meanings of purity, innocence, youth, and new beginnings, further enhancing the status symbol of the white wedding dress. The notion of purity and innocence associated with the colour white has been present in various cultures, including the Ancient Greeks, who used white robes to symbolize joy and purity, and biblical traditions, where blue represented purity.
While the tradition of wearing white wedding dresses has evolved and diversified, with some brides opting for pastel shades, stronger colours, or cultural variations, the white dress remains a prevalent choice for many brides, blending tradition and fashion.
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White dresses were a way to show wealth
The white wedding dress is commonly associated with Queen Victoria, who wore a white gown when she married Prince Albert in 1840. Before Queen Victoria, royal brides did not typically wear white, instead opting for colourful gowns, with red being a particularly popular choice in Western Europe.
White dresses were initially a way for brides to show that their family was wealthy and part of the leisure class. This was because, before modern laundering techniques, white dresses were easily ruined by any sort of work or spill, and so could only be worn by those who didn't need to worry about that. White dresses were also hard to keep clean, and so were impractical for repeated wear. As such, they were a symbol of conspicuous consumption.
As a result, white dresses soon became a popular symbol of status. They were initially embraced by wealthier brides, before eventually spreading across all economic levels and becoming cemented as "tradition" in the 20th century. With increased prosperity in the 20th century, it also became more common for brides to wear the dress only once.
In many societies, the colour white has also long been associated with purity and virtue, especially in the West, and so is another reason why some brides choose to wear white.
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White dresses were traditionally only worn once
The tradition of wearing white wedding dresses is commonly credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. White wedding dresses quickly became a status symbol, as only the wealthy could afford to wear an elaborate dress that could be easily ruined and was impractical to wear again.
Before the popularisation of white wedding dresses by Queen Victoria, brides tended to buy a wedding dress that could be worn again, or they simply wore the best dress they already owned. In fact, if a bride wore white in the nineteenth century, it was acceptable and likely that she wore her gown again. Even Queen Victoria had her famous wedding dress restyled for later use.
The white wedding dress became a symbol of wealth and status, as well as purity and innocence. This symbolism was further emphasised by the limitations of laundering techniques before the later part of the 20th century, which made it difficult to keep a white dress clean for repeat wear.
With increased prosperity in the 20th century, the tradition of wearing the dress only once became more common. Department store bridal salons in the late 1920s recognised the money-making potential of marketing expensive white dresses that women would never wear again. Wedding magazines and advertisements promoted the ideal of a "once-in-a-lifetime" white wedding dress, which was further boosted by the 1981 wedding of Diana Spencer and Charles, Prince of Wales, where the bride wore an elaborate white taffeta dress with an 8-metre train.
Today, the custom of wearing the wedding dress only once remains relatively firm, with many brides choosing to preserve their dress as an heirloom for future generations.
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Frequently asked questions
The colour white has long been associated with purity, innocence, youth, and new beginnings. In the context of weddings, white dresses have also represented conspicuous consumption, status, elegance, grace, and tradition.
The tradition of wearing white at weddings is commonly credited to Queen Victoria, who wore a white court dress to her wedding with Prince Albert in 1840. As accounts of Victoria's wedding spread, fashionable people followed her lead.
No, brides did not always wear white. Before Queen Victoria's wedding, brides tended to buy a wedding dress that could be worn again or simply wore the best dress they already owned. In Western societies, wedding dresses were of different colours for many centuries.
The traditional bridal dress of many Middle Eastern, African, and South American countries is brightly coloured. In Indian and Chinese weddings, brides traditionally wear red, which is considered more auspicious and celebratory.
