Ostentation
Weddings that took place in the era of the Middle Ages were beyond just a union; they merged families, united businesses, countries and were good for politics. Hence, the quality of a bride’s dress was representative of the kind of union she was having or her background. The finest furs, silks and velvet layers were used in bold colours- red, orange, blue and so on- to make a wedding dress in the reigning fashion.
In this part of the world, it is common to have an Introduction ceremony, Traditional ceremony and White wedding. Everyone is familiar with the fact that brides wear white dresses to get married but who would have known that the popular ‘white wedding’ was coined after Queen Victoria wore a white dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in the mid 1800’s? Here are a few things you ought to know about the history of the white wedding dress:
Symbolic Colour
The first documented white wedding dress was worn by Princess Phillipa of England who wore a silk ensemble with grey accents at her wedding to King Eric of Pomerania in 1406. White also happened to be the favourite colour of Mary, Queen of Scots regardless of the fact that it was seen as a colour of mourning for Queens in France.
However, the trend remained for brides to be married in married in all other colours, black being a Scandinavian favourite, until Queen Victoria made a different choice.
The white wedding dress trend was singlehandedly created by Queen Victoria in 1840, who wore a white lace dress for her wedding to Prince Albert. Since the Victorian era up until the present day, various shades of white have been used like ivory, eggshell and ecru.
It is largely believed that white symbolises virginity and the state of purity and cleanliness when in actual fact, blue was the colour that symbolised these concepts especially in reference to purity, virtue and the Virgin Mary.
The Evolution of Bridal FashionCan you imagine wearing a loose wedding dress? Or maybe one with a high neckline, slightly tapered fit and no cinched waist? Bridal fashion trends have changed over time from a pearly dress with no form and lace veil (1910s-1920s)…
…to Jackie Kennedy’s ball gown dress (1950s). The bigger the ball gown, the better the wedding!
History witnessed the emergence of strapless ball gowns with fitted bodices dresses in the 1960’s to really show off the beauty of a woman’s figure. Big sleeves and mini-skirts were also incorporated into bridal fashion in the 1970s while A- line dresses were welcomed in the 2000s. Brides almost forgot about sleeves but they made a comeback at Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William. These royals are real trendsetters.
Wondering what Meghan Markle will wear to get married to Prince Harry? We'll just have to wait and see!