This may come as a surprise to romantic writers, but historically June brides did not wear white wedding gowns. Pioneer women probably wore their made-do calicos, and adventurous women who helped to settle the West chose whatever finery was available. Brides up to the 19th century merely regarded the wedding gown with practicality. Museum costume collections attest to the fact that many surviving wedding gowns, worn by women through the Victorian era, were not angelic white, but merely the owner’s Sunday best in colors like mauve, green and deep burgundy. These brides probably referred to Godey's LADY’S BOOK for the most fashionable advice at that time, and had a dressmaker reproduce the latest Parisian gown.
THE VICTORIAN ERA
During The romantic Victorian era “love” and “marriage” were the key words in the language of a young woman’s desire to succeed in a successful alliance and to become engaged. In her diary, Sarah Elizabeth Jewett, an American writer of the era wrote these sentiments, “Oh, will Heaven grant I may love and be loved someday. Then I shall be engaged.” The print makers Currier & Ives further abetted the romantic influence with framed scrolls featuring period themes such as “The Declaration” and “The Wedding Day.”
It was truly the Age of Innocence, and marriage was the ultimate solution and highly regarded as the pinnacle of a bride’s finest achievement. The focus on marriage and wedding attire was also a strong theme in women’s literature. In fact, in 1886 Godey’s LADY’S BOOK editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, insisted that blue and brown were still both popular and stylish for weddings. Perhaps taking a cue from Hale, America’s first fashion editor, Andrew Carnegie’s bride wore a gown in tones of gray and brown.
WHITE WEDDING BELLS
HISTORICAL WEDDINGS
Countess Eugenie, the legendary devotee of the styles of France’s first couturier, Charles Frederick Worth, originated yet another tradition. On the occasion of her marriage to Napoleon III, she instructed her hairdresser to fashion her coiffure and the crown with a wreath of orange blossoms, a symbol associated with fertility. Brides quickly picked up the idea and orange blossoms became part of the headdress for many brides. By the 1870s the long and diaphanous wedding veil in clouds of tulle or sheer lace, created an aura of mystery and enchantment, and became a fixture of wedding dress etiquette.
In America headlines were made the first time a president was married in the White House. In 1886, Frances Folsom married Grover Cleveland in the Blue Room wearing a white gown with a 12-foot illusion lace train. The extravagant sweep of the train reflects the advent of the machine age as it was decorated with machine-embroidered cotton net lace.
REJECTING WHITE
In consideration for certain restraints brought about by major wars, brides again went back to bridal practicality by wearing their Sunday best. Patriotic in spirit in 1868 Amelia Jane Charley wore a gray wedding dress to honor the dead at Parkersburg, W.V. During World War I, wedding fashion came to a standstill and brides made do wearing refurbished gowns that had been worn by their mother.
The roaring 20’s saw the raciest of styles. The flapper bride liberated with short hair wore a shorter skirt and danced the Charleston at her wedding. The good times were gone with the advent of the Great Depression in 1929 and only the very rich could afford the traditional wedding gown, its contingent of bridesmaids and ushers. However, for the shop girl and secretary hand-me-down wedding gowns were popular again.
World WAR II brought an era of wartime austerity, and with the shortage of satin and lace fabrics, brides exhibited their patriotism by wearing a suit or their Sunday best, very much like the pioneer women.
In 1947, when war-forced restrictions were eliminated, Dior brought out the “New Look” featuring yards of fabric in a voluminous ankle-length skirt, nipped waist and a narrow-shoulder jacket. It was a fashion revolution of sorts, a throwback to Victorian crinoline silhouette, but women starved for something “New” embraced it for its return to femininity.
MODERN BRIDES
JEZEBEL REMEMBERED
Remember Jezebel when Betty Davis wore a red gown to the White Ball in New Orleans. Well, I declare the red wedding gown is already here. Other cultures also preferred. In northern India, for example, brides wear red and yellow to ward off demons. All this makes a dramatic departure from puritan white, but like Queen Victoria, Red gives today’s bride an opportunity to make a unique fashion statement. One interesting tidbit: In the 1937 film, "The Bride Wore Red,” Joan Crawford portrays a chorus girl who crashes an exclusive Swiss resort to snare a rich husband.♥
BIO: Alas today any bride-to-be can do as she pleases. When Polly Guerin was planning her wedding and shopped in a sea of white gowns, she was frustrated with the vast selection so she resurrected one of her garden party concert gowns (yes, she studied to be an opera singer). A portrait neckline creation in delicate seafoam green cotton chiffon it was embroidered with tiny white butterflies. She wore a wide-brimmed white organdie garden party hat and carried a white blossom bouquet. Her four bridesmaids wore pastel floral gowns as well. It turned out to be the perfect choice as it brightened a rainy, gloomy day.