It was amazing! I almost felt like I was standing next to a real bride. The styles changed, the hemlines changed, the fabrics changed, but in looking at the dresses I felt they all had one thing in common: at some point in time, a young woman felt beautiful, anxious, and excited to be wearing that gown on her wedding day, looking foward to her future as a wife and perhaps a mother.
That doesn't change. And many traditions that the bride followed one or two hundred years ago still stand...and brides everywhere still make them part of their big day, even if they don't know why! Below the photo, you can read about what I learned about why brides wear white.
United States
Wedding Dress: Bodice, Overskirt, Skirt, and Underskirt, 1869
Cotton Gift of Milton and Kathryn Graff 2001.105a-d
Tradition of the White Gown
While we assume that bridal gowns have always been white, that is not the case. Famously, Queen Victoria of Great Britian wore a white gown rather than her coronation robes when she married Prince Albert in 1840, even with her example many gowns were made in color. Sometimes it was because of cost; it cost a great deal to purchase a dress for use only once. But for the most part, the choice of a color was a personal choice made by the bride, based on choice, availbility of fabric (due to war shortages, local fabrics, etc.) and other factors. One bride, in the 1920's chose a dark blue trimmed in black dress off the rack. Because her sister had recently died, she didn't feel like a big white gown was appropriate. Some gowns were white, some were yellow, blue, brown and other colors. One was even made entirely of inside-out rubber gloves!
The Exhibition runs through January 30. If you're around Cincinnati and interested in weddings, I suggest you check it out!
http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/
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