Wedding dress

Wedding dress fashion has evolved significantly, shaped by shifts in aesthetic preferences, technological advancements, and broader cultural trends. Historically, bridal attire featured elaborate designs with structured silhouettes and intricate detailing, reflecting the prevailing styles of their time.{{Cite book |last=Chrisman-Campbell |first=Kimberly |title=The way we wed: a global history of wedding fashion |date=2020 |publisher=Running Press |isbn=978-0-7624-7028-0 |location=Philadelphia}} In more recent decades, minimalist and modern designs have gained popularity, emphasizing simplicity and personal expression. Wedding dresses continue to adapt to contemporary fashion trends while retaining elements of tradition, offering a wide range of styles that allow brides to express their individuality.

In the early 21st century, many wedding dresses were sleeveless and strapless.{{Cite web |title=Wedding Dress Ideas, Designers & Inspiration |url=https://www.brides.com/wedding-dresses-4692022 |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Brides |language=en}} Other brides preferred styles with sleeves, higher necklines, and covered backs.

The latest wedding dress designs, as of 2024, feature drop-waist silhouettes, convertible gowns, intricate crystal embellishments, tulle, and gowns that display vintage charm.{{Cite web |last=Wax |first=Shelby |date=2024-04-09 |title=The Biggest Wedding Dress Trends From New York Bridal Fashion Week |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/wedding-dress-trends-new-york-bridal-fashion-week-spring-2025 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}

The history of wedding dresses encompasses a diverse array of traditions and cultural practices, each shaped by the social, religious, and economic contexts of their time. In Western cultures, white wedding gowns have symbolized purity and grace since the 19th century, whereas Eastern cultures often feature elaborate, colorful garments imbued with symbolic meanings unique to each region.{{Cite journal |last=Currie |first=Dawn H. |date=1993-10-01 |title="Here Comes the Bride": The Making of a "Modern Traditional" Wedding in Western Culture |url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/jcfs.24.3.403 |journal=Journal of Comparative Family Studies |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=403–421 |doi=10.3138/jcfs.24.3.403 |issn=0047-2328}}

File: Woman's Two-piece Dress (Wedding) LACMA M.70.90a-b.jpg

Weddings performed during and immediately following the Middle Ages were often more than a personal union between two individuals. They frequently symbolized a union between families, businesses, or even nations. These ceremonies were driven more by political considerations than romantic love, particularly among the nobility and the higher social classes. Brides were expected to dress in a way that reflected the status of their families, representing more than just themselves during the ceremony. Brides from wealthy families often wore rich colors and exclusive fabrics, wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet, and silk. The attire of the bride was a testament to the wealth and social standing of her family. Brides from lower social strata wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The amount and the price of material a wedding dress contained was a direct reflection of the bride's social standing and indicated the extent of the family's wealth to wedding guests.

The first documented instance of a royal bride wearing a white wedding dress was that of Philippa of England. She wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with squirrel and ermine in 1406, when she married Eric of Pomerania.{{cite web|url=http://ivybridalstudio.com/wedding-white-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means/|title=Wedding white doesn't mean what you think it means|date=3 March 2014|website=Ivy Bridal Studio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511141350/http://ivybridalstudio.com:80/wedding-white-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means/|archive-date=11 May 2016|access-date=21 November 2014|quote=Princess Philippa of England is the first recorded princess to have worn white during her wedding in 1406, with her attire consisting of a tunic and cloak in white silk, but it wasn’t until Queen Mary that the white dress would explode in popularity}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.amalfi-wedding-planner.com/eng/StoriaMatrimonio.htm|title=The History of Matrimony|website=Amalfi Wedding Planner|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506232925/http://www.amalfi-wedding-planner.com/eng/StoriaMatrimonio.htm|archive-date=6 May 2006}} Similarly, Mary, Queen of Scots, wore a white wedding dress in 1559 when she married her first husband, Francis, the Dauphin of France, because it was her favorite color, although white was then the color of mourning for French queens.{{cite web|url=http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2011/04/24/mary-queen-of-scots-first-wedding-day/|title=Mary, Queen of Scots' first wedding day|date=24 April 2011|website=Madame Guillotine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623182153/http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2011/04/24/mary-queen-of-scots-first-wedding-day/|archive-date=23 June 2015|access-date=21 November 2014|quote=Mary’s choice of a white wedding dress was an unusual one, particularly as white was more traditionally worn by royal ladies when they were in dieul blanc mourning but in this as in other things the strong willed Mary may well have been an innovator, keen to not just impress her own taste on her wedding day (after all, she hadn’t been allowed the privilege of choosing her groom) but also emphasise her virginity and show off her famously pale redheaded beauty, which would have been accentuated by a pure white dress.}}{{cite web|url=http://www.elizabethfiles.com/resources/elizabeth-i-facts/|title=Elizabeth I Facts|website=The Elizabeth Files|date=23 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724215348/http://www.elizabethfiles.com/resources/elizabeth-i-facts/|archive-date=24 July 2018|access-date=21 November 2014|quote=Her favourite dress colours were white and black which symbolised purity.}}

This was not a widespread trend, however: prior to the Victorian era, a bride was married in any color, black being popular in Finland.{{Cite web|url=http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/jp_marriage.htm|title=Old Marriage Customs in Finland|last=Pelo|first=June|website=Sydaby.eget.net|access-date=19 January 2019}}

White became a popular option in 1840, after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, when Victoria wore a white gown trimmed with Honiton lace. Illustrations of the wedding were widely published, and many brides opted for white in accordance with the Queen's choice.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/royal-weddings-1840-1947/windsor-castle-drawings-gallery|title=Royal Weddings 1840-1947|website=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=19 January 2019}} Although white was later assumed to symbolize virginity, it was originally blue that represented purity, piety, and fidelity, and was associated with the Virgin Mary.{{cite book|author=Ashliman, DL|title=Folk and Fairy Tales: A Handbook–Greenwood Folklore Handbooks|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004|isbn=9780313058592|page=9|author-link=D. L. Ashliman}}

Despite the rise in popularity of white wedding dresses, brides continued to follow contemporary fashion trends. In the early 1900s, clothing included a lot of decorations, such as lace or frills. This was also adopted in wedding dresses, where decorative frills and lace were common. For example, in the 1920s, they were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era.

Since the mid-20th century, white has been the dominant color for Western wedding dresses, though "wedding white" includes shades such as eggshell, ecru, and ivory.{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Jude |date=14 February 2011 |title=The Bride Wore Chartreuse: Why (Most) Wedding Dresses are White |url=https://www.printmag.com/imprint/the-bride-wore-chartreuse-why-most-wedding-dresses-are-white/ |access-date=19 January 2019 |website=Print}} However, white is not the universal color of wedding dresses. In Mexico, for example, red is a popular color.{{Cite web |title=Traditional Mexican dress · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/traditional-mexican-dress?srsltid=AfmBOoqKStRbTi4dIC3dsmZWueX0HeO4-Zf1iQLcsWTSEugcvoIhIrOo |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the color white is used as a symbol of purity, innocence, and cleanliness, particularly in religious ceremonies, including weddings.{{cite web |title=Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple |url=https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple?lang=eng |website=Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 December 2021 |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216211107/https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple?lang=eng |url-status=dead }} For weddings in the temple, white clothing is also worn by all participants during the ceremony, both men and women, to symbolize unity and equality before God.{{cite web |title=Lesson 5: Learning from the Lord through Symbols |url=https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/endowed-from-on-high/lesson-5?lang=eng |website=Endowed from on High: Temple Preparation Seminar Teacher’s Manual |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 December 2021 |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216211123/https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/endowed-from-on-high/lesson-5?lang=eng |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Why Symbols? |url=https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/02/why-symbols?lang=eng |website=Ensign |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 December 2021 |date=February 2007 |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216211159/https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/02/why-symbols?lang=eng |url-status=dead }} The brides are instructed to wear white dresses that are modest in design and fabric and free of elaborate decoration.{{cite web |title=27. Temple Ordinances for the Living |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/27-temple-ordinances-for-the-living?lang=eng#title_number25 |website=General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=20 September 2021}}

Image:TraditionalChineseWeddingDress.jpg (鳳冠) headpiece still used in modern Taiwanese weddings.]]

File:A Self-portrait of A Hong Kong Bride Wearing A Qungua, A Traditional Chinese Wedding Attire, Before Her Wedding in The 1960s.jpg

Many wedding dresses in China, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are red; the traditional Indian color representing good luck and auspiciousness. Vietnamese wedding dresses (in the traditional form of áo tấc the ancient Ao dai) were dark blue. Today, many women choose other colors besides red. In modern mainland Chinese weddings, the bride may wear Western dresses of any color and a traditional costume for the wedding tea ceremony.

In modern Taiwanese weddings, the bride generally picks red (following Chinese tradition) or white (more Western) silk for the wedding gown material, but most will wear the red traditional garment for their formal wedding banquets. Traditionally, the father of the bride is responsible for the wedding banquet hosted on the bride's side and the alcohol (specifically called "xi-jiu," confusingly the same as what the wedding banquet itself is called) consumed during both banquets. While the wedding itself is often based on the couple's choices, the wedding banquets are a symbolic gesture of "thanks" and appreciation, to those who have raised the bride and groom (such as grandparents and uncles) and those who will continue to be there to help the bride and groom in the future. Thus out of respect for the elders, wedding banquets are usually done formally and traditionally.

Image:Wedding kimono.jpg

Red saris, lehengas, and salwar kameez are traditional garment options for brides in Indian cultures. The fabric of choice is also traditionally silk, regardless of garment type. Over time, color options and fabric choices for Indian brides have expanded. Today fabrics like crepe, Georgette, charmeuse, and satin are used, and colors have been expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow as well.

Traditionally, a Kurdish first-time bride would wear a red dress for her wedding to symbolize the postcoital bleeding she will experience when she loses her virginity while a Kurdish bride who used to be married before would wear pink. Today, many Kurds associate red wedding dresses with impoverished Kurdish rural society and it is no longer commonly worn.{{cite book |last1=Allison |first1=Christine |title=Kurdish Culture and Identity |date=1996 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |page=154 |isbn=9781856493291 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xgOAQAAMAAJ}}{{cite book |last1=Russel |first1=Jan |title=They Lived to Tell the Tale |date=November 2007 |publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=9781599216393 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gQF4mEPvZ8C}}{{cite book |last1=Smothers Bruni |first1=Mary Ann |title=Journey Through Kurdistan |date=1995 |publisher=Texas Memorial Museum |page=57 }}

A Japanese wedding usually involves a traditional pure white kimono for the formal ceremony, symbolizing purity and maidenhood. The bride may change into a red kimono for the events after the ceremony for good luck.

The Javanese people of Indonesia wear a kebaya, a traditional kind of blouse, along with batik.

In the Philippines, variations of the Baro't saya adapted to the white wedding tradition are considered to be wedding attire for women, along with the barong tagalog for men. Various tribes and Muslim Filipinos don other forms of traditional dress during their respective ceremonies.

Image:Apache bride.jpg bride]]

The indigenous peoples of the Americas have varying traditions related to weddings and thus wedding dresses. A Hopi bride traditionally had her garments woven by the groom and any men in the village who wished to participate.{{Cite web |date=2010-06-17 |title=Hopi traditions reinforce sacredness of marriage - The Times-Independent |url=https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/hopi-traditions-reinforce-sacredness-of-marriage/ |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=The Times-Independent - The Times-Independent}} The garments consisted of a large belt, two all-white wedding robes, a white wedding robe with red stripes at the top and bottom, white buckskin leggings and moccasins, a string for tying the hair, and a reed mat in which to wrap the outfit. This outfit also served as a shroud, since these garments would be necessary for the trip through the underworld.

A Pueblo bride wore a cotton garment tied above the right shoulder, secured with a belt around the waist.

In the traditions of the Delaware, a bride wore a knee-length skirt of deerskin and a band of wampum beads around her forehead. Except for fine beads or shell necklaces, the body was bare from the waist up. If it was a winter wedding, she wore deerskin leggings and moccasins and a robe of turkey feathers. Her face was painted with white, red, and yellow clay.

The tribes of Northern California (which include the Klamath, the Modoc, and the Yurok) had a traditional bridal dress woven in symbolic colors: white for the east, blue for the south, yellow (orange) for the west; and black for the north. Turquoise and silver jewelry were worn by both the bride and the groom in addition to a silver Concho belt. Jewelry was considered a shield against evils including hunger, poverty, and bad luck.

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Image:Bologna marriage women.jpg|Detail from The Marriage by Nicolo da Bologna, 1350s.

Image:Peter Paul Rubens 088.jpg|Helena Fourment, second wife of Peter Paul Rubens, painted by Rubens in her wedding dress, 1630.

File:Sofia Magdalenas brudklänning, robe de cour, 1766.jpg|Sophia Magdalena of Denmark's wedding dress, 1766. The Royal Armoury in Sweden.

Image:Napoleon Marie Louise Marriage1.jpeg|The Wedding of Napoleon and Marie Louise by Georges Rouget, France, 1810.

File:Bauernhochzeit Jomala 1.jpg|Traditional Finnish farmer wedding dress in Jomala, Åland

File:SB - Kazakh woman on horse.jpg|Traditional Kazakh wedding dress

File:Ստորին Հայքի հարսնազգեստ.jpg|Traditional Armenian wedding dress

File:Kymi's costume.JPG|18th-century wedding dress from Kymi, Greece (Collection of PFF, Nauplio)

File:"Highlanders' Wedding", Dom Ludowy Theatre 08.jpg|Bride in a wedding dress, Podhale, the Tatra Mountains

Image:Jewish Yemenite bride.jpg|Yemenite Jewish bride in Israel, 1950s

File:ModernEgypt, Khedive Tawfiq, DHP13401-1-1 01.jpg|Wedding of Tewfik Pasha and Emina Ilhamy, Cairo, Egypt, January 1873

Image:Traditional chinese wedding.jpg|Chinese couple wearing traditional wedding hanfu

File:IMG-20190213-WA0044.jpg|Indian Hindu bride in red Sari

File:Sikh bride 01.jpg | Sikh bride wearing purple lehenga and dastaar for Anand Karaj

File:Wedding of Bangladesh.jpg|Traditional Bengali bride in formal matrimonial Sari

File:Indian bride in white.jpg|Indian Christian bride in white Sari

File:Newar bride 1941.jpg|Nepali bride of Kathmandu, 1941

File:Bengali bride during sindoor daan IMG 7811 1.jpg|Bengali Hindu bride during Sindur Daan

File:Bride-323334 640.jpg|Marathi wedding

File:A & D Wijeyeratne's Wedding Photograph.jpg|Sri Lankan wedding

File:Art and culture.JPG|Khmer (Cambodian) couple dressed in traditional wedding outfits

File:Thaiquoc-ngockieu.jpg|Vietnamese couple in traditional dress

File:Couple at a pre-wedding ceremony in Thailand.jpg|Couple dress in traditional Thai outfits

File:Nyaungshwe, wedding (6211610799).jpg|Couple dressed in traditional Burmese outfits

File:Bali Hindu Wedding Traditional Dress.jpg|Bali Hindu wedding dress

Image:Korea-Seoul-Royal wedding ceremony 1365-06.JPG|Reenactment of the royal wedding ceremony of King Gojong and Queen Myeongseong

File:BrideMiniskirt1968.jpg|A bride in 1968, wearing a dress reflecting the styles of the time

File:Nixon with daughter Tricia marriage 1971.jpg|Patricia Nixon Cox with her father Richard Nixon, 1971

File:Western wedding dress in Taiwan.jpg|Taiwanese couple dressed Western-style for keepsake photos in the park, 1989

File:John and Gail at St. Stephens church.jpg|American bride marrying a Scotsman wearing a kilt, 1996

File:The bride - New Orleans.jpg|New Orleans bride wearing a strapless, sleeveless gown, 2006

File:Свадьба Ирины и Алёны Шумиловых в Санкт-Петербурге.jpg|Same-gender marriage. Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2014.

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• Bridal crown
• Christian clothing
• Godey's Lady's Book
• Religious clothing
• Victorian fashion
• Wedding dress of Camilla Parker Bowles
• Wedding dress of Grace Kelly
• Wedding dress of Jacqueline Bouvier
• Wedding dress of Kate Middleton
• Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer
• Wedding dress of Meghan Markle
• Wedding dress of Princess Alexandra of Denmark
• Wedding dress of Princess Anne
• Wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth
• Wedding dress of Princess Margaret
• Wedding dress of Princess Mary of Teck
• Wedding dress of Queen Victoria
• Wedding dress of Sarah Ferguson
• Wedding dress of Sophie Rhys-Jones
• Wedding dress of Victoria, Princess Royal
• Wedding dress of Wallis Warfield

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• [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15324coll12/searchterm/wedding/field/title/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort/page/4 Fashion Plates of Wedding Dresses from 1820-1929] from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
• [http://digitalcollection.chicagohistory.org/cdm/search/collection/p16029coll3/searchterm/wedding%20dress*/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and/order/title/page/1 Wedding Dresses at Chicago History Museum Digital Collections] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729235620/http://digitalcollection.chicagohistory.org/cdm/search/collection/p16029coll3/searchterm/wedding%20dress*/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and/order/title/page/1 |date=2012-07-29 }}
• [https://statenisland.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/8F273460-28B0-4155-ADC7-196403668592 Wedding dress, 1900, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database]
• [https://statenisland.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/BDD6D520-E3F8-4C30-AFE6-535900831247 Wedding dress, 1951, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database]

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Category:Wedding

Category:Dresses

Category:Gowns

Category:Wedding dresses