You may assume that brides have been wearing white wedding dresses for as long as marriage has existed, but this is not the case. In fact, the popularised white (or ivory) wedding dress tradition was born when Queen Victoria wed her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg on Feb 10, 1840, which makes it a relatively modern-day trend.
Preceding trend-setting Queen Vic, brides wore blue (as from the rhyme, ‘…something borrowed something blue'), as it was considered the colour that connoted virginity and purity. White, instead, was traditionally associated with mourning. However, the concern about connotations of purity was less than the importance of of wealth. Only the wealthy could wear white as stains would show on white fabric easier meaning the material would have to be washed thoroughly – a luxury afforded only by the wealthier classes.
Nonetheless, Victoria’s choice to wear white on her wedding – purely because she liked it – was seen as inappropriate in her day. But she designed the dress herself and wore it regardless of expectation and tradition. Considering she took the throne at just 18-years-old and was married at age 21, she was certainly strong-minded and audacious.
Aside from the colour of the dress being ‘wrong’, the design was also too simple by royal standards. It had no jewels, velvet trimming or even a crown (she wore a wreath of orange blossoms in place of a crown) – yet it was still quite spectacular.
The trend of wearing a white wedding dress then trickled down into the centuries following Victoria's reign, and has become an image to epitomise the modern-day bride.
In recent decades, though, brides have become more radical and rebellious with their wedding dress choices. Gwen Stefani, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon all opted for pink wedding dresses.
Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese even wore a purple corseted dress by Vivienne Westwood when she married singer Marilyn Manson.
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