A Black

                              Wedding Dress?

The Truth Behind Wedding Fashions

By Diana Rohini La Vigne

A LOOK INSIDE

Recently on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, game host Regis Philbin asked a contestant to answer the following question.  What is the most popular color of a wedding dress? Without delay the contestant selected “white” as his final answer.  He was correct but what Regis may not know is that white has only been popular for the last 160 years.  At times, black was in and white was not. 

Arguably wedding attire is one of the most significant pieces of clothing in history.

Wedding traditions have changed radically over the years and around the globe. Virtually all cultures posses a wedding celebration as part of their societal norm.  Typically noted as the most important day of one’s life, a wedding is swarming with elements of fashion from head to toe.

“White is definitely not the
                                    only choice for brides.  Although it is still considered traditional, today’s bride can choose from a broad color
                                    spectrum”, explains Carley Roney, editor-in-chief and cofounder of The Knot.com which is #1 wedding website in
                                    the United States.  Ms. Roney adds, “This season, designers have created
                                    gowns in an array of colors from metallic blue to silvery platinum. In fact, platinum is hailed as the bride’s new white. 
                                    If a bride doesn’t feel comfortable with these options, she should just pick a color she loves and go with it!”

COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL

Color being one of the most essential foundations of fashion, white wedding dresses only became popular after the nuptial of Queen Victoria.  The Queen of England broke from the royal silver tradition and set a trend that continues today.  In 1840, there was not one dominant color for a wedding dress.  The assortment of colors included mauve, gray, blue, pastels, brown and other earth tones. 

Various Cultures are influenced by numerous colors. Today in Switzerland, brides remain wearing black with frequency.  Red is the premiere influence for Armenian and Chinese brides.   Yellow is customary with Indians.  Ancient Hebrews matrimonial garments wore blue trimmed gowns.  Norway has many brides whom select green for their bridal fashion.  White did have some impact in the world’s earliest noted weddings of Ancient Greece. White robes were the rage.  In addition, Ancient Roman bridal apparel was white complimented by sandals. On the flip side, black was the bridal outfit color of Spanish Roman Catholic betrothal.  Even today some traditionalists in Spain sport a very fancy, lacey, black dress. 

THE AMERICAN WAY

19^th century American brides’ predominantly choose black, not white! Events in American history had a compelling effect on the wedding mode.  The American Revolutionary War bore brides wearing red dresses as a symbol of the colonies.  Purple bridal attire was popular during the Civil War, as the color purple resembles honoring the dead.

BEYOND THE VEIL

When all eyes are on the bride walking down the aisle, the accessories are critical to the overly critiquing crowd.  Wide arrays of headpieces and displays have popped up in history.  Traditional sheets of lace, bold tiaras, or a delicate flower hair arrangement are the craze of today’s brides. 

Some of the older traditions seen on the heads of brides of the past are starting to reemerge.  Wearing silver and gold coin headdresses worn by Caucasus brides were a standard tradition.  Bridal crowns are still commonplace in Eastern European, Russian Orthodox, and Scandinavian communities.  The wrapped turbans of Southern Arabian brides included garlic tucked into the fabric to ward off evil spirits.  Armenian headpieces were adorned with feathers.  And the Elizabethan bride mainly wore roses or colorful ribbons streaming from their bridal mane.   And the list continues on.

CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES

Only a bride can decide which color
                                    dress, type of veil, or style of dress to wear.  There are so many choices.  To help out, Knot.com is premiering “Wedding Gowns” magazine, a
                                    400-page bible of bridal fashion and a must-have companion for any bride, this month. 
                                    Weddings can be stressful due to the nonstop choices presented to the bridal couple as the wedding approaches.   It is wise to focus all of your energy into the decision of who to marry and
                                    not what to wear.  One of those decisions is important for merely a day.  The other decision has the power to haunt or pleasure you till death do you part.