Why the white wedding gown?
According to Wikipedias "
"The tradition of a white wedding dress is commonly credited to
Queen Victoria's choice to wear a
white court dress at her wedding to
Prince Albert in 1840. ........
Royal brides before Victoria did not typically wear white, instead
choosing "heavy brocaded gowns embroidered with white and silver
thread," with red being a particularly popular colour in Western Europe
more generally.
European and American brides had been wearing a plethora of colours,
including blue, yellow, and practical colours like black, brown, or
gray. As accounts of Victoria's wedding spread across the Atlantic and
throughout Europe, elites followed her lead."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wedding)
Okay so why has this Victorian tradition remained, while so many others have been discarded?
This
is a puzzlement, until investigating further into the hierarchy of
fashion and it's trickle down gambol through much of history. This hold
on style and privilege has dominated the thinking of many a woman,
including at one time, yours truly.
I admit. I was
enthralled with Vogue and Bazaar and found the European editions
thrilling, lush, sophisticated and inspiring. I was a fashion junkie and
as i learned to sew i copied and adapted not from the local department
stores but from the pages of these magazines.
I wore off white in both my weddings. One dress i made, the other was a 1920s beaded frock that i rescued..amen.
I
had decided that fashion was my reason to live in grade school!After
some wandering years, some skitters and bumps, i enrolled and graduated
from a course in custom apparel and design.
After a stint in alterations i opened my own business and made, designed, altered and restyled many a white wedding gown.
But
now, years later i am revisitng this fashion scene and am no longer
captured by the fantasy and the alluring drama. I have seen inside the
industry and it isn't pretty, it is in fact rather disturbing on more
levels than i can discuss - at least now (go to
fashionethos.blogspot.com) for more information.
I have learned too much to be easily bamboozled. Though i retain the right to always be learning and to be wrong at times.:-)
I
still love beautiful fabrics, cuts and the milieu of fashion, but the
promissory note of happiness is counterfeit and the world is changing
despite its worn out, hand me down constructs. Therein lies the risk,
the freedom and the hope of a new story. Bring it on!
With
that in mind i am on the path of reclaiming, re-valuing and making
noise about the art of fashion, the love of fine work, the charm of hand
stitching and the beauty and creativity that shows up in the
recycouture and reFashion front. I believe as human beings we are on the
path of a next story, it can start here.
So whether
you wear white or choose from the rainbow of color style options, it is
your wedding. your story, your unique vision. What better place to share
it than this, your wedding day.
FYI I also made the lavender wrap dress. To design without knowing how to construct the garments seems a bit wrong to me. Making suggestions, guiding layout, solving problems with size and fit seems a most practical thing and it takes hands on learning, pinpricks and rip outs all; to provide really useful help.
