Western Weddings - What To Wear
American brides will march down the aisle this June wearing white - despite the sexual revolution - in elaborate weddings that have become the only socially condoned form of excess. The fantasy of being a beautiful bride and having the perfect wedding is particularly potent, according to an article in the current issue of Connoisseur, because it represents a far more attainable goal than having a happy marriage.
Some traditional customs really are old, many go back no farther than Victorian times and some are a lot newer. From the 19th century we take the western wedding wear, the veil, the use of lace, the diamond solitaire engagement ring and the queue of bridesmaids and flower girls. By 1910, throwing slippers at the departing couple had degenerated into tying old shoes to their auto. By the 1920s tossing the bride's bouquet was so new that etiquette books were trying to mollify brides who wanted to keep their bouquets and press the flowers. Entering the church to Wagner and leaving to Mendelssohn were the done thing by the end of the 19th century, around which time brides adopted the rhyme, "Something old, something new..." Bridal showers were new back in 1910, when popular shower gifts were aprons, books or, by the 1920s, aluminum. In the second decade of the century, it was no longer imperative to ask the bride's father's permission to propose. Brides have worn white western wedding wear not only as a symbol of purity but because white has traditionally been the color for participants in important ceremonies from christenings to coronations. Chinese brides, however, wear red and ancient Greeks wore yellow, the color associated with Hymen, the god of marriage. As the 19th century progressed, more and more brides wore white instead of a color that would be useful for post-wedding wear. Queen Victoria, married in 1840, is associated with the idea of a white wedding but the custom already was in place. Victoria may have been influential in associating brides with rare lace. Her own dress was decorated with panels of Honiton, which she removed to wear at her children's weddings. The wedding dress we know today, with sheer-lace yoke or showing skin, predominantly lace bodice and sleeves, and convertible skirt with train, is very like the 1940s wedding dress. The 1940s also contributed the sweetheart, boat and off-the-shoulder necklines. |