Queen Victoria the illustrious British queen set a strong fashion trend which is still followed and practiced religiously in the Western world. Before her European brides wore wedding dresses in a range of shades including red. White dresses were practically reserved for women who attended court.
The new order
On her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, the queen wore a non traditional dress crafted with great care from Spitalfields cream silk-satin and flower crown. Her dress also had about a flounce of Honiton lace at the sleeves and the neck. This dress – with plenty of lace embellishment, slim waist and full crinoline petticoat is considered as a classic creation even today.
The visual impact of her outfit was so great that other royal ladies in Europe followed suit in no time. Laundering this kind of luxurious dresses was obviously very difficult back at those times. Moreover maintaining the whiteness of those dresses was yet another major challenge. Unlike to these present times wedding gowns used to be worn several times in a lifetime. Even the British monarch brought out her cult wedding dress several times to attend other events down the timeline.
As white wedding dresses became significantly popular, new symbolism was assigned to them with white signifying purity and innocence. Moreover white also made an excellent impression in black contrast during those early days of sepia-toned or monochromatic photography.
Few more decades passed by before luxurious white gowns made their way in the weddings of common folks in Europe. The WWII witnessed lots of devastation in one hand while on the other ushered in many interesting changes. In a more prosperous society following the Great War manufacturing of fabric became cheaper. Thus white wedding dresses meant for single use became the quintessential item for any bride throughput Europe and the US.
Even the tinsel town of Hollywood has played a crucial role in cementing the notion that weddings demand a white dress for the bride.
Wedding dresses – trend for 2021
Weddings are unarguably a very personal affair as are the dresses. Every soul walking on this earth wants something unique or different in their wedding. Be it in their dress, in styling the flower, catering or just anything else. As far as 2021 is concerned, white wedding gowns are likely to be in trend although other trends are fast changing.
These days everyone wants an informal gathering in weddings. Sending out invitations to all and sundry for the milestone event of two individual’s life is no more the trend presently. Rather people prefer more intimate and meaning celebrations with the nearest and dearest souls for that big day. This new-age wedding is thus called micro weddings where the guest list hardly ranges anywhere between 25 and 35 head counts.
As a result now there’s more budget allocation on per guest. These days more and more people prefer the bride and the groom should spend quality time with each other bypassing all the typical hassles involved in a wedding.
On the other hand, bridal gowns are also becoming more and more unfussy and simple. If Meghan Markle is considered the role model, other than being simple, a wedding gown should have a lengthy veil. By the way sleeves too are making a fresh comeback. Somewhere after the 1950s and 1960s, sleeves disappeared from bridal dresses. Now perhaps it’s the age of Renaissance and sleeves are proudly back again. As a matter of fact long-sleeved wedding gowns are being often paired with backless feature to even out all odds. This also undoubtedly adds a touch of sexiness.
Last but nevertheless the least; make sure to wear something that you’re pretty cool and comfortable in. You can only make a memorable style statement on your big day when you’re relaxed and comfortable on your own.
