Fashion Culture: The history of wedding dresses

If you think brides have always wedded in the gown of their dreams, let alone in a white one, it’s time you know the whole truth about the history of wedding dresses. Let's dive into fashion culture and discover the truth!

For that, we should probably rewind back a few centuries where weddings were nothing like fairy-tale stories of love and romance, but more like a business deal between two families. Hence, wedding dresses reflected the bride’s social standing, from the color to the fabric to the number of layers and length of train. Wealthy brides used to wear vivid colors and bold fabrics like fur and silk, while the less privileged contented themselves with the best dress they had.

Up until the Victorian times though, brides rarely bought a new dress for their wedding day but wore the finest they had. The dress’s color did not really matter, anything worked except a few like green, which was considered bad luck. The blue color was the most popular, symbolizing purity and representing a connection with Virgin Mary.

The explanation of the white-colored dress goes back mainly to the year 1840, the date of England’s Queen Victoria’s marriage to her cousin Prince Albert. The white color was not related to purity, rather to wealth since only rich women could afford buying a haute couture white dress fit for their wedding day only. Queen Victoria’s stunning dress did not come as a surprise because of its back-then avant-garde design dripping with orange blossoms, but also for its white color.

Victorian times

Since then, white was viewed as the most fitting color for a wedding dress, becoming a symbol for elevated social status across Europe and America.

While white remain the traditional color of choice of most brides, it is not uncommon to see women getting married in fashionable colors like pink or blue these days, adapting the design of the dress to their own style or wedding venue, from a fancy designer dress to a playful beach wedding dress.

About Esposa Group:

Born out of a couple’s passion for the bridal industry, Esposa Group has been weaving love stories through stunning bridal and evening creations since 1987 on the hands of the Romanos family.

Collaborating with the best local and international brands, Esposa Group includes Esposa Privé luxury stores showcasing the works of the best fashion designers worldwide including Monique Lhuillier, Vera Wang, Viktor and Rolf, Marchesa and Esposa Privé own couture brand, Esposacouture by Kristie Romanos, and Esposa stores offering an accessible multi-brands wedding and soirée collection in addition to its own couture brand, Plume by Esposa. The stores are located in Lebanon, Dubai United Arab Emirates and Riyadh Saudi Arabia offering every bride-to-be a one-stop shop to find her perfect wedding look, from her dream gown to her wedding shoes, accessories and bridesmaids dresses.