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Here Comes the Bride

The History of the

White Wedding Dress

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher

he history of the wedding dress is shorter than the Bible.
Marriages were
history of weddings, and even shorter still than the
made official
Thistory of marriage. through the
signing of a con-
An ancient Chinese myth contains one of the oldest known tract or some
references to such a garment, and it goes something like this: other means of
Once upon a time, in a green formalized agree-
and misty country at the center of ment, but the mar-
the world, there lived a clever dog riage was not general-
who was also a dragon. Naturally, ly considered to be a
he was unmarried. This dragon-dog, spiritual or even romantic
named Panhu, was the servant of an occasion. And because there
emperor, who was at war with a were no weddings, for a long
fractious general. One day, the time there could be no true wed- Queen Victoria on
emperor proclaimed that any man ding dresses, either. her wedding day
who could bring him the head of his
enemy would be given the hand of A Dress for the Occasion
his daughter in marriage. The wedding dress as we know it is one of the most epic pieces of
Panhu was not a man, but being fashion that anyone will ever wear; however, buying or having a dress
loyal and courageous he promised to made for this one, albeit most special of occasions, is a modern trend.
become one upon vanquishing the For centuries, marriages were created without any sort of formal wed-
enemy so he could marry the ding ceremony beyond the signing of a wedding contract or special
princess. He succeeded, changed into “wedding” gown.
human form, and was engaged to Up until the 20th century, most brides wore what was considered
the emperor’s daughter. To make suitable, and more often than not, wore the finest dress to be found in
sure that the union was a lucky one, their closet since it wasn’t considered prudent to purchase a dress that
the empress dressed the princess in a would be worn only once. If they did purchase a new dress, it was most
The Panhu myth is an important
origin myth for various ethnic groups. beautiful phoenix dress and phoenix likely a dress they could re-wear to other special occasions.
crown, and Panhu carried his bride In this area as well as many others during her reign, Queen Victoria
off to live in the southern mountains. They were happy and had many chil- was a fashion trendsetter. In 1840, when the young Queen of England
dren. When it came time for their own daughter to marry, a real phoenix married the love of her life, Prince Albert, she not only wore what we now
flew out of a mountain and presented the girl with a colorful phoenix dress recognize as a traditional “wedding dress” but she intentionally had her
all her own. gown made in white, a color associated with purity and innocence.
Although there have been marriages throughout most of human Queen Victoria's wedding dress, with its slim waist, lace, and skirt
civilization, this does not mean that there were weddings. There are, for over petticoats and crinolines, was the crowning element of the first
example, no wedding ceremonies involving an exchange of vows in the royal wedding to take place after the invention of photography. The

Memorable Wedding Gowns & Brides Queen Elizabeth II (1947)
Designed by Britain couturier Norman
Queen Victoria (1840) Hartnell. The gown was constructed with duchesse
Victoria’s famously white gown was constructed silk encrusted with 10,000 seed pearls and embroi-
with English Spitalfields silk and Honiton lace. The dered with star lilies and orange blossoms. It cost a
Queen adorned her skirt, 139 inches in circumfer- whopping £30,000 ($37,000) and took seven
ence and 37-40 inches in depth, weeks to make. The gown and its evocation of
with an exquisite Honiton lace spring were meant to symbolize “rebirth and
flounce. The commission of the growth” in Britain
Queen’s lace flounce employed after the war.

two-hundred lacemakers, who
were otherwise destitute. Jacqueline Kennedy (1953)
Jacqueline Kennedy’s bouffant Ball
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1923) Gown Wedding Dress was created by New
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became an instant York City-based designer Ann Lowe. Made
bridal icon when she married the Duke of York from nearly 50 feet of ivory silk taffeta, it
in 1923. Her gown is today considered a classic featured many sentimental touches: her
1920s piece of fashion with its dropped waist, pearl skirt featured wax flowers woven into the
and silver embellishments, and very art seams while her veil was passed down to
deco headpiece.
her by her grandmother.
20 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles