SEWING FOR YOUR WEDDING
Wedding dress
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Western culture
Weddings performed during and immediately following the Middle Ages were often more than just a union between two people. They could be a union between two families, two businesses or even two countries. Many weddings were more a matter of politics than love, particularly among the nobility and the higher social classes. Brides were therefore expected to dress in a manner that cast their families in the most favorable light, for they were not representing only themselves during the ceremony. Brides from wealthy families often wore rich colors and exclusive fabrics. It was common to see them wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet and silk.Wedding dresses have traditionally been based on the popular styles of the day. For example, in the 1920s, wedding dresses were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1940s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era. Although there has always been a style that dominates the bridal market for a time, and then shifts with the changes in fashion, a growing number of modern brides are not choosing to follow these trends. This is due in large part to non-traditional and non-first-time weddings, and women who are marrying later in life.
Today, Western wedding dresses are usually white, though "wedding white" includes creamy shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory. Philippa of England was actually the first documented princess in history to wear a white wedding gown during a royal wedding ceremony: she wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with grey squirrel and ermine).[1]
White did not become a popular option until 1840, after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Victoria had worn a white gown for the event so as to incorporate some lace she owned. The official wedding portrait photograph was widely published, and many other brides opted for a similar dress in honor of the Queen's choice.[2]
The tradition continues today in the form of a white wedding, though prior to the Victorian era, a bride was married in any color, black being especially popular in Scandinavia.[3] Later, many people assumed that the color white was intended to symbolize virginity, though this had not been the original intention. (It was the color blue that was connected to purity.) The white gown is in fact a symbolic Christening gown. They are a variation of the white surplice worn in the Western Catholic tradition by members of the clergy, church choirs and servers and the gowns worn by girls making their first communion and at their confirmation and also by women making religious vows. Jews have gone to great lengths [4] to follow [5] these Western (Judeo-Christian) customs, whilst adhering to the laws of Tzniut. Today, the white dress is normally understood merely as the most traditional and popular choice for weddings.
Eastern culture
Red saris are the traditional garment choice for brides in Indian culture. Sari fabric is also traditionally silk. Over time, color options and fabric choices for Indian brides have expanded. Today fabrics like crepe, Georgette, tissue and satin are used, and colors have been expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow as well.[6] Indian brides in Western countries often wear the sari at the wedding ceremony and change into traditional Indian wear afterwards (lehnga, choli, etc.).
At Japanese weddings, brides will often wear three or more dresses throughout the ceremony and subsequent celebrations with a traditional kimono, white and colour dress combination being popular. The Javanese people of Indonesia wear a kebaya, a traditional kind of blouse, along with batik.
In the Philippines, variations of the Baro't saya are considered to be wedding attire for women, along with the Barong Tagalog for men.
Native American culture
A Pueblo bride wore a cotton garment tied above the right shoulder, secured with a belt around the waist.
In the traditions of the Delaware, a bride would wear a knee-length skirt of deerskin and a band of wampum beads around her forehead. Except for fine beads or shell necklaces, the body would be bare from the waist up. If it were a winter wedding, she would wear deerskin leggings and moccasins and a robe of turkey feathers. Her face would be painted with white, red and yellow clay.
The tribes of Northern California (which include the Klamath, the Modoc and the Yurok) had a traditional bridal dress woven in symbolic colors: white for the east, blue for the south, yellow (orange) for the west; and black for the north. Turquoise and silver jewelry were worn by both the bride and the groom in addition to a silver concho belt. Jewelry was considered a shield against evils including hunger, poverty and bad luck.
Gallery
Rajput bride wearing a pink lehenga
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Bride at a Nikah ceremony wearing typical South Asian red head covering and jewellery
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Wishram Bride
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Indian bride in white sari
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American bride wearing a Contemporary Western Wedding Dress
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Chinese couple wearing traditional wedding hanfu
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Japanese woman in a wedding kimono
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Hutsul wedding dress
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Traditional Finnish farmer wedding dress in Jomala
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Wedding dress in 1350s from "The Marriage" by Nicolo da Bologna
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Traditional Kazakh wedding dress
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Opulent wedding dress of Soraya Esfandiary, second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
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A bride in 1968, wearing a dress reflecting the styles of the time
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Bengali bride
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Notes
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wedding dress |
- ^ The History of Matrimony.
- ^ "Royal Weddings 1840 - 1947: From Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II" History of the Wedding Dress
- ^ "Old Marriage Customs in Finland" Old Marriage Customs in Finland
- ^ "The Wedding Gown That Made History"
- ^ "Wedding Gowns – Jewish Wedding Info"
- ^ Trends in Bridal Sari
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