Jenny Packham | The Classic Woman

The saying, “Everything old is new again”, rings incredibly true when it comes to the latest new trend in the world of wedding gowns — color. This new old trend has come back with a vengeance. Wedding gowns in every color imaginable have been shown on the runway for Fall 2012 and Spring 2013, including the often “wedding taboo” color, black. In the United States and Europe, white has been the wedding color for as long as we can remember. However, in actuality, it has only been the wedding gown color of choice for about 150 years.

Prior to Queen Victoria marrying Prince Albert in 1840, wedding gowns worn by non-noble brides were made in a wide array of colors — red, bright blues, yellow, brown, grey, and even black. However, long before Queen Victoria put on her white wedding gown, wealthy brides of noble birth proudly wore their white gowns. Before the 1900s due to the lack of inexpensive bleaching techniques, white fabric was hard to achieve and hard to maintain, therefore making it an expensive color for fabric. Consequently, the whiter the dress, the wealthier the bride’s family. European royalty, prior to Queen Victoria, often wore wedding gowns made from a white fabric woven with silver or gold.

When Queen Victoria thought about the gown for her upcoming nuptials, declaring her purity was actually the furthest thing from her mind, she needed a gown that made a political statement that she was not only a woman of position and power, but that she was the leader of her country. To highlight the wealth of her kingdom, she chose to support the lace industry in England by using a large piece of handmade Honiton lace for her gown. The color of the dress underneath the lace had to showcase the lace. The best color for the job — white. Thus, Victoria’s white wedding gown was born.

Of course, once Queen Victoria was married, brides wanted to copy her dress, not unlike today’s royal-watching brides. Although the color white was still cost restrictive, more and more brides tried to wear it on their wedding day. A few decades and a few royal brides later, the middle class finally had access to cheap bleaches that made the dream of a white wedding gown a real possibility.

History is now repeating itself with the trend of bold colored wedding gowns.

Do you think this could be the turning point away from the white or the soft ivory classic gowns of years past or will it merely be a fad that soon goes by the wayside?

VERA WANG Fall 2012

Trend: Black and Nude

(gowns are also available in white or ivory)