Why are womens wedding dresses white?
It’s merely a tradition, and contrary to popular belief, a white wedding dress isn’t and never was suposed to be a statement about the bride’s sexual history or lack thereof. For centuries, western brides wore whatever color they wanted. If they couldn’t afford a new dress, they wore the best one they owned. Some women wore white, but wedding dresses were supposed to be worn again, so white wasn’t very practical as a choice. Usually, only royal brides who could afford many dresses might choose white. When Queen Victoria married, she wanted to incorporate some lace she owned into her dress, and she decided to wear white. Communications had improved by then, many people heard about her white wedding dress, and white became trendy as a result. It was fashionable. Over time, during the rest of the 19th century, wearing white simply became a custom, mistakenly thought to have something to do with the bride’s virginity. Ancient Roman brides wore white but with saffron-orange veils and shoes.
I heard that Queen Victoria’s story but in a different way. I saw someone here explain that actually white was for the poor because fabric dyes were expensive and would run out. Victoria wore white as a statement of closeness to her people. So quite the opposite. But whatever the origin of white for wedding dresses it still stands that it has become a sign of virginity in western society, although now that so few western brides marry as virgins, less and less people respect that tradition anymore.
Contrary to what many say, the white wedding dess is not indicative of a woman’s sexual history. Up until the Victorian era, the wedding dress was simply the best dress a woman owned regardless of color. When Queen Victoria got married, she wanted to convey her superiority by wearing a gown that could only be worn once. Gowns were not made in white because of the fact that it can get dirty easily so a woman who had a white gown was a sign of wealth and status. This is what Queen Victoria wanted to convey–her wealth and status. Even shortly after her marriage, women still continued to wear multi-hued gowns. The white wedding gown, however, slowly gained popularity as a status symbol and is today considered a wedding tradition. In many cultures though, the white wedding gown is not worn because many cultures see white as death.
Well, some people have red or silver kitchen appliances. Wedding dresses are white in the western world because that has been the fashion for the last 100 years or so. No one knows the exact origin, but it has nothing to do with a “virgin bride”, even thought that’s what people tend to think. The truth is, even though the majority are white, you can get married in any color you choose. It doesn’t even have to be a dress. The result is still the same no matter what you wear. P.S.- If that was supposed to be a joke, it failed. Sorry.
