Why Wedding Dresses Are White

When it comes to modern day weddings one of the first things that people think of is the bride walking down the aisle in a white gown.

Why wedding dresses are white. However the color white is also associated with innocence and happiness. But it wasn t until 1840 when queen victoria married prince albert that the white dress was made popular. A white wedding is a traditional formal or semi formal wedding originating in great britain. They do so largely thanks to a trend that started with queen victoria.

Many brides chose to wear dresses of other colors for their wedding and beyond. In the modern western world we generally consider white dresses to be signs of purity or virginity since mainstream christian values hold that it is ideal to be a virgin on your wedding day and there are longstanding traditions and cultural associations between whiteness and purity. And white does not lend itself to practicality. One of the most common ideas has always been that white symbolizes the virginity of the bride.

There are quite a few historical reasons and precedents to point to in answering this question. Now the white wedding dress is. Over time as women from all stages of life are wearing white to their wedding the white dress has lost the connotations of virginity and is merely associated with a new bride. The white wedding dress was only popularized in western culture in the mid 20th century.

Pristine white fairy tale wedding dresses to be worn once and then tucked away weren t the standard until relatively recently. The term originates from the white colour of the wedding dress which first became popular with victorian era elites after queen victoria wore a white lace dress at her wedding. The history of white wedding dresses tends to get a little confusing. Why do wedding dresses have to be white as opposed to red black etc.

The origin of the white wedding dress. In looking at white wedding dress history you might be surprised to learn that white has not always been the color of choice for wedding dresses in western culture nor is it necessarily the symbol of purity commonly thought. The white wedding dress now a common tradition in the western world originated with anne of brittany on the occasion of her marriage to louis xii of france in 1499. Before then colored dresses were the norm for brides of all classes.

In the years after the royal wedding the shock of victoria s ivory gown wore off and white wedding dresses slowly became fashionable. However brides have not always worn white on their wedding day and the tradition is much more recent than some may realize. The term now also encapsulates the entire western wedding routine especially in the christian religious tradition which. The white wedding dress is typically used as a symbol for virginity.

It is difficult to keep clean and is therefore not ideal for many situations or for repeat wear. In fact white wedding dresses only came into fashion in the mid 19th century and became customary in the mid 20th century.