Why do we wear white, anyway?
One of my favorite pieces of wedding lore to bust is that wearing a white gown stems from representing the bride as “innocent” and “pure” - words we all know veil a different meaning. Most people are surprised to learn that not only is the white wedding gown a more recent phenomenon, but is most likely rooted in commerce, media, and aesthetic- not patriarchy.
(Note that in this post, we’re looking specifically at the Western tradition - in China it’s traditional for brides to wear red, and in many other Eastern countries brides traditionally wear more colorful garments, which we’ll touch on briefly).
Ever the trendsetter, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 - 10 February 2025 marking 185 years since the big day - she chose what was then considered a ‘non-traditional’ look: a white dress, and a flower crown (okay, Drew Barrymore… I see you). The Queen said it was “the happiest day of [her] life”, and marked the occasion with a gown of Spitalfields cream silk-satin and Honiton lace accents. The silhouette was one that became a classic - a slim waisted A-line gown with a voluminous crinoline petticoat. Interestingly, this was not the first time Queen Victoria had shifted tradition - she also popularized wearing black as a sign of mourning.
An engraving of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their wedding day in 1840
Getty Images
The Royal Collection Trust
Queen Victoria’s wedding gown, which changed fashion forever. Note the basque waist - a trend that’s made a resurgence lately.
Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria (2009)
Emily Blunt’s recreation of Victoria’s wedding gown was designed by Sandy Powell, who won an Oscar in Costume Design for the film.
There are multiple theories as to why Queen Victoria chose white. In her book Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire, Julia Baird notes that white “was the perfect color to highlight the delicate lace”, and the Queen wanted to promote the British lace industry and support the artisans who made it. Baird also writes that since bleaching had not yet been popularized as a technique for creating white clothing, the color was rare and expensive - “more of a symbol of wealth than purity”. White dresses were also hard to maintain - something I’m sure we can all relate to, especially those (me) who appreciate a breezy white linen dress in the summer. And on top of THAT, it looked much better than other colors in black-and-white and sepia-toned photography.
The new bride’s look did, indeed, fuel a substantial rise in the popularity of English lace, much to the joy of the talented lacemakers of the Empire.
For what it’s worth, I think we see this play out in today’s depiction of wealth through sartorial choices. I always note the choice of white, cream, and ivory clothing in shows and movies to immediately denote wealth. My working theory, and one that has been touted by others, is that white is so easy to spoil that it requires a willingness to risk eternally ruining an expensive garment, and potentially have to re-purchase it or have it dry-cleaned regularly. I have this one beautiful white wool sweater from the brand Simkhai that I purchased for around $500 on an impulse, and I always feel rich wearing it - feigning nonchalance at wearing an expensive sweater that could so easily be destroyed by a tiny drop of coffee.
(This is the sweater, which it appears is no longer made, but abundant on pre-owed sites like Poshmark; it is a very cool sweater, I always get lots of compliments when I wear it, but it is wool and therefore a little steamy on humid days).
A competing theory put forth by Jennifer Steadman is that Queen Victoria’s choice of white was, in fact, to evoke a sense of innocence in the media: “She wanted to be seen as [Albert’s’ wife, so she didn’t wear the red ermine robe of state. She wore white. After that, all representations in…fashion magazines picked up on that. The white wedding dress became the standard symbol for innocence and romance.” Historian Agnes Strickland backs this theory up, noting that swapping white for traditionally regal attire made her look more like a bride than a queen.
Personally, I am prone to disregard this theory out of sheer will - how many women have watered down their accomplishments and regality to appear more “traditional” and “wife-y”? No, I choose to believe that the great Queen Victoria was simply a fashion icon who wanted to use her position to enhance the British economy. It is, to be fair, the leading theory - but maybe it’s a convenient combination of both.
Before white became the go-to color for brides, it was actually the color worn to introduce aristocratic women at royal courts (once you know this, you’ll see it pop up in period pieces all the time). Young women brought to court often to assisted the royals, and were unwed and - ahem - presumed innocent. These women often became ‘bridesmaids’ when a royal daughter married, which is where we get the tradition still used today.
The gown worn by Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, queen consort to Carl XIII of Sweden and II of Norway, at her 1774 wedding to the Scandinavian royal.
Her extravagant, silvery gown is one of the most well-preserved examples of a royal wedding gown from the 18th century.
Kirsten Dunst in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola, wearing a recreation of the Queen’s silver, jeweled gown.
Costume designer Milena Canonero and her team took home the Oscar for Best Costume Design that year for their incredible work on the film.
But cultures dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome had their own traditions. In ancient Rome, brides wore “long veils of deep yellow over a complicated six-part braided hairstyle” (try asking your stylist for that on your wedding day - good luck). The yellow veil was meant to evoke a flame, relating brides to torches that would bring “light and warmth to their new husbands’ homes”. In Ancient Athens, long violet or light red robes were worn cinched at the waist, and were loosened later by the groom to symbolize the loss of virginity (okay, yes, there were some more patriarchal bridal traditions - but that was a long time ago). A 2017 article for JSTOR Daily by Summer Brennan notes that weddings represented the “symbolic passage from childhood to adulthood, from one distinct stage of life to the next” - which informed the clothes that brides wore. Although bridal gowns no longer carry this exact symbolism, weddings do still feel like a rite that marks the end of one stage of life and the beginning of another, don’t you think?
China was the first place we know of that had the tradition of wearing a specific color on a bride’s wedding day, during the Zhou Dynasty nearly 3,000 years ago, when both brides and grooms wore black with red accents. In Western countries, brides of wealth and royalty typically wore gold or blue (and occasionally white, if they could afford it), and those of less means just wore their nicest dress. And although Queen Victoria is responsible for making the white gown a wedding standard, there are two early recorded ‘white weddings’ that we know of - but the choice of color was more due to the perception of wealth than anything.
The first and earliest in Western culture is the marriage of Princess Philippa of England to the Scandinavian King Eric in 1406 - she wore, according to Brennan, “a white tunic lined with ermine and squirrel fur” (listen I don’t condone fur in this day and age unless it’s vintage, but that does sound pretty awesome). The other is the wedding of Mary Queen of Scots to the future King of France in 1558 - although at the time, white was actually the color of mourning for French queens, so… read into that what you will. Brennan backs up the theory that even then, when purity and virginity were critical to social and political capital, the wearing of a white dress had no relation - it was just more expensive and harder to clean, and thus denoted wealth.
And what about only wearing a gown once? Yeah right - not in that economy. Even royal women would wear their wedding gown again, including Queen Victoria who repurposed both her gown and veil throughout her life. Non-royal and non-aristocratic women would simply make their gown their new “Sunday best”, and would perhaps alter or dye it, and wear it until it wore out or trends changed.
Whew, okay, that was a lot of history - but I love a good rabbit hole, especially when it comes to art and fashion history! So let’s fast forward again to the mid-nineteenth century, and the marriage of Victoria and Albert (who - BY THE WAY - was her first cousin… we’ve come a long way). The romance between the two royals was embraced by the British people similarly to Kate and Will, and - just like Kate’s long-sleeved, lace gown - young brides wanted to copy the Queen’s revolutionary look. The rise of photography and its use in the media helped to popularize the look, and it didn’t hurt that it looked distinctive in black-and-white or sepia-toned photographs. The trend quickly caught on, helped in part by women’s magazines who proclaimed it to be the best option for wedding gowns, and even rewrote history a bit - which may be how the myth of white symbolizing “purity” spread.
The first to follow Victoria’s lead, however, were other European leaders and aristocrats - again, this had more to do with white as a status symbol than anything, although some think that it did come to symbolize purity at that time. The trend then trickled down to wealthy classes and the middle class, who until then just wore their nicest dress.
A French wedding dress circa 1864, an excellent example a post-Victoria white wedding gown.
Via Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute
So what spurred the democratization of white gowns? Like many other things, the answer is of course World War II. Technological advances made clothing cheaper and easier to produce, even in white, and beyond that society had become more prosperous, especially as the middle class grew following the war. This was when the white gown became de rigeur - for most women, a single-use white wedding dress was now an achievable look. From there, we can look at Hollywood’s depictions of weddings as a source of fuel, and celebrities like Grace Kelly, and then the incorporation of bridal fashion into the couture world.
Grace Kelly - once married, Princess Grace of Monaco
Although it’s hard to find a high-quality photo of Grace Kelly’s 1956 wedding gown, it remains one of the most iconic white dresses of all time.
Kate Middleton’s stunning wedding gown, designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. I’m pretty sure requests for long-sleeve lace gowns spiked 100% after this.
Getty Images
Whatever the reason, in recent years we’ve seen an uptick in brides shirking tradition and opting for something more colorful - whether adding a pop of color with shoes or a unique veil, or swapping white for a different look altogether. Gowns now come in a variety of hues, including blush pink and nude tones like ‘sand’ and ‘mocha’. Madi Lane’s Season dress (which comes in both all ivory and the multicolored version below) offers brides a balance of traditional white and not-so-traditional color (although we don’t have her in-store, we are always happy to have a dress shipped her on loan if you’d like to try it on!)
One of the most unique and breathtaking gowns in our inventory here at Evermore is by the designer Romona Keveza, who debuted two satin mikado dresses with a colorful chinoiserie pattern (in both pink and teal blue) at the Fall 20224 bridal market. Our sample (we chose pink, as it is my favorite color) should be arriving soon, and we can’t wait to see what daring bride opts to reach a little further back in bridal fashion history and rock this bold, beautiful gown.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations on being a history nerd like me! Let us know - would you rock a colorful dress? Or are you here for the long-standing tradition of wearing white? Myself, I think I might just break some rules whenever that day comes…
Cheers to history, fashion, and making your own rules —
Marina
Owner
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