Dressv Reviews - The Origins of Wedding Dress

Today, Dressv Reviews will share the history of wedding dress with you.

   It may seem as if brides have been getting married in white forever, but this is not the case. The trend of wearing an all white wedding dress dates back to royalty of Victorian times. Before that, brides wore their best dress. The color and materials of the dress varied depending on a woman's social status.

   Even though colors and styles have changed throughout the years, brides have always dressed in their best for the occasion. Royalty and those with a high social standing always dressed at the height of fashion, sparing no expense. Those who had limited means still treated a wedding as a special occasion and dressed as formally as their budgets allowed.

Ancient Times
In ancient times, many weddings were economic unions rather than the joining of two people in love. However, ancient brides still chose to symbolize their happiness by wearing brightly colored wedding garments. The wedding kiss was considered legally binding and represented acceptance of the contract of marriage by the bride and groom.

Medieval Times
During Medieval times, the wedding was still more than just a union between two people. It often represented a union between two families, two businesses and even two countries. Weddings were often arranged and more a matter of politics than love. A bride had to dress in a manner which cast her family in the most favorable light, since she wasn't only representing herself.

Medieval brides of an elevated social standing wore rich colors, expensive fabrics and often had gems sewn into the garment. It was common to see well-to-do brides wearing boldly colored layers of furs, velvet and silk. Those of a lower social standing wore fabrics that weren't as rich, though they copied the elegant styles as best they could.

As the Years Went By
Throughout the years, brides continued to dress in a manner befitting their social status; always in the height of fashion, with the richest, boldest materials money could buy. Up until Victorian times, the average bride, did not usually buy a new dress but wore the finest they owned. The poorest of brides wore their church dress on their wedding day. The amount of material a wedding dress contained was a reflection of the bride's social standing. For instance, the more sleeves flowed, the longer the train, the richer the bride's family was apt to be.