wedding dress

Summary

White silk satin and lace bodice and skirt, lined with white twilled cotton. Bodice features 8 pleats at the top, with the lower half trimmed with mock-lacing of brown silk ribbon. It fastens at right front with hooks and loops. There is lace edging either side of centre front panel, nearly all seams and darts are boned. A falling lace collar covers a narrow standing collar and the 3/4 length sleeves are trimmed with lace cuffs. The bodice is pointed at centre front and the centre back forms a pleated fan tail. Separate skirt opens to the left of centre and fastens with 4 hooks and eyes. It features 8 lace flounces at the front, the top half covered in satin drape. Train is scalloped with lace edge over a pleated self-frill. The underskirt features 4 rows of boning, 4 pairs of ties, and the back is lined with stiffened muslin, with one pocket on the right hand side. Worn 21 July 1886 by bride aged 22.

Display Label

Brides have chosen to wear a special outfit for their marriage ceremony for many centuries and in many different cultures. Often they have selected a glamorous, highly decorated gown, like today, choosing the most expensive dress that they could afford. Colour has also often been significant: Asian brides have traditionally chosen to wear red; whilst in Britain, white has been usual since the early nineteenth century. In the West, it has also been common for brides from the 1970s onwards to select not only a white dress thus set apart from ordinary wear, but also a fantasy creation, not much connected to everyday fashion. The Princess of Wales's fairytale wedding gown designed by the Emmanuels in 1981 was typical of this new attitude and set the current trend for romantic one-off bridal creations. Couture houses such as Dior and Balmain, or couturiers like Rei Kawakubo or Alexander McQueen rely on wealthy clients ordering individual and costly wedding outfits as much as the more general market for glamorous evening and party dresses.