Breaking The Rules: Not Wearing White

Traditionally, most brides wear white on their wedding day but sometimes I have the opportunity to work with a bride that decides to break this unwritten rule. A white wedding gown is not for everyone, just like a strapless bodice may not be your cup of tea. Using color for a wedding dress can be just as much fun as dancing all night on the dance floor after the wedding. Color has the ability to spice up the simplest gown and turn it into a memorable piece of art.



The first wedding were a woman wore a white dress can be traced back to Queen Victoria’s wedding to Prince Albert in 1840.  Before Victoria’s wedding, many brides choose colors including blue, yellow, black and grey for their wedding gowns. Soon after Victoria’s wedding, the white dress trend spread throughout Europe and more elite brides were beginning to favor white over any other color.  A white dress indicated the bride’s family had money to spend on a garment that could be worn once and possibly ruined by getting dirty.  In the 19^th century, brides of the middle class also picked white as the color of their gowns instead of the different hues that were picked previously.  Most brides of this era would wear their gown more then once to get plenty of use out of the expensive garment.



In the past I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few brides that decided to use colors like red, black, purple, hints of green, and multi-colored lining to make their day and dress more unique. Actually a previous bride, Deborah's black wedding dress was part of the inspiration for my Spring 2013 collection; a black, sand washed jacquard gown with hand beading on the bodice.  Her gown was classic old Hollywood at it’s finest.