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Wedding dress
Unknown - Enlarge image
Wedding dress
- Place of origin:
Massachusetts, USA (made)
- Date:
1867 (made)
October 3 1867 (worn) - Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silk satin, needle lace, cotton and whalebone strips
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs Campbell
- Museum number:
T.37&A-1951
- Gallery location:
In Storage
In the nineteenth century the bride's dress was the focal point of a wedding just as it often is today. The fashionable cut and rich material lavished on this gown show that it was clearly designed for a prosperous bride. With its crisp, simple lines and high waist and gored skirt worn over a crinoline cage, it is similar to styles depicted in contemporary photographs and fashion plates. The shimmering silk satin, delicate lace trimmings and pleated bertha ( a collar-like trimming) give the gown a sumptuous quality as would have befitted a wealthy bride.
The colour is also significant as brides of social standing tended to wear white, ivory or cream. The fashion for white wedding dresses started in the mid-eighteenth century, although most people were married in coloured gowns. By the early nineteenth century more and more women opted for white as it implied purity, cleanliness and social refinement. The less well off or more practically minded chose pale blue, dove grey or fawn which they could wear for special occasions long after the event.
It was, however, acceptable and even desirable for fashionable brides to customise their dresses for the early days of married life. In this example there is evidence that long net sleeves were once attached to the short oversleeves and a chemisette would probably have covered the neck. As weddings took place during the day it was usually considered unseemly to reveal a low décolletage or bare arms. Net was ideal as it provided a modest covering without destroying the effect of the dress and could easily be removed to create a fashionable evening gown.
