All About Vintage Wedding Gowns

The trend to wear vintage wedding gowns is on the rise across America. If you are a bride considering this trend, then consider wedding dresses from different periods before making a final selection.

Women started wearing special gowns for weddings about the fifth century. Wealthy females usually wore dresses made of silk or velvet lavishly decorated with beadwork. These brides wore extremely long trains. Those with smaller bank accounts often sewed their own beads on more affordable fabric. The wedding dress was seen as a symbol of unity. Many brides chose to wear blue wedding dresses as it was seen as a symbol of chastity, although green, red and yellow were also popular choices.

Queen Victoria drastically changed the trend in wedding gowns when she married Prince Albert. She chose a cream-colored satin gown for her special day decorated with handmade lace motifs made by William Dyce. While she was not the first royalty to be married in white, women instantly fell in love with the style choosing it for their own wedding day. Quickly people began to see white as a symbol of purity, innocence of girlhood and the surrendering of an unsullied heart.

While the beginning of the decade saw women still opting for Queen Victoria-style wedding gowns, the style had definitely changed by the end of the decade as women opted for tunic-style goddess wedding attire often worn with flower headpieces.

White remained the most popular color choice for a wedding gown until the start of the Great Depression when many women were forced to wear their best dress to their special occasion. During World War I and II, many women chose to wear their military uniforms. That all changed on April 18, 1956, when Grace Kelly married Prince Albert of Monaco in an ivory peau de soie fabric wedding gown with a fitted bodice and full skirt. The gown was elaborately decorated with Brussels lace.

The counter culture of the 1960s changed the look of wedding dresses again. Hem lines came up above the knee with many brides choosing miniskirts for their special day. Often brides chose to wear go-go boots with their wedding dresses. Many celebrities including Elvis Presley’s bride baby-doll style wedding gowns with large bouffant-style veils.

The trend to Victorian style wedding dresses returned when Diana Spencer married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981. For her special day, she wore an ivory taffeta wedding gown with puffed sleeves, a full skirt, and a tightly fitted bodice. Soon, every bride in the United States and Great Britain wanted the style they saw on one of the most watched weddings ever on television.

While many brides continued to wear Victorian-style wedding dresses in the 1990s, others chose to go with a more form-fitting dress for their wedding. Helping to establish this trend was Carolyn Bessette when she married John F. Kennedy Junior on September 21, 1996, wearing a Narciso Rodriguez white silk sheath without any embellishments.

Make sure to set the tone for your vintage wedding by choosing antique wedding invites after choosing perfect vintage wedding gowns. These wedding invites help guests to anticipate how great you and the groom will look on your wedding day.