Before the grand white wedding, there was the simple ceremony in one’s home with family and few friends. There were brown dresses, green, blue, even black, since one’s wedding dress served double duty as a special-occasion gown and one’s ‘Sunday best.’ Brides wore so many different colors, a rhyme popped up with a fate for each color. Not until the late nineteenth century did the trend for ivory wedding gowns become popular, often credited to Queen Victoria’s startling choice to wear ivory when she wed in 1840.
For centuries, wedding fashion followed everyday fashion. Only recently have brides chosen to eschew contemporary formal wear for styles that directly reference the past. Today, hoop skirts, corsets, sinewy fishtails, long trains, and leg-o-mutton sleeves can all be seen on the aisle, but each style echoes decades past.