Cotton organdie wedding dress 1953

On Saturday 5th November, I had the opportunity to visit the Bendigo Art Gallery and see the exhibition of “The White Wedding Dress: 200 years of bridal fashion”. It was a breathtaking exhibition of bridal gowns, spanning the last 200 years.

Most of the gowns were displayed in glass cabinets, obviously to protect them. Going through the maze of rooms in which the exhibition was held, I was amazed to see just how much bridal fashion has indeed changed over the years.

In the 1800′s and upto the early 1900′s, wedding dresses were worn again and again after the wedding, often to special occasions as well as for attending church on Sundays. The wedding dress was of course seen as a special dress, but practicality meant that it needed to be worn again. This is in stark contrast to the wedding dress of today, which is seen as the most supreme gown a woman will ever wear, and is treasured in a special box or cover, unlikely to be worn again.

Wedding dresses worn by the upper class were often made of silk, and embellished with embroidery and hand beading. They had very corseted bodices which were cinched in at the waist, to quite unnatural proportions. Usually the gowns were hand sewn, and only the upper class could afford to have such gowns. For the middle and lower classes, wedding dresses were often made of cotton, and resembled sun dresses, more so than wedding dresses.

It was imperative that the bride’s face was covered during the wedding ceremony, thus the veil was a crucial part of a bride’s outfit. Veils for brides were almost always embellished with hand embroidered motifs or lace, and these were sometimes beaded. Interestingly, veils were always long, often trailing behind the bride.

Around the 1920′s, women’s fashion was radically changing, and along with this, so was bridal fashion. Gowns became less structured, as the corset was tossed away. Sheath gowns became popular as women wanted to demonstrate their new-found freedom from corsets.

In 1947, fashion designer Christian Dior reinvented the hour glass silhouette, which again changed bridal fashion. By the 1950′s bridal fashion was well and truly established as a trend of its own. Newspapers would report on society weddings in great detail, which was of tremendous interest to the people. Royal weddings were of world-wide interest, just as they are today.

In the 1960′s wedding dresses had fitted bodices, with a full skirt, just below the knee. There were few embellishments, perhaps just on the neckline or hemline. Veils became short and bouffant, often just below the shoulders.

As the decades passed, hemlines were raised, and then fell again. Sleeves became exaggerated, and then streamlined. Skirts became voluminous, and then slim again.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981 set the course of bridal fashion for the rest of the decade. It wasn’t until the early 1990′s that bridal fashion began to change once again.

I particularly enjoyed the final room of the exhibition, which showcased Australian bridal fashion. The mannequins in this room were on stands, not in glass cabinets, so I was able to see the gown details a bit better. There were several gowns on display from notable Australian designers. Their gowns were equally as impressive as the French and English gowns.

Seeing the transition of the wedding dress from being just a dress, to being “the dress” that a woman will wear on her wedding day and be remembered in, was truly a journey through history.