In the vast majority of modern countries, it is customary to dress up for a wedding in a white dress. Even more: there is a wedding fashion, actual styles change every year.

Why is this exactly where this tradition came from? Because of what should the dress be white, and other colors are considered very skeptical? Surely curious people at least once asked this question.

White is not an axiom

Today, they often depart from this tradition - a wedding dress is chosen both in multi-colored, and in beige and blue shades. Progressive brides are not afraid of condemnation, stay away from prejudice, and can even choose a silver or black outfit. Sometimes it really is beautiful, it looks unusual and interesting. Moreover, the white color is not universal for all cases and every nationality. Even today, many people prefer to choose other solutions without thinking about generally accepted trends.

Interesting fact: it is not customary for a number of peoples to use a white dress for the wedding ceremony. In India, brides wear red, and in Japan, the girl uses two outfits at once, white and red. And many African and Asian people prefer to choose national costumes for the wedding.

In addition, the tradition of wearing white strengthened only in the 19th century, and originated 1-2 centuries earlier. This is a relatively recent trend, its occurrence is usually associated with one of two cases when European queens began to choose this color for a wedding dress.

Queens and Wedding Dress

Anna of Austria is a Spanish princess who chose a white dress for her wedding with the king of France. The wedding took place in 1615. Her image so impressed those around that in the future all wealthy ladies began to imitate her, choosing this color for a wedding dress. And then this fashion began to spread actively, the princess began to imitate in other European countries, and then in Russia. Gradually, this tradition passed from the upper strata of society to all the others.

There is a second option, another answer to this riddle. In the second case, the fashion for white wedding dresses is attributed to Queen Victoria, who ruled England - she married Albert Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840. The woman thought that the traditional image with silver brocade would not suit her, and made a bet on a white dress, which was very new. After all, silver color was traditional at the weddings of the ruling persons of this country. She put on a white satin dress, on each sleeve of which it took up to half a meter of material only for jewelry. This material was hand-made lace, which was prepared for six months by a whole village of craftswomen, and after the wedding, the outfit was destroyed so that no one tried to copy it.

Wedding dresses at different times

It is believed that the first wedding dresses began to be used by the ancient Greeks - it was white ash, which was decorated with clasps on the shoulders. Brides were not supposed to decorate, these clasps were the only accessories, they sought to elegantly decorate.The richer the bride’s family was, the more elaborate these decorations were. There were no fashionable dresses in Rome either - the girl was dressed in tight-fitting clothes, but she had more accessories, the bride turned out to have a lot of jewelry. In Russia, brides dressed up in accordance with pagan traditions. They relied on a red sundress, which was believed to drive away evil forces with its color. Another option involved a smartly embroidered shirt and a red and blue check skirt.

The skirt was considered a symbol of engagement - if the girl began to walk in it, then she was already caught. Russian women tried to put on red clothes for the wedding until the 18th century, only then the image of a snow-white dress gradually began to take root.

Medieval traditions

In Europe in the Middle Ages there was no tradition of sewing a separate dress for a wedding - this was not done among commoners. The girl simply chose the most beautiful of those dresses that she had, and walked in it down the aisle. The dress could not be new, it could be just festive, she could wear it on special occasions before the wedding, and after it. Only wealthy families from around the 15th century began to give out their daughters in dresses specially purchased for this.

Accordingly, medieval wedding dresses could be of any color, brides could bet on bright or dark colors, no one chose white. It is worth remembering that the dust and dirt on the medieval streets did not contribute to the cleanliness and safety of clothes, and sewing a dress only once was a waste, even for wealthy families.

Modern look at wedding dresses

The bride’s snow-white dress, according to modern views, speaks of her purity, symbolizes innocence. In the past, such “dresses of the bride of Christ” were worn by girls leaving for the monastery. And white color symbolizes perfection, a holiday of life. Thus, a white dress is by no means an ancient, but a very beautiful tradition, and it is each bride who decides whether to follow it. Many follow, because white dresses for brides today are offered in a variety of styles.