Why must a wedding dress be white? Who decided, and is it time we questioned tradition?
I have always found it fascinating how something becomes a tradition. Particularly in fashion, where what we consider timeless was often simply someone else's idea of what was beautiful.
Take the white wedding dress. Why white? Who decided that a woman should wear this particular colour on one of the most important days of her life? And why, almost two centuries later, are we still following it?
The answer takes us back to 1840, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert wearing a beautiful white satin gown adorned with handmade Honiton lace. Interestingly, she wasn't the first bride to wear white. Before her wedding, women married in all sorts of colours - red, blue, pink, brown and even black. Many simply wore their finest dress, something they could enjoy again.
Victoria's choice captured the public's imagination. Fashion illustrations, newspapers and eventually the growing bridal industry helped establish white as the romantic ideal. What began as a royal fashion statement gradually became a social expectation.
And the association with purity and innocence? That became particularly embedded in bridal fashion during the Victorian era. I find that extraordinary. A colour chosen by one influential woman became an expectation for generations of women who followed.
As a designer, I adore white. I love its softness, its ability to reveal beautiful textures, the way ivory satin catches the light and how delicate lace comes alive against the skin. But I also adore champagne, blush, soft blues and unexpected shades that bring out something extraordinary in a woman's complexion and personality, like olive green, fresco gold and rich jewel tones.
When I design a gown, I never begin by thinking about what a bride should wear. I think about the woman herself. Her character, her individuality and, most importantly, how she wants to feel. Perhaps the question isn't whether the tradition of white should be broken. Perhaps it's whether we should ever allow tradition to define a woman's expression of beauty.
There is something wonderful about honouring history. But there is something equally beautiful about having the freedom to reinterpret it. After all, Queen Victoria herself made an unconventional choice that changed bridal fashion forever. Perhaps the next beautiful tradition is simply allowing every woman to make her own.
