Wedding dress
Garment worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony.
A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. In Western culture, the wedding dress is most commonly white, a tradition popularised by elites in the Victorian era after Queen Victoria wore a white dress at her wedding to Prince Albert. In Eastern cultures, such as Chinese and Indian cultures, brides will often wear red to their weddings to symbolize auspiciousness.
- dominant_color_since
- mid-20th century
- eastern_tradition_color
- red
Lore & Background
Historically, weddings have often symbolised a strategic union between families, businesses, kingdoms, or nations. Brides were expected to dress according to their status, with women from wealthy families donning rich colours and exclusive fabrics, such as furs, velvet, and silk. Brides from lower social strata wore their best church dress on their wedding day. This was not a widespread trend, however: prior to the Victorian era, a bride was married in any color, black being popular in Finland.
Reader's Guide
Illustrations of the wedding were widely published, and many elite Victorian brides donned white dresses at their weddings. In the early 1900s, clothing included a lot of decorations, such as lace or frills, which were adopted in wedding dresses. In the 1920s, dresses were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era. Since the mid-20th century, white has been the dominant color for Western wedding dresses, though 'wedding white' includes shades such as eggshell, ecru, and ivory. In Eastern cultures, traditionally a Kurdish first-time bride would wear a red dress to symbolize postcoital bleeding, while a previously married bride would wear pink; many Kurds associate red wedding dresses with impoverished rural society and it is no longer commonly worn. In India, brides wear a wedding sari, usually red with golden brocade, as red is the color associated with married women; other colors appear in some regions and castes, like red-white checkering in Tamil Nadu.
Did You Know?
- Prior to the Victorian era, brides were married in any color, with black being popular in Finland.
- In Kurdish tradition, a first-time bride would wear a red dress to symbolize postcoital bleeding, while a previously married bride would wear pink.
- Since the mid-20th century, white has been the dominant color for Western wedding dresses, including shades like eggshell, ecru, and ivory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Wedding dress?
A Wedding dress is the formal garment a bride wears during her wedding ceremony. It functions as the central piece of bridal attire and is recognized across virtually every culture as the defining outfit of the bride on her wedding day.
Do all cultures use white for the Wedding dress?
No. In many Eastern traditions, including Chinese and Indian weddings, brides traditionally wear red to symbolize auspiciousness and good fortune rather than white.
Why is the Wedding dress culturally significant?
It visually marks the bride's elevated status and the ceremony's importance, setting the wedding apart from ordinary life. The chosen color and style often encode deep cultural values, from Victorian ideals of purity to Eastern symbols of prosperity.
More in Clothing Types 1-18
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record