The Bride's Dress

What color do you instantly associate with a bridal gown? White, of course. However, did you know that the bride's dress has not always been white?

Being married in white, to evoke virginal purity, dates back only to the end of the 18th century in Europe. Before then, the young bride-to-be wore her most beautiful dress on this special occasion. For many centuries, especially in Europe's country class, this favored dress was red.

Until the 19th century, red, the color of joy, celebration and pleasure, was the color with which the cloth makers had the most success in dying. The madder, the plant that produced red pigment in its roots, had better results than the pigments used for other colors, such as blue, green, black or white. Fabrics infused with red tended to keep their color, unlike the others, which faded when exposed to sun or water. Ultimately, red always appeared more dense and vivid than other colors.

Today, "traditional" marriages are on the decline, but the most popular color for a wedding gown remains white, a color we have been associating with weddings since the 1800's.

Dictionnaire des couleurs de notre temps; Michel Pastoureau, 1999; p. 145-146.