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Wedding dress of Queen Victoria

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The Wedding dress of Queen Victoria was worn by Victoria of the United Kingdom in her wedding to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on February 10, 1840. She selected a simple white dress with a full-pleated skirt, then considered a very conservative choice at a time when colours had been the norm,[1] fabricated from heavy silk satin.[2] The Honiton lace used for her wedding dress proved an important boost to the Devon lacemaking and to future royal wedding attire. Indeed, Queen Victoria has been credited as starting the western tradition of white bridal gowns by wearing one at her 1840 wedding, although she was not the first royal to do so.[3][4] At the time, Victoria's choice was criticized for being too conservative, since she did not wear jewels, velvet, ermine furs, or a crown, and the color was unusual.

The dress was designed by William Dyce, head of the then Government School of Design (later known as the Royal College of Art), and made by Mary Bettans.[5]

Wearing white was quickly adopted by wealthy, fashionable brides. The Godey's Lady's Book, commenting about a decade after Victoria's wedding, wrote: "Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material. It is an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one", even though white had been a distinctly uncommon choice for bridal gowns before Victoria's wedding and was not chosen by a majority of brides until decades later.[6]

Design

The white colour used for the dress is used in the sense as “wedding white” or “white” including shades of cream colours like eggshell, ecru and ivory.[7] For the cream-coloured gown, an austere dress, termed the white gown, the hand-made lace used was from the West Country village of Honiton and silk woven in Spitalfields in east London; these were chosen as a mark of support to English cottage industry, particularly promote the arts and crafts and lace industry.[2][5][8] The gown made with Honiton Lace was "appliquéd to a machine-made cotton net."[9] The silk satin gown was embellished with orange blossoms and, along with the bridal veil, also made of Honiton lace, she wore diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. However, a wreath of fragrant orange flower blossoms adorned her head as a symbol of fertility instead of a diamond-studded tiara, over her beautiful lace veil. The lace veil formed the flounce of the dress and was four yards in length and 0.75 yards wide. The slippers she wore matched the white colour of the dress.[10] The dress's train, which was carried by the bridal-train bearers, extended over a length of 18 feet (5.5 m) and became a fashion statement in subsequent royal weddings, as was evidenced by the 25 feet (7.6 m) train in the wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer.[11]

Queen Victoria described her choice of dress in her journal thus: "I wore a white satin dress, with a deep flounce of Honiton lace, an imitation of an old design. My jewels were my Turkish diamond necklace & earrings & dear Albert's beautiful sapphire brooch." Soon enough, the white dress become a fashionable statement among royal women of the society.[12]

The tradition of white wedding is now credited to Queen Victoria.[13] The demand created, following Queen Victoria’s “White Wedding Gown with abundance of lace trims”, has continued to this day.[2]

The lace used in the wedding gown impressed Victoria so much, as it was produced by a labour-intensive cottage industry which required skill and perfection, that the same people were commissioned by her again to make the "christening robe" for her eldest son (who later became King Edward VII).[14] It is also mentioned that Victoria used the lace of her wedding gown years later for special events, including her husband's funeral, as a mark of her love for him.[8]

The gown is now very fragile and is only handled by experts wearing gloves. It will undergo conservation treatment soon before it is put up for public display at Kensington Palace, in 2012.[8]

Similarity

In the aftermath of the fashionable but conservative white wedding dress worn by the newly-married The Duchess of Cambridge on 29 April 2011, a notable and telling comparison has been made to the "White Wedding Dress" adorned by Queen Victoria on her wedding day 10 February 1840, an "audacious" expression of style coupled with conservativeness. It was the first original white dress worn by any royal personage for marriage till then, as in the past the practice was to have wedding dresses made in a plethora of colours (except solid black, which associated with mourning). It was such a bold expression in a conservative age, when wearing white was taboo for happy occasions; Queen Victoria flouted traditions and even decided not to decorate her dress with any “jewelry or crown, or velvet robes trimmed with ermine”. Her white dress (crinoline-style court dress [15]) was made entirely in England with lace and silk satin with full pleated skirt, and low neckline. The twelve brides maids who carried the trail were also dressed in white. Support in favour of the white dress, however, came a decade later when a lady’s book wrote in favour of it.[6]

  • Pair of white satin shoes worn by Queen Victoria on her wedding day
    Pair of white satin shoes worn by Queen Victoria on her wedding day

References

  1. ^ Otnes, Cele and Pleck, Elizabeth (2003). Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding, p.31. University of California Press ISBN 978-0-520-24008-7
  2. ^ a b c Khalje, Susan (1 May 1997). Bridal couture: fine sewing techniques for wedding gowns and evening wear. Krause Publications Craft. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8019-8757-1. Retrieved 30 April 2011. Cite error: The named reference "Khalje1997" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Tai, Crystal. Real Savings on Your Dream Wedding. Crystal Tai. p. 94. GGKEY:2L8Q7Z7Z5YH. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  4. ^ Perry, Jason (19 August 2007). Wedding Planner. Global Media. p. 72. ISBN 978-81-89940-07-2. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  5. ^ a b Alexander, Hilary (22 April 2011). "How will The Dress measure up to history?". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b Flock, Elizabeth (29 April 2011). "Queen Victoria was the first to get married in white". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  7. ^ Davis, Michael (14 April 2007). Art of Dress Designing. Global Media. pp. 83–. ISBN 81-904575-7-8. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  8. ^ a b c "Queen Victoria's gown offers hints on Middleton's - Features". Times Leader.com. Retrieved 1 may 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ Lace crafts quarterly. Eunice Sein. 1987. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  10. ^ "Historical Royal Weddings and Dresses". The Tudors wiki. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  11. ^ "On this day:1981: Charles and Diana marry". BBC. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  12. ^ "History of the White Wedding Dress Began with Queen Victoria in 1840". Yahoo News. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  13. ^ Cheryl Price; Julia Wix (2004). Design and develop text documents (Word 2003): BSBADM304A. Max Johnson. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-1-877364-79-2. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  14. ^ Simon Heptinstall (15 June 2008). Devon. Crimson Publishing. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-1-85458-426-7. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Rare royal wedding dresses on show". London: Fashion telegraph.co.uk. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 1 may 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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