Some of the best fashion histories are published as exhibition catalogues. Wedded Perfection: Two Centuries of Wedding Gowns was produced for an exhibition held at the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2010.
The interesting thing is, that though the title of this
exhibition specifically references “gowns”, traditional white wedding gowns are
far from being the only garments included here. In fact, anything women wore at their
weddings is featured in this book, including day dresses, evening dresses and
suits!
The book kicks off with "Wedded perfection: the evolution and aesthetics of the wedding gown in western culture", a long essay by Cynthia Amnéus which explores the history and social context of marriage and weddings in Western society. It begins in the ancient world, when marriages were contracted between families, and takes us up to now, when ideas about romance and finding true love underpin marriage.
Next, "Brides on a budget: 1880-1910", an essay by Sara Long Butler which discusses how weddings were managed by people on a tight budget in an era when clothing was still expensive. In this era, the white wedding dress had become fashionable among the well-to-do, but was still out of reach for women who could not afford a dress that was only worn once, or care for a dress made of easily soiled but hard to wash material. The solution, in most cases, was to buy or make a dress that could firstly be worn for the wedding and later kept for “best”.
"The commercialization of weddings in the twentieth century" by Katherine Jellison describes the American bridal industry, which began before the Second World War in the garment industry and expanded afterwards to include everything from floral arrangements to venue hire. Postwar synthetic fabrics finally made white wedding gowns available to every woman who wanted one—and many did in the 1950s and early 1960s.Being an exhibition catalogue, the meat of this book is in the pictures of the dresses on display, with accompanying descriptions of the garments and some information on the brides who wore them. From around the 1860s onwards, a contemporary photograph of the bride wearing her wedding gown is often included with the description.
The catalogue proceeds in chronological order, starting with
a dress worn by Mary Waters in 1740, and then remodelled for her daughter’s wedding in
1763. The gown is made of dark green
silk with a design of flowers, fruit and foliage woven in. It was obviously an expensive piece of
material, so it’s not surprising it was handed down to the next generation!
Progressing into the Victorian era, the white wedding gown
starts to dominate. Etiquette books of
the time recommended quiet, modest dress, but these gowns all follow
fashionable lines. Full sleeves and full
skirts are succeeded by crinolines, which in turn are replaced by bustles and
cuirass bodices.
Ellen Curtis’s 1879 wedding dress is a particularly interesting
example of fashionable dress. A
Cincinnati dressmaker, she made it herself in shades of light brown. It is a stunning specimen of the elaborate and close-fitting styles of the late 1870s, and she undoubtedly wore it after the wedding to
display her dressmaking skills to potential customers!
A death in the family saw Winifred Miller take an entirely different approach in 1924. Not wanting an elaborate white wedding she wore a blue and brown sleeveless dress purchased on the actual day of the ceremony. By contrast, in 1933 Rosemary Sawyer went for a (now traditional) long white gown. Wedding gowns of this type were no longer strictly "fashionable", so when it was passed on to her daughter Melody Richardson in 1964 it was still stylish. The main difference was that Melody chose to wear it with a different, more modern, veil. Both mother and daughter are shown wearing the dress in the Wedded Perfection.
Another dress shared was the one Carole Ann Homan wore in 1947. Because of postwar shortages, Carole had trouble in finding a suitable dress, so when her friend Mary Louise Hackstedde got married in 1948 she foresaw similar problems and gave her the gown. The dress continued being passed down and was worn by many brides. The last time it was used was in 1982.
Sadly, the newest wedding gowns in the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection mostly lack these back stories, which peter out from the late sixties. Instead the catalogue contains pictures of wedding gowns sourced directly from the designer, or displayed as part of art installations—or worn as costumes on TV! There is one notable exception, however. Kristina M. Manning got married in 2000 and decided to have a Goth wedding. The book not only contains pictures of the gown and photographs of the wedding, but commentary from Ms. Manning explaining why she opted for a black wedding.
Wedded Perfection: Two Centuries of Wedding Gowns / Cynthia Amnéus
London: GILES, 2010
ISBN: 9781904832843
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