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Bridal Gowns

Styles and Colors

Bridal gowns are available in many styles such as: floor length, tea-length, A-line, wrap, train, strapless, halter, spaghetti straps, short sleeves, bell sleeves and long sleeves. Some of the materials used to make them are: satin, silk, French taffeta, organza, tulle, English netting, chiffon, Chantilly lace and Venice lace. Some gowns come adorned with glass crystals, glass beads, seed pearls, gold threading and embroidery.

The traditional color for bridal gowns is white. However, there are many colors to choose from, such as: ivory, ecru, champagne, pink, pastels, blue or accents of color such as red, blue and black.

Please check romanticgowns.com for all the latest styles and colors.

Until the mid 1800s, many brides in the United Kingdom did not wear a traditional bridal gown. A specially bought dress that could later be worn as an evening gown was usually the case. In pre-20th century North America, working and frontier brides often opted for a formal look that was practical and could be used again on special occasions, and many women would cut the sleeves off of their gowns and dye them a different color after the wedding. Before the white bridal gown became standardized, an old poem sang the praises or woes of various color choices:

'Married in white, you will have chosen all right. Married in grey, you will go far away. Married in black, you will wish yourself back. Married in red, youll wish yourself dead. Married in blue, you will always be true. Married in pearl, youll live in a whirl. Married in green, ashamed to be seen, Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow. Married in brown, youll live out of town. Married in pink, your spirits will sink.'

Throughout history, women have tried to make their bridal gown special, to suit the festive occasion, to make the beautiful bride more beautiful and the not so beautiful at least splendid to look at.

Many superstitions grew up around weddings. The color of the gown was a popular source of luck. White symbolized a girl's virginity. Blue was a strong symbol of purity, which also traditionally symbolized fidelity and eternal love. If the brides gown was not blue, they would be sure to wear something blue, like jewelry. This is another tradition that has survived to this day. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Pink was another popular color, considered most suitable for a May wedding but some superstitions held it to be unlucky. A deeper shade of red was definitely taboo by Victorian times, with its reference to prostitutes. Green was an unpopular shade because it was linked with lush foliage and rain. Brown or beige implied that the bride would live in the country and never make it in the big city. Yellow was a trendy color to wear in the 1700s. Grey was a common shade for lower-class women because they could use the dress again for church or special occasions. Black was associated with mourning widows (who were guests at the wedding) would wear red dresses. This became known as bridal mourning.

By the 1800s, the white bridal gown with a veil was definitely the style to wear in London. This fashion spread to other cities and towns and eventually to country areas. Queen Victoria was the first royal bride to have bridesmaids to carry her train.

In the nineteenth century, brides would do 'bride visits.' She would go to the homes of family, friends and acquaintances as a newly married woman, while wearing her bridal gown with the train and flowers removed. A higher class bride would then adapt the bodice of the outfit and have it altered it for evening wear.