Gowns that we see today have pretty interesting history. There was a time – during the early Medieval Age – women as well as men wore this piece of clothing. This trend was widely in practice as late as the 17th century. Even to this day and time people in certain professions – irrespective of gender – wear gowns.
The meaning of the word
The word originates from ‘gunna’ and is borrowed from the Saxon dictionary. Any loose-fitting outer garment was a gown and its length may range anywhere between the knee and the ankle. However this concept is pretty backdated now. In contemporary times it is a full-length dress for women with an inbuilt skirt and bodice.
Attending a party in a gorgeous gown is something very normal both in the real world and the make-believe world of cinematography. But, as a word of caution, every type of party gown is not meant for every party that you’re invited to. The dressing item exists in varieties; in fact there are more ‘types’ of gowns under the sun than you can imagine. If the truth is to be told there’re many varieties of this popular women’s dress that are meant to wear to different social events other than a party. In other words you are expected to do a little study on various types of gowns that exist. The effort proves helpful choosing the right dress for a given event.
Wedding dress
Now keeping party gowns aside let us take a quick look at wedding gowns. As far as the Western society is concerned this range of gowns is mostly white for almost close to two hundred years now. In fact this trend was introduced in 1840. Before that brides in Europe were used to wearing wedding dresses in wide range of colors including red. The white dress was reserved for women who attended courts.
But that convention was squashed by the illustrious British monarch Queen Victoria when she married Prince Albert in 1840 wearing a dress in silk-satin and flower crown. Her dress broke the age-old convention and as such set a brand new tradition in practice which is still followed to this day and time.
The queen’s iconic bridal gown was obviously designed with unparalleled care and creativity. The dress was decked with honiton lace both at the sleeves and the neck. Moreover it had a slim waist, a full crinoline petticoat and ofcourse plenty of embellishments.
Her style statement made a huge impact. Ladies from other royal European households followed suit without any delay.
However the ‘new’ white wedding gown introduced certain difficulties. Firstly laundering proved a challenging affair for this range of luxuriously designed dresses. In addition to that maintaining the perfect whiteness of these dresses proved difficult too.
These days, people hardly assign importance on laundering and maintenance of their bridal dresses. This is because they hardly wear the dress for a second time in their life. But back then a bridal dress used to be worn several times in one’s life to attend any grand and high-scale event.
Popularity factors of the white dress
As the white dress became significantly popular in weddings it was given new symbolism with the color white standing for innocence and purity. There was also another factor that silently played a crucial role in popularizing the trend. Back in those early days of photography pictures came out only in monochromatic shade. The white dress automatically made an excellent contrast in black backgrounds.
Thanks to the Industrial Revolution fresh technologies were introduced that made textile manufacturing less tedious and more hassle-free. Gradually as time passed by the sewing machine was invented. It made stitching of these luxurious dresses easier and less time consuming. Lastly invention of artificial or chemical indigo made the procedure of maintaining whiteness of white garments easier and less costly.
As a result of this chain of developments the commoners too were not left far behind in following the trend of white bridal dresses. This is how a ‘new order’ was set in wedding dresses for ladies.
Even Hollywood contributed handsomely over the ages to make white dresses a cult for brides at weddings.
The 2021 trend
Weddings are a very personal affair as are the dresses. Every girl invariably expects something unique at her wedding. Whether it’s the dress, catering, flower styling or just anything that one can imagine. As far as the 2021 trend in considered it seems likely that white dresses will be in trend for the would-be brides.
Unlike that in the past people prefer an informal gathering at their weddings. A lengthy guest list is no more the trend. Rather people choose more intimate and meaningful celebration for the milestone event accompanied by their near and dear ones. This ‘new order’ is known as micro wedding and the guest list hardly goes over 30/35 headcounts. Thus hosts can easily allocate greater budget per guest. Moreover people now want that bride and groom should spend more quality time with each other at the wedding bypassing the typical hassles that are involved.
Considering all these fresh and new trends the design of bridal dresses has changed significantly. Nowadays would-be brides look for pockets in their dresses to carry their mobile, a tissue or a spare lipstick in a dignified way.
On the other hand this range of dresses is gradually becoming simpler and less fussy. If you’ve noticed sleeves are making a fresh comeback. After the 1950s and 1960s sleeves practically disappeared from bridal dresses all these years. Backless bridal dresses with long sleeves seem to be the reigning trend in near future. Moreover the veil is expected to become lengthier in the coming times thanks to Meghan Markle. All these style elements are undoubtedly going to add a touch of sexiness to the clothing item.
When you shop bridal dresses online, keep these points in mind. Most importantly you should choose something that makes you cool and comfortable.
