Unless you’re like King Henry VIII and decide one day, “I don’t like where this relationship is heading” and then promptly have your partner beheaded, marriage is viewed as a lifetime commitment. In the past this was an easy thing to achieve when the life expectancy was around forty years and your wife was probably going to die in childbirth. Divorce wasn’t really a thing so the whole “till death do us part” concept was pretty easy to achieve. So it’s a big deal- and people dress for it. (Also, disclaimer: the clothing discussed refers to western wedding expectation’s because that’s the culture the reporter is familiar with.)

Back in the 19th Century, good old Queen Victoria popularized the white gown for weddings. She wore one during her marriage to Albert of Saxe-Coburg and the image was published and became a trend among scores of women, resulting in a shift from time when women would wear their best dress to the domination of white wedding dresses. It originally started off as a fashion thing, though soon with the whole really creepy obsession with women’s sexuality, the white dress transitioned into a symbol of virginity.

It’s still worn today often if one even Googles the word ‘wedding dress’ your eyes will be assaulted with various dresses consisting of whites and not quite whites. However there are those who do wear things other than the white gown. I watched an episode of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and a women had a dress tailored in black. Weddings are becoming more individual and fashion is following. Though the prices of the dresses match their importance- again if you watch ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ prices can easily hit the thousands of dollars.

As for the future of wedding fashion — who knows. Maybe the white dress will live on, or maybe different colours will regain popularity. Or wedding dresses for other genders will be introduced so everyone can flaunt their white dress on their wedding day.