A wedding dress or wedding gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.
Most brides would have chosen a white wedding gown. Why? I bet they will say white represent pure. Aiyo, if you really think that way than you are wrong.
In Western cultures, brides often choose a white wedding dress, which was made popular by Queen Victoria in 1840.
In Eastern cultures, brides often choose red to symbolize auspiciousness.
Western culture
 |
| Queen Victoria's wedding |
Queen Victoria wore a white gown to incorporate some lace she prized. The official wedding portrait photograph was widely published, and many brides opted for white in accordance with the Queen's choice.
Even after that, for a period, wedding dresses were adapted to the styles of the day. For example, in the 1920s, they were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era.
Today, Western wedding dresses are usually white though "wedding white" includes shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory.
Later, many people assumed that the color white was intended to symbolize virginity, though this was not the original intention: It was the color BLUE that was connected to purity, piety, faithfulness, and the Virgin Mary.
There is an old poem about how the color of your wedding dress will influence your future:
"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, you’ll wish yourself dead.
Married in blue, you will always be true.
Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl.
Married in green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow.
Married in brown, you’ll live out of town.
Married in pink, your spirits will sink.”
Eastern Culture
 |
Many wedding dresses in China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam are red, the traditional colour of good luck and auspiciousness. Nowadays, many women choose other colours beside red.
In modern Singapore weddings, the bride generally picks red (Chinese Tradition Dress) for morning tea ceremony (provided if they have the ceremony) or westernize white wedding gown and other colours night gown for the wedding banquets. While the wedding itself is often based on the couple's choices, the wedding banquets are a symbolic gesture of "thanks" and appreciation, to those that have raised the bride and groom (intermediate family members) and those who will continue to be there to help the bride and groom in the future (friends and colleagues). Thus out of respect for the elders, wedding banquets are usually done formally and traditionally.
 |
Traditional Japanese Kimono
|
At Japanese weddings, brides will often wear three or more dresses throughout the ceremony and subsequent celebrations with a traditional kimono, white and colour dress combination being popular. White is used, because in Japan it symbolises death—in this case, the bride becomes dead to her family. The bride will eventually remove her white kimono to reveal another colored one—usually red—to symbolize her rebirth into her husband's family.
Red wedding saris are the traditional garment choice for brides in Indian culture. Sari fabric is also traditionally silks. Over time, colour options and fabric choices for Indian brides have expanded. Today fabrics like crepe, Georgette, Carmeuse, and satin are used, and colors have been expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow as well.
The Javanese people of Indonesia wear a kebaya, a traditional kind of blouse, along with batik.
 |
| Indian Saris |
 |
| Indonesian Kebaya |
Ain’t it fun to have culture for all of us to own. However, sadly to mention that majority of Easterners seem to forgone their culture and blindly following the Westernize culture.
Pass your own culture down to your generation before it is gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment