Wedding Dress And Its Place In History
As decades change, so do the wedding dress and the wedding gown. At times, we see thesewedding dresses change along to match the culture for that particular era. Other times it’sbecause women, or designers, want to make their own mark. For the decades of the 1950’s and60’s, this attitude was no different.
1950’s
What movie theaters did for the 1940’s, the television did in the 1950’s. Along with television,also came the subculture in which American lives were changed forever. For women in thisdecade, it was no different. Thanks to television programs, the thought became if a womanwasn’t married by her mid-20’s, that she would have a hard time finding a mate and thereforebecome an ‘old maid.’
It was with that adage that the American wedding became more of an event, a pomp andcircumstance, than it had in the past. With such successes as Christian Dior and the likes, fashionwas the “in-thing” for women. Fabrics no longer had constraints. Therefore, the fuller the skirt,the more the new look gained in popularity. This went right into the wedding gown of the 50’sas the shoulders contained a softer shoulder and more rounded. The waist was pinched, bosomspointed and the heels were spiked.
Hoop skirts and crinolines showed an even more hourglass effect to her body, making her evenmore elegant. It was also during this era that the zipper was removed and placed in the back ofthe dress, making the unzipping by her mate that much more exciting and sensuous.
As for material, the 1950’s was all about the lace. Lace was the European tradition of wearand American women couldn’t get enough of it. It wasn’t long after this that the “cocktail”or “ballerina” look took over. This look was an above the ankle length wedding gown and wasinspired by a Degas painting.
With the dress in place, a bride’s headpiece became an important part of the dress and as anaccessory. Known as skull cap headpieces, they were designed with satin and velvet materials,which included a circle veil. Later in the decade, came the beaded accessories to the skull capgiving the piece an even more glamorous look to it. With the success of the skull cap came otherspruced up accessories to the gown.
The woman’s gloves became shorter than the past the elbow gloves of the 1940’s. The shortergloves were known simply as “shorties.” Shorties were generally worn with tea length gowns.The longer gloves, referred to as opera length gloves, were still worn in the 50’s, but more forformal events.
For most of the decade, the strapless gown, with its sweetheart bodice was still the preferred look
for evening wear attire. The strapless gown came in either the full skirt or in a figure huggingsheath.
By the late 50’s, full skirted wedding gowns had their hemlines dropped and thus became heavierand more of a structured gown. Without question, this dress was a direct influence by the style ofGrace Kelly.
1960’s
As the 1960’s began, women’s fashion not only remained glamorous, but also added a sense ofstyle and grace, as America introduced its newest first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedywas often seen wearing dresses that were sleeveless sheaths that were fitted, along with a bareneckline. Evening wear such as this was once thought of as not being formal enough for a blacktie event. In addition, she also wore the opera length gloves.
Although, this look was becoming more formal, wedding gowns in the 60’s did not conform.However, the gowns were now being made so that the sleeve would cover the shoulder,resembling a cap. This new gown had been a modified bubble sheath, to go along with a bandedwaist as well as a scooped neck. This silhouette only lasted until the mid-60’s, as the new A-linewas introduced.
After President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the days of Mrs. Kennedy’s glamourdisappeared. With nowhere else to turn, America hooked on to the modern day model. With thedecade of the 60’s in full bloom, the Beatles and free love, the look of the Mini skirt was adaptedand accepted as part of the wedding gown.
However, like any sense of fashion, the Mini gown only lasted a couple of years. As the end ofthe decade drew closer, brides began wearing their hair longer and therefore clashed with theMini dress and thus the style went back to being that of a longer dress, or the Midi, stopping justabove the ankles.