From shoulder pads to shimmer, maxi to mini, conservative to contemporary, over the past 100 years wedding dresses have been pinned, hemmed and altered to keep up with the times.
After all, every blushing bride(zilla) knows ‘the best day of her life’ is defined by THE dress – and every day after is defined by the gossip about how fabulous she looked in it – so it had better be at the absolute height of fashion.
Joking aside, between 1914-2014 society, the people in it and the clothes they wore did undergo a great deal of change.
In this sense, a wedding dress can become symbolic of a moment in history, the views and the time and the events that shaped those views.
The Manchester Gallery of Costume’s celebrates this marriage of developing design and attitudes of the times with its latest exhibit Something Blue.
The veritable feast for the eyes for anyone with a passion for fashion, or indeed weddings, features 18 dresses, including two by local designer Jean Jackson – recently modelled by actress Mischa Barton.
Rosie Gnatiuk, gallery assistant, said: “The exhibition is about people, and tries to put the human element back into the clothes. It’s about the person behind the dress and what’s important to them.”
Each dress is displayed with a portrait of its owner on their wedding day and the story behind their decision to wear their dress.
The earliest exhibit is a white figured silk dress of Todmorden mill worker Annie Appleton who was married the day after the outbreak of the First World War 29 July 1914.
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There are many reasons for every man and wife to always remember their wedding day but the Appletons’ reason is certainly close to unique.
In 1963 Mrs Appleton said: “It is a date never to be forgotten as almost the beginning of the First World War – it certainly shortened my honeymoon and marred it quite a lot”.
Interestingly, countering the usual stereotypes associated with women and their fickle nature with regards to fashion, many of the dresses on display were chosen by their brides because they could be re-worn.
Ms Gnatiuk said: “We found there were two opposing ideas that brides had when choosing dresses, there is still a high end traditional fashion where people spend thousands, but on the flip side many people are more about the memory of the day and prefer a homemade feel to their weddings.”
The exhibition makes a point of showing the sheer scope of wedding dress trends even over shorter timespans.
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It features Lisa Burton’s 2004 white and diamond silk dress – designed and made especially by Elspeth Gibson – which she wore for her wedding at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on the Cote d’Azure.
Ms Burton’s dress stands in stark comparison to a short black 2011 mini dress worn by gallery assistant Adam Quinn’s bargain hunting bride, who chose the LBD from a high street sale rail.
Ms Gnatiuk said: “Adam’s wife’s dress is picked out often by visitors, it’s every day and so with it having a bit of a story it makes a change from tradition.
The couple was married quickly and secretly in Gretna Green after a twenty year engagement.
Catholic bride Kathleen Soriano’s feared her red Valentino dress, displayed in the downstairs room, would cause a stir on her big day.
The priest overseeing the wedding joked: “Red is my favourite colour. I’ll wear white instead!”
The star of the show though seems to be a floral evening dress worn at a ceremony in 1935, which stands in the upstairs gallery. Made of silk, it features a pink and yellow rose design making it one of the more unusual on display.
The dress was donated to London’s V&A, by the daughter of the woman who wore it, and then handed down to the Gallery of Costume.
“We had a nice correspondence with the owner of the 1930s dress,” said Ms Gnatiuk. “She really liked the exhibition.”
The V&A hosted a similar event recently, but Mr Quinn suggested that, despite what you’d think, London’s display may have been the bridesmaid to their bride.
He said: “Another man who had been to a similar exhibition at the V&A said he like our exhibition for its personal touch.”
“We even had a woman who said she was dreading coming because she hated weddings, but she loved the exhibition.”
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Another favourite amongst the visitors is a more traditional 1950s design made entirely of ivory lace with a long train. Ms Gnatiuk believes this dress is a hit because of its fairy-tale quality.
Even if fairytale weddings, aren’t your thing the exhibition is well worth a visit and runs until Sunday 15 March 2015.
Further information can be found at www.manchestergalleries.org
