Wedding Gowns

Colonial Wedding Gowns

The term of ‘colonial’ became known with the passage of time as a way of the population that formed the colonies in the United States in an attempt to define their individuality while starting their new lives once with the descending into the New World. The 17^th century carried with it massive groups of different social, political and religious formation to cross the ocean and populate new territories of a world that they instantly proclaimed to belong to them. Thus we meet the Swedes and Finns, Dutch, Quakers, the Puritans, English each of them having their distinct political, economical, social and religious structures.

The civil ethnic life of the colonists reflects, in these times, different perspective towards women. The 17^th century colonial gown was influenced by the European style of the time with the mark of excessive cuts, but the Puritans sought to annul the flamboyant style by establishing laws to commend more modest and conservative style among the inhabitants of the colonist group.

Young American couples who choose to have a wedding to relate to their roots, be they Irish, British, Welsh, German or Dutch they can opt a colonial style wedding celebration to bring in the nostalgia of the old times that defined them as American citizens. In this respect choices are various considering that styles have been displayed in distinctive expressions of social, religious identity. The nowadays fashion artisans being updated with every fashion style that composed the history of fashion, have found in the old colonial style a way to show their originality in creations that combine the old with the new.

The designs displayed in their fashion collections consist also of colonial wedding gowns in a beautifully rendition of the old times reflected in a bridal fashion with modern accents and beautifully laid motifs decorations on the fabric of the dress. The websites unfold colonial wedding gowns made from 2 pieces with the white satin bodice and laces up the back, lavish details with appliqués and bridal trim, presenting sleeves with several layers of lace. The white satin skirt is created with several rows of ruffles edged with violet satin ribbon, having an overskirt in a style of a teardrop and appliqués all over. The 5 ft train of the skirt complements in a lavish way aspect of the wedding gown and confers the attire the richness of those times style.

Another colonial wedding gown can be found in the Colonial Ball collections of the fashion designers displaying sumptuous dresses of a Georgian period with different delicate fabrics, such as brocade, silk dupioni, or silk/rayon Chinese tapestry brocade. The general trait of these gowns is reflected by the design of the bodice with sides and back and the overskirt made of one of those fabrics having the cuts of “stomacher” and lapels made of choices of various satins trimmed with silver, or gold braids that are stitched in delicate patterns. The bodice is cut in a corset-line fashion that present on the lapels accents of floral motifs as hand-made decorations.

The colonial wedding gowns prove to be very good choices for the American young couples that decide to have their wedding in a Georgian style, or in a style that carries them back to the times where their individuality was starting to outline.11