Wedding Gowns

Forties Wedding Gowns

The wedding gowns of the 40s were very much influenced by the Second World War. Women had to be creative because most of everyone’s attention and sources went into the war and simply surviving.

Most commonly, women had the habit of wearing their mother’s wedding gown; other options included borrowing a wedding dress from a friend, relative or creating it yourself. Women simply made their gowns at home looking at a picture of a dress that they admired and then they transformed silk parachute material or drapes into a wedding gown.

Forties Wedding Gown from i.ehow.com

Barely after 1945, had things started to sink slowly into a normal life. Brides could now appeal to stores like Macy’s or Marshal Field. Also, fabrics began to be more luxurious: while in the first part of the 40s women used what they could find; now they could shop for a wedding gown made of silk, satin and lace. The typical 40s wedding dress looked like this: V neckline or high collar, loosely fitted bodice, Gibson style sleeves and flowing skirt. Women had to still respect certain decency, let’s call it, that is why the sleeves were long and the skirt was down to the ground. The Gibson sleeves were characterized by the fact that they were fuller at the shoulder and very tight on the wrist. Another type of sleeve that was quite common was the point sleeve that basically ended up in a V shape at the wrist, covering the back of the bride’s hand. The main purpose of these sleeves was to respect a certain dress code, but also to draw the attention of people to the bride’s hand and ring.

Forties Wedding Gown from i.ehow.com

After 1945, brides started to wear more elaborate dresses with embroidery and beadings, long veils and everything that they wished for. This was certainly liberating because in the beginning of the 40s there were women who married in suite like wedding gown. To read more on wedding gowns history, please check out this page.