Colourful Clothing- The use of White

My last post, which detailed how purple was used in clothing throughout the ages, ended with me discussing on whether to talk about blue or red this week. In the end- I have decided to scratch that idea and talk about white instead. Perhaps the most obvious association we have with white in western culture is bridal wear, but this wasn’t always the case. This post will briefly chronicle the role white has played in clothing in the last 3,000 years.

As usual I will start my post talking about the Egyptians. I touched briefly on white in Egyptian clothing before- the colour was associated with purity, and is often worn by the deceased in scenes of the afterlife. Gods are also often shown in white- perhaps most famously Osiris (God of the Underworld) wears white mummy wrappings in most representations!

A Scene from the Book of the Dead where an Egyptian meets Osiris (and both wear white!)

White was worn in other ancient societies beside Egypt, and had particular importance in Rome. In the Republic, the Romans prided themselves on the ‘equality’ of their society, and the plain white toga (known as the Toga Candida) was worn by any man running for public office. Its lack of adornments was intended to put the focus on the wearers personal attributes, rather than wealth. This plain toga was the de facto uniform of a Roman gentleman, and was also worn by grooms to their wedding. White was only partially associated with brides in ancient Rome, with women wearing both white and yellow for the ceremony.

Feudalism in the medieval era noted a shift from the equaliser of white to a greater emphasis of purple and gold amongst the elite. Nevertheless, white was sometimes still worn by the wealthy to make an important social statement. Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry VIII, wore white during her marriage to James IV of Scotland. At this point, white was always worn by brides, so for Margaret, the colour was a social statement, emphasising her purity and youthfulness (she was only 13!).

White enjoyed popularity amongst the wealthy again in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. As religious sentiment in Northern Europe gradually shifted to Protestantism, simpler clothing was adopted, instead of the extravagant colours which were previously worn at court. Judges in England and the Netherlands both adopted white collars and by the early 1800s white was clearly a favourite of the elite. In Mansfield Park, written in 1806, Edmund Bertram instructs the heroine ‘A woman can never to be too fine when she is all in white’.

A Regency woman in white!

The Victorian era is what finally solidified white as the colour of brides. After Queen Victoria wore white to her wedding in 1840, the colour became increasingly popular, which was reflected in contemporary women’s journals, with the 1870 Godey’s Ladies book listing it as the perfect colour for a bride.

Queen Victoria in her (rather fabulous) wedding dress

Knowing nothing about any clothing from the last century, I am going to end the post here. I will be back in a few weeks writing about another colour, when I decided what it is.

-Rachael

Bibliography:

Snodgrass, M.E. World Clothing and Fashion: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence 

http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/whites.html

Netheron, R and Owen-Crocker, G.R. Medieval Clothing and Textiles 10.