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!
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| 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 17th
and 18th 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’.
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| 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.
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| 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
Netheron, R and Owen-Crocker, G.R. Medieval Clothing and Textiles 10.
