Wedding Dress Exhibition 1775 - 2014 at the V&A

I went to the  exhibition at the V&A today called the 

Wedding Dress 1775 - 2014.

The V & A seem to consistently be setting a high standard to rival the Met in fashion history.

They have had recent successes with their past fashion themed shows and are continuing in that vein with this and another fashion themed exhibition showing about the glamour of Italian fashion.

It spanned two hundred years of wedding dresses and had a comprehensive selection.

Dita Von Teese's Vivienne Westwood dress when she married the Manson bloke. Very Scarlett O'Hara coming down those stairs.

There is a saying that a dress maketh a woman but dresses hung on mannequins disproved that theory.

Hence I will try and show you the picture of the woman showing the same dress where possible.

This was one of the other rare colored wedding dresses.

Apparently wearing a colored dress was considered more appropriate for older brides. But did you know that the custom of white wedding dresses only dates as far back as Queen Victoria?

She started the fashion when she wore white lace to her wedding.

A statement wedding dress with the longest train in the exhibition was the following.

While I appreciated the workmanship and detail the dress seemed to be more of a conduit to convey the bride's status.

Can you guess which bride wore this wedding dress?

I was a bit surprised that it was worn by her as well.

Not that I know what I expected from her but it wasn't that memorable for even a devourer of pop culture not to recall...

Most of you should be able to guess the one this belongs to.

Just a postscript...

The shoes were Linda Bennett for LK Bennett.

I had to double check at the exhibition and they did seem to make a point of it too...

This dress is not very photogenic because up close the colors are nuanced and delicate.

No photographs were allowed in the exhibition so most of these photos were courtesy of the museum.

So these are some highlights.

A piece from the 90's.

An example of a wedding dress from the 1700's.
I did wonder if anyone honestly replied when the bride asked if her hips looked big in that dress.

And one by a modern popular designer Jenny Packham.

But my favorite dress of all was this wedding dress which was designed the the American designer that has an exhibition in New York at present.  It was made by Charles James.

Via

It is deceptively simple.

But then you turn around and there is a detail that would be considered avant garde even now.

But upon closer inspection, 

you can see the clever cuts, darts, and stitching.

He put the darts slightly lower than the bust line and that seemed to create a smooth flow of the bust to the waistline.

Apologies for the crude explanation but all I know how to sew is a hole in a sock.

But he knew what he was doing.

There are no pictures I could find but I did find a link to the video news reel of her wedding.
It seemed a merry affair with her bridesmaid wearing a scarlet dress!  Even if you are not interested or don't like the dress, 
the video clip is a charming in many other aspects.
Please view the link here.

If you are in London or plan to be, then I must encourage you to visit and there is plenty of time as it ends March 2015.  
However, if you can't make it then please click on this link and 
browse through the items individually.

Have a lovely weekend.