“Here comes the bride, all dressed in – Red?!” Increasingly common in Europe in the last ten years, red dresses are now beginning to turn heads in North America. It may seem an incredible fashion rebellion to those expecting the ubiquitous white dress, but red bridal gowns are nothing new at weddings. Traditional in Asia, Africa, and even some periods of American history, red is fast becoming one of the most popular alternatives to the white wedding gown.
Traditional Dress
Red is a traditional color for weddings in many parts of the world:
- Chinese weddings: In China, red is the color of joy and luck. Brides – and entire wedding parties – may be outfitted in red to bring luck and prosperity to the marriage.
- Indian bridal saris: Red is also considered auspicious in India, where it is the most common colour worn by brides.
- Japanese gowns: In Japan, brides often wear white silk lined in red to symbolize happiness and a new beginning.
- American Revolution: During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) some brides wore red as an assertion of the colonies’ independence from England.
White for Purity; Red for Sensuality
In Asia, red symbolizes luck, prosperity, and happiness. In European traditions, the color red may also be a symbol for love, lust, passion, and power.
The traditional white wedding gown has a clear symbolism: it tells the assembled friends and family that the bride is pure. In former eras, every bride had to be (or was, at least, expected to be) a virgin.
Today, although many women are virgins at their weddings, equal numbers of brides are not – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But as the symbolic meaning of the white wedding gown begins to fade into the past, some brides opt for a dress that is more true to their own self-expression or of something they believe in.
The Trinity of Virgin-Mother-Crone
In goddess-worshipping traditions, the trinity of Virgin (Maiden), Mother, and Crone is represented by the colors white, red, and black. These colors predominate European fairy tales and symbolism (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White). Each of the three colors represents a phase in a woman’s life:
- White – the purity and innocence of childhood and maidenhood
- Red – the power, sensuality, and nurturing qualities of an adult woman and of motherhood
- Black – the wisdom, age and experience of the older woman or crone
In these terms, marriage represents the gateway for many women between maidenhood and adulthood – making red an obvious and empowering choice to symbolize the new potential of married life.
The Red Wedding Gown
For some brides, the choice of a red gown is mostly cosmetic: they look good in red and want to stand out in the warm, vibrant color on their wedding day. Some wear red for its symbolic meaning of love and commitment, or of marriage and motherhood. Other women may choose it for traditional reasons relating to their cultural background. For whatever reason, the red wedding dress is here to stay.
