V&A: Wedding Dress Exhibition 1775 - 2014

Last night I went to the Wedding dress exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum. The exhibition explores the history, development and styles wedding dresses through ages by key fashion designers such as Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Christian Lacroix.

The collection is made up of key pieces from the V&A's own acquisitions as well as loans from celebrities such as Dita Von Teese, Kate Moss and Gwen Stefani.

There were so many beautiful gowns and it was interesting to note the varied styles and shapes on display throughout the exhibition. I loved so many of gowns but my favourite was the wedding dress made for Dita Von Teese by Vivienne Westwood. I love vintage fashion, the colour purple and anything unique so it was hardly surprising that I was immediately draw to this gown. It also reminds me of the green velvet curtain dress Vivien Leigh wore when she played "Scarlett O'Hara" in Gone with the Wind.

Below are some examples of the wedding dresses that appeared in the collection.

 

Made between 1775 - 1780

 

 

Made in 1780

 

 

Made in 1828

 

 

Made in 1841

 

 

 Made in 1857

 

 

Made in 1870

 



 

 Made in 1872

 

 

 Made in 1879

 

  

Made in 1890

 

 

 Made in 1899

 

 

 

Worn by Sachiko Shimojima in 1841

 

 

 Made by Charles James in 1937

 

 

Worn in 1938

 

 

Worn by Elizabeth King in 1941

 

 

Made by Isobel in 1953

 

 

Made in 1980

 

 

Made by Ian & Marcel in 1989

 

 

Made by Christian Lacroix in 1993

 

 

Made by Catherine Rayner 1996

 

 

Made by John Galliano and worn by Gwen Stefani in 2002

 

 

Made by Vivienne Westwood and worn by Dita Von Teese in 2005

 

 

Made by John Galliano and worn by Gwen Stefani in 2011

 

 

Made by Jenny Packham in 2014

(All photographs are courtesy of the V&A)