“Nothing is Black or White” Nelson Mandela
WHITE: It’s a given that brides will wear a white wedding dress and that the color is reserved exclusively for the bride. Why? From where did this tradition originate?
Once upon a time, brides wore their “best” finery in whatever color it happened to be — even red! Then on February 10, 1840, everything changed. Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. She chose to wear a gown of white silk satin to feature and promote the elegant Honiton lace (created in Devon, England) with which she adorned the dress. The white dress also emphasized her purity and innocence— a virtue in the Victorian era named for her. The grand and elegant affair popularized and solidified white as THE color for brides on their wedding day.
BLACK: When Queen Victoria’s beloved husband died (December 14,1861) twenty-one years after their wedding, she decreed everyone in the Royal household wear black mourning clothes for two years. Other nobles and aristocrats and even the country’s peasants followed this edict. She herself wore black the rest of her life. Thus Queen Victoria also made black the color of death and deep mourning in Western culture; even as it is also the most popular color for both men and women for sophisticated, elegant formal affairs.
RED: Looking for love? Wear red! Research has not absolutely proven the “red dress effect” theory but plenty of evidence indicates men are more attracted to women wearing red. And, it need not be a skimpy or revealing garment. Why? One explanation is that the red flushing of face, chest and genitalia of primates attracts males. Our close relationship to primates may be an instinctive, atavistic response to the color. Perhaps we are less sophisticated than our black formalwear allows us to believe!
PINK and BLUE: Without getting into the politics of gender, why do we think “pink is for girls, blue is for boys?” That stereotype was once exactly the reverse! The thinking was that red symbolized power and therefore masculinity so pink was viewed as a version of red — a starter color for infant boys. And, because blue is the color used in art to depict the Virgin Mary, it was appropriate for baby girls. There were also those who thought blue best for blonde or blue eyed babies and pink for brunettes or brown eyes. Baby colors were definitely not defined!
In the 1940’s, clothing manufacturers and retailers agreed to promote “pink for girls and blue for boys.” Of course, many do not accept this “rule” and opt for yellow, green or some other hue. However, for better or worse, the tradition is now deeply entrenched in our collective psyche.
Indeed, nothing is as clear cut as black and white — even black and white!
