In many countries, white was linked with purity and morality for a long time, which is why some brides, especially in the West, opt to wear white. But more than frequently, because it’s “tradition,” you will hear assertions that brides wear white.
But historically, the only color that wedding dresses regarded was not white. In truth, many more colors than white have been chosen. Wedding dresses of many hues existed in Western societies for many ages. This was just like everything else for reasons of practicality.
Brides tended to buy a wedding gown that could be worn again or wear the best suit. And white isn’t practical: it’s hard to be clean, so it’s not suitable for many settings or repeats to wear. For their wedding, several brides choose to wear clothes of other colors—and beyond.
Not unlike now, royal weddings received a lot of coverage throughout the past many years—although not in as many media as today—and hence tended to be trendsetting. No exception was made to the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. When, therefore, Victoria chose to wear a white robe (allegedly to demonstrate the magnificent, detailed Honiton robes produced by the UK lace industry, which were floundering at the time), her fashion selection was widely noted in newspapers and magazines.
The trend toward a white wedding city, which was initially welcomed by wealthy women, extended to all economic levels and was consolidated in the 20th century as ‘custom.’ Pants are typical clothing used by women over decades or thousands of years in different cultures.
In many Western societies, this was not the case. In the US, ladies usually wore long skirts except for certain women who wore sweat-like clothing to do work or play sports. Some women in the nineteenth century defended pants, but pants did not get them until the middle of the twentieth century as an acceptable daily dress alternative.
