Tea at Trianon: Modest Wedding Gowns

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, May 29, 2017

Modest Wedding Gowns

They are making a comeback. People forget that bridal gowns for a religious marriage ceremony are a liturgical costume and are not something that would be worn at the opera or a night club or the Mardi Gras ball. But when many women now wear only one formal gown for one day in their life, they lean in the direction of sexy and sensational. They forget the sacred aspect of the nuptial bond. From Country Living:

For several seasons, "naked" or "sexy" wedding dresses have ruled the bridal fashion world. Aisles were inundated with illusion panels, flirty hemlines, plunging necks, and barely-there bodices that showed a little—OK, a lot—of skin. Sure, they were sexy and daring, but they also had more, shall-we-say conservative brides wondering, "What will Grandma think?" Luckily for those ladies, it looks like the naked dress is trending no more. During Spring 2018 Bridal Fashion Week, designers debuted covered-up creations that recall a more traditional time, while still feeling fresh and modern.

As the New York Times notes, now, it's all about the long sleeves, high necklines, full-skirted ball gowns, and capelets or jackets. Think Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Kate Middleton. While today's wedding dresses might still play with a strapless or V-neck or even a high slit here and there, for the most part they're modest, compensating with coverage elsewhere.

Below, we've gathered some of the most iconic wedding dresses of yesteryear, along with some more modern gowns, all of which are all classy, contemporary, and chic—and 100 percent Grandma-approved. (Read more.)