Mary

The fashion for wearing a white wedding dress began after Queen Victoria wore a white dress at her wedding to Albert in 1840. However, in the case of this pioneering woman “Mary” who married in the Albany area in 1880, the fashion of England and Europe possibly felt rather distant, expensive and impractical. This was the bride’s “best dress” rather than a one-off wedding dress. Perhaps the cream edging to the drapes of the bustle was the extent to which “Mary” could accommodate the dictates of fashion. The size of the dress suggests that the bride was short and petite, possibly young. Marriage would have been a milestone event for a young woman in 1880. It not only changed her status, but also opened her life to the joys and sadnesses of childbirth, to caring for her husband and children, and no doubt to hard physical work as well. Her bridal dress would continue to have been worn for best occasions for as long as possible.