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weddings!
April 30, 2014

Revisit the Most Influential Wedding Dresses of All Time

By Erica Schwiegershausen

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Photo: Ernst Haas/Getty Images

In 1840, Queen Victoria broke royal wedding tradition when she walked down the aisle in a William Dyce ivory silk gown. Though not technically the first woman of nobility to wear a white bridal gown, she is credited with starting the iconic custom (previous members of British aristocracy wore gowns woven with gold and silver threads, layered with velvet and ermine robes). A new book by Eleanor Thompson — a former curator at the Brighton Museum in England — charts the course of bridal couture from Victoria to Karl Lagerfeld. The Wedding Dress: The 50 Designs That Changed the Course of Bridal Fashion features the most celebrated nuptial designs from the past 150 years, from the Balmain ballerina-style dress Audrey Hepburn wore to wed Mel Ferrer in 1954 to the one-shouldered, ombré pink gown John Galliano designed for Gwen Stefani in 2002.

Click through the slideshow for a look back at some of the most influential wedding dresses in history: the 500 yards of ivory silk taffeta fashioned by Ann Lowe for Jackie Kennedy’s first wedding gown, the menswear-inspired Saint Laurent skirt suit Bianca Jagger wore in 1971, Yves Saint Laurent’s provocative 1965 wool cocoon dress, and much more.

Related

Modern Love: 8 Fresh Takes on Classic Wedding Gowns
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1 / 11 Photos
Prince Rainier Of Monaco and Grace Kelly, 1955 Dress by Helen Rose. Photo: Gilbert Tourte/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Jackie Kennedy, 1953 Dress by Ann Lowe Photo: Lisa Larsen/Time Life Pictures
Bianca Perez-Mora Macias and Mick Jagger, 1971 Dress by Yves Saint Laurent.
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer, 1954 Dress by Balmain. Photo: Ernst Haas
Yves Saint Laurent's Knitted Cocoon Dress, 1965  Photo: Pierre Verdy
Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles, 1981 Dress by David and Elizabeth Emanuel
Chanel Haute Couture  Photo: Loic Venance/2013 AFP
Kate and Pippa Middleton, 2011 Dress by Sarah Burton Photo: Samir Hussein
Ed Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy, 1986 Dress by Carolina Herrera Photo: Steve Liss/Steve Liss
Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten, 1947 Dress by Norman Hartnell Photo: Topical Press Agency
Alexander McQueen Ready to Wear Fall 2006  Photo: Andy Paradise
1 / 11

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  • weddings!
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  • the wedding dress
  • eleanor thompson
  • saint laurent
  • balmain
  • cocoon dress
  • jackie kennedy
  • audrey hepburn
  • grace kelly
  • princess diana
  • kate middleton
  • bianca jagger
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