Seeing how wedding dresses have evolved over the past century is really eye-opening.
#1. 1840.
The Royal ForumsSurprisingly enough, brides didn’t always wear white to their weddings. It was Queen Victoria who started the trend, inadvertently spawning the tradition.
#2. 1850.
George Eastman House CollectionAn early daguerreotype photo of an unidentified bride posing on her wedding day.
#3. 1878.
Rischgitz / Getty ImagesA typical Victorian wedding dress featured a bustle, which was usually adorned with flowers.
#4. 1900.
London Stereoscopic Company / Getty ImagesActress Dorothea Baird’s wedding portrait.
#5. 1905.
History TodayEleanor Roosevelt in her wedding dress, photographed in New York City.
#6. 1910.
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesThe Ernstein newlyweds.
#7. 1912.
Rischgitz / Getty ImagesMiss Ruby Ray in bridal attire, featuring a long train and a feather headdress and veil.
#8. 1915.
Topical Press Agency / Getty ImagesFlight Commander Sipper with his new bride Miss D’Arcy in her fur-trimmed wedding dress.
#9. 1918.
Topical Press Agency / Getty ImagesLieutenant Wissler looks on as his bride, Miss Annie Hodge, cuts their wedding cake with a sword.
#10. 1920.
General Photographic Agency / Getty ImagesCanadian-American film actress Mary Pickford is pure radiance in her wedding dress.
#11. 1922.
FlickrA young African-American couple sit for their wedding portrait.
#12. 1922.
Hello!Princess Mary’s wedding dress was designed by William Wallace Terry, London’s leading court dressmaker.
#13. 1924.
Knight / Getty ImagesA newlywed couple’s wedding portrait, featuring a parrot.
#14. 1925.
Paul O’doye / Getty ImagesMademoiselle Loewenstein in a white wedding dress with a very long veil.
#15. 1926.
Sasha / Getty ImagesA wedding dress from the Solosign fashion house.
#16. 1927.
Sasha / Getty ImagesThe new Mrs Hampton in a wedding dress with an embroidered headdress and long lace train.
#17. 1928.
Nantucket Historical Association“Before the dress was given to the NHA in 1987, it was altered and worn by four other young women in the family.” This was written about the dress that Arline Wilma Preston wore when she wed Clark Wallace Bishop.
#18. 1929.
Sasha / Getty ImagesA bride in the late 1920s.
#19. 1930.
Flickr: blackheritageMr and Mrs Lewis Johnson cutting their wedding cake together. She wore a simple wedding dress with gloves.
#20. 1931.
Sasha / Getty ImagesSociety bride Inez McNamara after her wedding to William McNamara in London. The cross she is wearing on her chest is made of diamonds.
#21. 1933.
Sasha / Getty ImagesActress Ann Todd models her own wedding gown, which was designed and made by Helene Galin. It includes a long train edged with lace that belonged to her great-great-grandmother.
#22. 1937.
Keystone / Getty ImagesThe Duke and Duchess of Windsor at the Chateau de Conde in France after their wedding.
#23. 1938.
Fox Photos / Getty ImagesA wedding gown made of forty-eight yards of satin and twenty yards of tulle, modeled at London’s Grosvenor House.
#24. 1942.
PinterestOfficial wedding portrait of Gov. William Scranton’s bride, Mary L. Chamberlin.
#25. 1944.
TelegraphActress Elyse Knox had a wedding gown fashioned with the fabric from the bullet-riddled parachute that saved her fiance’s life when he was shot down over China.
#26. 1945.
Sam Shere / Getty ImagesHazel Scott on her way to wed Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
#27. 1946.
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesActress Martha Vickers’s portrait in her wedding gown.
#28. 1947.
TumblrDancer Josephine Baker married orchestra leader Jo Bouillon in a simple suit.
#29. 1950.
George Marks / Getty ImagesA bride posing in her dress with a bouquet in hand.
#30. 1951.
Chaloner Woods / Getty ImagesA flowing wedding dress with lace sleeves designed by Mercia.
#31. 1952.
Chaloner Woods / Getty ImagesA satin wedding dress with a long veil, also by Mercia.
#32. 1955.
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesA model posing in a typical 1950s wedding dress.
#33. 1957.
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesA model posing in a wedding dress and veil in the late 50s.
#34. 1960.
Keystone / Getty ImagesBritish actress Jackie Collins in her wedding dress.
#35. 1962.
TumblrA young Colin Powell with his bride, Alma.
#36. 1964.
PinterestA gown from French designer Yves Saint Laurent’s spring collection in 1964. Made of white damask cotton, the dress is accessorized with white elbow gloves and a long tress trimmed with flowers.
#37. 1966.
FlickrA white silk wedding dress from the winter collection of French designer Hubert de Givenchy. It features a matching cape, a white mink tail hat, and white gloves.
#38. 1969.
PinterestA very daring wedding dress that was well ahead of its time (and still is). It was made of white rose petals and had a large tulle veil in the shape of a cape.