Here come the brides

Hamilton artist Rae Hendershot also sidestepped tradition, choosing a gorgeous dress in a warm brown for her wedding in 1950. She probably wore it to other events after that.

“My mother was a very private person and she would not have wanted a big wedding with a long white dress,” her daughter, Katherine MacDonald, tells me. “Her clothes were quite plain and tailored but elegant.”

Now this dress is taking part in “You’re invited: Historical Wedding Dresses” at the Dundas Museum and Archives. This beautifully organized and presented exhibition offers about 25 wedding dresses that were worn mostly by local brides from 1815 to 1969. One of the interesting things about historical women’s clothes is how small some of the wearers were.

The dresses, and mementoes that include gloves, wedding photos and wedding china, belong to the museum’s permanent collection. What is on show is about a third of the wedding dresses in the collection, says Austin Strutt, exhibitions curator. The museum also has an excellent collection of other historical clothes.

“My favourite part was investigating the lives of the women who wore these wedding dresses, and particularly of finding and matching up the photos that go with them,” Strutt says. “It really brings the dresses to life to see them in their own time, worn in their original way by the people to whom they belonged.”

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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Many of the dresses are white and variations on white, a popular colour. Roman brides, for instance, wore white 2,000 years ago — with flame-red shoes.

The oldest garment in the exhibition is more than 200 years old. Dated to 1815, it belonged to Lady Turner, the wife of Sir George Turner. Her ivory silk wedding dress has survived, but apparently not her first name or maiden name.

She was married in England and the dress was right up to date, conforming to the simplicity then in fashion with its high waist, low round neckline and long sleeves. The dress was sewn by hand. Tiny stitches are visible in the gathered neckline and waistband.

Not all dresses were white. Blue was the choice for Clara Ellen Heaton Smith, who married in England in April 1873. Her blue silk taffeta gown is quite fashionable with its high neckline, long curved sleeve, a train and the hint of a bustle. A dress in a colour other than white is practical. It can be worn for other occasions.

Dundas was the place to be in February 1907, when two socially significant weddings took place. One of them was Jean Kirkhope Bertram’s marriage to Dr. Alexander Fraser Pirie. Her dress came from Paris.

This tight-waisted satin dress was embroidered with flowers and trimmed with loads of lace. The modestly covered neck was essential. And in the spirit of “something borrowed,” the veil was worn by the bride’s mother 25 years earlier.

This type of elaborate dress inspired many 20th-century white wedding dresses for brides wanting a traditional look. But Jessie Roung Smith wore a body-hugging plum velvet dress with a belt for her 1938 wedding. The elbow length sleeves and bodice are embellished with rows of gathered fabric under a square neckline.

Hendershot married T.R. MacDonald, the first director of the Art Gallery of Hamilton. She wore a lined lace spaghetti-strapped dress with a full skirt gathered at the waist with a matching unlined jacket. Since the wedding took place in October, the bride also wore a grey fur coat.

“I believe the dress came from Raphael-Mack in Hamilton,” says MacDonald. “I do remember the fur coat. She wore that for many years. I remember the feather cap in the cedar chest and the dress hanging in her closet.

“I have a number of wedding photographs and everyone looks very happy,” she adds.