The way we were… celebrating changing bridal styles from across the last three centuries, don’t miss these inspiring exhibitions….
Memories. Light the corners of my mind… We’re a sentimental old lot here at Love Our Wedding. And we’re always ready to take inspiration from the trailblazing brides of the past and the bridal trends they set. With the fashion for vintage and retro wedding themes and dresses ever present on the bridal scene, don’t miss your chance to step back in time with Hampshire Cultural Trust’s touring exhibition I Do! showcasing 250 years of changing bridal styles.
A celebration and exploration of everything bridalwear, I Do! will be touring Hampshire Cultural Trust’s three main galleries for the rest of the year, opening at the Willis Museum in Basingstoke on 25 April (until 7 July) before transferring to The Gallery at Gosport Discovery Centre on 27 July and finally moving to The Gallery in Winchester Discovery Centre on 20 October.
With the royal weddings providing a new focus, the Hampshire Cultural Trust team has searched the extensive collections it cares for to find over 20 remarkable wedding dresses, representing 250 years of changing styles, fashions and tastes. There are also some fascinating stories to tell.
“We’ve selected wedding dresses from the 1770s to the present day, plus shoes, headdresses, bonnets, veils and some items tying in with the royal theme, such as samples of the fabric used for Princess Marina’s wedding to the Duke of Kent,” says Ioannis Ioannidis, Cultural Experience Manager at Hampshire Cultural Trust.
“Some of the dresses have very personal – and very touching – stories to tell. One from the 1940s is made entirely from parachute silk using a pattern saved from before the war and there is a beautiful black gown worn by a bride in mourning. I Do! will take visitors down a virtual aisle of history, from the extravagance of the 18th century to the elegance of 2018’s designs. It’s an exquisite exhibition that tells the stories behind the fashion choices made by brides-to be as they prepared to say, ‘I do’.”
I Do! also explores recurrent themes and traditions that are only found at weddings and explains the stories behind these enduring practices, from the concept of ‘fairy tale’ weddings to the notion of wearing ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, a silver sixpence in her shoe’.
For more information, visit hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk/event/i-do
