The Way We Wed: A Global History of Wedding Fashion

by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

For fashion buffs, romantics, and brides-to-be, a fascinating collection of wedding garb and glamour through pop culture and history.
The Way We A History of Wedding Fashion presents styles and stories from the Renaissance to the present day, chronicling evolving fashions, classes, and expectations. And because all wedding attire has a tale to tell, The Way We Wed also reveals fascinating personal stories of those who wore it.

While the book is a rich source of bridal inspiration for all seasons, it's far from a monotonous parade of white gowns. The Way We Wed showcases wedding gowns of all colors and styles from around the world, as well as going-away dresses, accessories (shoes, veils, hats, and tiaras), and clothes worn by flower girls, bridesmaids, mothers of the bride, and grooms. Same-sex weddings are represented along with royal weddings, wartime brides, White House weddings, remarriage, Hollywood weddings, and more. The book features celebrity and historical couples as well as everyday people. A few of the included Illustrated with 100 gorgeous photos, The Way We Wed is a rich celebration of the art of wedding fashion across time and cultures, and those whose style and circumstances made a statement.

Genres: Fashion, History, Nonfiction, Fashion History, Art

224 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2020

About the author

Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell is a fashion historian, curator, and journalist based in Los Angeles, CA.

Reviews

[Susan Liston · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tick better than her other book, Worn on This Day, but only because there are fewer things referenced that have no picture. Interestingly, there IS a picture of Queen Victoria's wedding dress, (considered the start of the tradition of the white dress) in that book, but none in this book which is about weddings. The only picture of another major royal wedding, Grace Kelly's, is on the cover in a bad quality photo but nowhere else. AND there is an egregious error in the text right off the bat, where she says "Queen Victoria's daughter May married the Duke of York". Well Queen Victoria didn't HAVE a daughter named May, she is referring to Princess Mary of Teck (nicknamed May), who did indeed marry the Duke of York, who was Victoria's grandson, the future George V, that might have been a tidbit worthy of mention. Makes you wonder how many other mistakes there are that I don't know to catch. This is hardly worth bothering with, really.

[Carmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up because I am still carrying feelings around about my own hastily grabbed dress (there was no time!) for my thrown together wedding to my partner of 10 years. After reading this I do feel marginally better- it wasn't the worst dress ever...it covered my body and kept it warm enough standing in the rain, got the job done and did not cost more than any car (or bike) I've ever bought. I regret it less than if I'd have worn the crocheted dress on p.83. It doesn't look like a wedding dress so it can be worn over and over, which after this book I know being able to reuse it is actually more 'traditional.'

This book had some interesting bits (the Wartime Weddings chapter), but not nearly enough photos/illustrations. The subtitle is 'a global history of wedding fashion' but it is 95% Western Europe/North American.

What made it worth reading? The little bit buried on page 183 (in the Guest attire chapter) about a 16th century German accountant who cataloged the outfits from his extensive wardrobe in a series of hand drawn, painted portraits between 1520-1560!!! Now that is a book I'd like to read! #OOTD 16th century style!

[Daniella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wish I read the physical instead of the ebook so that there would be more photographs or illustrations of the wedding dresses in question.

Also... this was more of a Western history of wedding fashion with a few not Western examples. Not really global?

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author makes a great effort on highlighting as many angles of wedding gowns as possible. She includes a brief history that people would take home with a piece of the bride's gown as a blessing in the medieval period. From the 16th to the mid-19th century, silver and gold were the leading color of the bridal gown in the royal family, especially for monarchs. And by mentioning that Queen Victoria set the white gown as the main theme of the bride's outfit, the author also doesn't forget to remind the readers that the Queen was not the first one to wear white, but she was the one to popularize it.
The chapter on weddings relating to the White House, which is not a topic often in the light of the mass media, interests me very much. There were six weddings held in the White House when the president was in office:
1. Ulysses S. Grant's daughter Nellie Grant's to Algernon Sartoris (1874)
2. Grover Cleveland himself's to Frances Folsom (1886)
3. Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice Roosevelt's to Nicholas Longworth III (1906)
4. Lyndon Johnson's younger daughter Luci Johnson's to Patrick Nugent (1966)
5. Lyndon Johnson's elder daughter Lynda Johnson's to Chuck Robb (1967)
6. Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia Nixon to Edward F. Cox (1971)
Though American First Family is not royalty, the bride's wedding dress was surely big attention as much as European royal brides' would attract. The author notes conflicts between the public attention and if the First Family should have their privacy as citizens, which happened during Roosevelt's and Johnson's time, with a quote from New York Times: "These precautions are puzzling, because in the only cases that can be used as parallels -- the weddings of feminine members of the families of the heads of other nations, whether these be royal or those of citizen Presidents -- public interest is regarded not only as a matter of course, but as entirely legitimate." Living in a social media dominating era, I think this is not only a concern for the members of the heads of the state half-century ago, but also for influencers and celebrities.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

***My Review of this book is for the Hardbound Book*** Good "coffee table" book describing in texts, photos about pre-marriage, marriage, flower girls, & the going to honeymoon clothing.
I removed one star as the hardbound copy of this book is heavy to hold in my hands. But, I won't be buying the paperback edition of this book.
The book has short history notes thru the book, most interesting, photos of gowns from museums, illustrations, some color photos of modern gowns, dresses, most interesting to view the changes in dress for a bride thru the ages.
I removed another star as I found the constant changes in chapters in dull grey, stark shiney black to interrupt the flow of the history texts, the stories, quotes, illustrations & photos of the brides.
If I had written this book, of course I didn't, I would have made the book less heavy to hold, put various shades/tints of photos of lace, patterns of bridal fabric to show separations of the chapters, instead of the "mourning grey," & "slick hard black." Its my interpretation of Bridal/Wedding.

[Meg]

This was awkward as an ebook and I would have loved to read a coffee table version with more illustrations. I had to do a whole bunch of Googling to fill in the blanks. Also, the subtitle is false advertising - this is basically Western World wedding attire and largely UK and US examples with a very small handful of other examples (Japan, Korean, Indian, the Maori barkcloth from New Zealand, one or two Russian?) Interesting! But wish it had been paired with an illustrator if the photo rights were too rich.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I agree with others' criticism that, given the "we" and "global" of the title, the book could have go farther in its efforts to be inclusive, but what is here is a fascinating look at weddings and wedding dresses.

The majority of dresses are those of celebrities and royalty, but there is interesting look in one chapter on the off-the-rack dresses marketed for the middles class, another chapter on how brides made do with rationing during various wars, and a chapter on the fusions of different cultures, literally, marrying.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros :: Another interesting and beautiful book by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell. Great inclusion of all types of wedding and traditions.

Cons :: Wish there would have been more info on African dresses and customs.

Cover art :: 5 out of 5 This one is perfect! The model is looking right at the reader, almost like extending and invite to her wedding that will take place in 5 minutes. Just beautiful!

[Anela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be more interesting than it is, and there’s lots of written descriptions of attire without pictures, sending me to google a lot. This should be a coffee table book with a zillion pictures and less text.

[Allison Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a vary interesting and fascinating read! It was cool to read and find out how and why wedding styles and trend happened and how/why they died out. If you are getting married for a lover of fashion this is a must read!

[Erin Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject and attractively set, though there were some jarring, glaring typos that thwarted an otherwise flawless presentation.

Did a decent job of explaining societal, historical, and political implications of fashion and weddings.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and great pictures- I just wish there were more of them.

[Angela Hedworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures! Interesting content.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives an amazing overview of wedding fashion with an emphasis on Western fashion. However, I would have liked to see significantly more pictures to admire and understand the points.

[Diane Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

I liked this book for the history and explanations of changing wedding fashions that often corresponded to the times..such as war..or status, such as royalty or Hollywood stars. I gave it four stars because the descriptions made me want to SEE the dress. There are photos, but not as many as I would have liked.