The wedding dress from the museum collection belonged to Anastasia Nosova, the wife of the starosta’s (elected officer) son of one of the Gorodets rural communities. The young couple got married in 1916 and were well-off. It can be said without prejudice that this silk wedding dress is a piece of art. It was sewn in Gorodets.
Anastasia Ivanovna’s eldest daughter Klavdiya also got married in this very dress in difficult post-war times. To improve the fashion of the dress, a train was sewn to it. Then Klavdiya’s daughter Galina got married to a German and took her grandmother’s wedding dress with her to Germany as a family heirloom and something to remember Gorodets by. In the spring of 2009, she donated it to the museum. This is the story of how the dress, in which the two townswomen have been married, returned to Gorodets and became a museum piece.
The wedding dresses were not always white: this fashion dated back to the 19th century, officially established when Queen Victoria of England married Duke Albert in the all-white wedding dress in 1840. However, one rule remained unchanged at all times and everywhere: the dress should look very beautiful and be different from everyday wear. If the family could afford it, they spared no expense. If not, the bride would walk down the aisle in the most beautiful dress from her wardrobe.
In the 19th century, white and cream became the main wedding dress colors in Europe. It was written in American women’s magazine in 1849: “The tradition, that survived from the earliest times, indicates that white is the perfect color. White is a symbol of innocence and pure heart, which the bride gives to her chosen one”. The long-sleeved dress had to be worn with short gloves made of the finest fabric with embroidery.
According to Slavic wedding traditions, a bride’s dress was not supposed to be white. The red color of the wedding dress was treated as traditional in Russia. Moreover, since the early times, the very word ‘red’ stood for ‘beautiful’ and ‘fancy’. The main rule for Russian brides was to wear their best dress, no matter what color it was.
At the same time, Russian wedding traditions were rather complex. For example, the bride had to change clothes during the ceremony: she put on her best ‘maiden’ dress for a bridal shower, and after she would add some wedding accessories — a veil, hairpins, and wedding rings. On the second day of the wedding, during the feast at the groom’s house, the young wife traditionally wore a beautiful and richly decorated “married woman” dress with a headdress and a wide belt at the waist.
Anastasia Ivanovna’s eldest daughter Klavdiya also got married in this very dress in difficult post-war times. To improve the fashion of the dress, a train was sewn to it. Then Klavdiya’s daughter Galina got married to a German and took her grandmother’s wedding dress with her to Germany as a family heirloom and something to remember Gorodets by. In the spring of 2009, she donated it to the museum. This is the story of how the dress, in which the two townswomen have been married, returned to Gorodets and became a museum piece.
The wedding dresses were not always white: this fashion dated back to the 19th century, officially established when Queen Victoria of England married Duke Albert in the all-white wedding dress in 1840. However, one rule remained unchanged at all times and everywhere: the dress should look very beautiful and be different from everyday wear. If the family could afford it, they spared no expense. If not, the bride would walk down the aisle in the most beautiful dress from her wardrobe.
In the 19th century, white and cream became the main wedding dress colors in Europe. It was written in American women’s magazine in 1849: “The tradition, that survived from the earliest times, indicates that white is the perfect color. White is a symbol of innocence and pure heart, which the bride gives to her chosen one”. The long-sleeved dress had to be worn with short gloves made of the finest fabric with embroidery.
According to Slavic wedding traditions, a bride’s dress was not supposed to be white. The red color of the wedding dress was treated as traditional in Russia. Moreover, since the early times, the very word ‘red’ stood for ‘beautiful’ and ‘fancy’. The main rule for Russian brides was to wear their best dress, no matter what color it was.
At the same time, Russian wedding traditions were rather complex. For example, the bride had to change clothes during the ceremony: she put on her best ‘maiden’ dress for a bridal shower, and after she would add some wedding accessories — a veil, hairpins, and wedding rings. On the second day of the wedding, during the feast at the groom’s house, the young wife traditionally wore a beautiful and richly decorated “married woman” dress with a headdress and a wide belt at the waist.
