TRADITIONS GOING AWAY

Sew What | Rachel Dice

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The wedding dress has been considered the quintessential part of every bride’s big day since the

Victorian Era.  

Custom bridal gowns by Evellyon Atelier. These elaborate, runway-ready gowns are the pinnacle of many brides' dreams
for their big day. Photo courtesy of Nicole Dice of Evellyon Atelier.

The tradition of big dresses and even bigger ceremonies is a relatively modern development and has become a large part of pop culture. Shows like Say Yes to the Dress and movies like My Big Fat Greek Wedding capitalize on the cultural importance of that oh-so-important day. What’s truly interesting, on the other hand, isn’t the tradition we all expect and follow. It’s the one that we’ve seemingly forgotten about: the going away outfit.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the practice, the going away outfit is the clothes the bride changes into just before she and her groom rush out and away to their romantic honeymoon. This outfit would be bridal in feel, but more comfortable and easier to move around in. The idea of it was to keep up the feeling of ceremony while also providing the bride with a new outfit to greet her new life in.

The traditions of the going away outfit closely follow existing wedding traditions from different cultures and time periods.

A fashion plate from 1820 detailing different wedding dresses, styles, and colours. Source.

Back before the Victorian era, brides would simply wear their best clothing on their wedding day and would get married in any colour that dress happened to be. If they commissioned custom wedding clothes, the idea was that they would continue to wear that dress until it fell out of fashion or until it fell apart. Sometimes dresses were more elaborate on the big day but were then adjusted so they were more suitable for every-day wear. These Georgian era brides still had ceremonies as elaborate as they could afford, it was their wedding day, after all, and a time to show off.

 19th Century wedding veil from the collections of the
Aurora Museum & Archives. The veil has a crown of wax orange
blossoms. Photo courtesy of Rong Zhou.

Wearing white wasn't really a style until the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert. Along with white puffy dresses came the style of orange blossoms as the wedding flower of choice.

Many eastern wedding traditions involve changing outfits throughout the ceremony or for an after-party. Some, such as Chinese or Hindu weddings, involve wearing a bright red dress for luck and good fortune in the bride’s upcoming life. It has now become popular for Chinese brides to include a photo-shoot in a western-style white dress before changing back into traditional red.

While these traditions may hint at why going away outfits came into style, nothing actually mentions when the tradition started. Several contemporary wedding blogs and websites mention bringing the tradition back, and while one blog provides a picture of a couple in their going away clothes from 1940, there isn’t any other information. My mother fondly remembers her going away outfit from her first wedding. She made herself a cream pantsuit with a cinched waist and padded shoulders, quite a daring look for the late 80s. My grandmother always smiles when she looks

Ines Petrella and George Borg. Ines, my grandmother, wears
her going away outfit as they wave goodbye like movie stars
to their wedding guests. Photo courtesy of Rachel Dice.

at the photos of her going away outfit, and if you ask just right, she’ll take out the old Eaton’s box that holds the matching hat and purse —they were patent alligator leather, which was something she says only movie stars wore. Sometimes the going away outfit had even better memories associated with it than the wedding dress! 

Traditions like this are truly reflective of the intricacies of contemporary culture. They fade out of common use within a generation, yet no one can remember when they started or why. This is a challenge to all museums that collect textiles and local memory. Why do we only keep wedding dresses, but no going away outfits, or even bridesmaid clothes? With no rhyme or reason to most contemporary traditions, you never know what will appear or disappear next.

If I ever get married, you can bet that my going away outfit will be just as spectacular as the dress I first show up in!

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While digital going away outfits aren't a thing, I'd like to say that my U of T sweatpants and my fuzzy sweater are the pinnacle of fashion for these types of events. It has been a pleasure and a privilege writing for the Sew What column of Musings! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts thus far! May our next writer continue to enjoy your readership.