Why Do Brides Wear White?
新娘为什么爱穿白色婚纱？
曹艺凡 供稿
In many societies the color white has long been associated with purity and virtue, and that is one reason why some brides choose to wear white, especially in the West. More often than not, though, you will hear claims that brides wear white because “it’s tradition.” ; but historically, white was not the only color considered for wedding dresses. In fact, other colors were chosen far more frequently than white. For many centuries in Western societies, wedding dresses were of all different colors. This was for reasons of practicality as much as anything else. Brides tended to buy a wedding dress that could be worn again, or they simply wore the best dress they already owned. And white does not lend itself to practicality: it is difficult to keep clean and is therefore not ideal for many situations or for repeat wear. Many brides chose to wear dresses of other colors for their wedding and beyond. So why do so many of today’s brides wear white? They do so largely thanks to a trend that started with Queen Victoria’s 1840 wedding to Prince Albert.
在很多国家，白色长期以来象征着纯洁和美德，这也是一些新娘选择穿白色婚纱的原因之一，尤其是在西方。但更多时候，你会听人说起新娘选择白色婚纱是因为“遵循传统”。但是纵观历史，白色并不是婚纱礼服的唯一颜色。事实上，选择其他颜色的远比白色更多。在西方社会，几百年来，婚纱有各种不同的颜色。这既是出于实用性的考虑，也有其他方面的考量。新娘倾向于购买可以再次穿着的礼裙，或者是穿她们自己拥有的最漂亮的裙子。而白色本身并不实用：它很难保持干净，因此在许多场合或重复穿着时并不是一个理想的选择。许多新娘选择在婚礼和其他场合上穿其他颜色的礼服。那么，为什么今天有这么多新娘穿白色的礼裙？这种流行趋势很大程度上是始于1840年维多利亚女王与阿尔伯特王子的婚礼。
Unlike today, royal weddings in yonder years received a lot of coverage—albeit not in as many different mediums as we have now—and thus had a tendency to be trendsetting. The nuptials of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were no exception. So when Victoria opted to wear a white gown (reportedly to show off the fine detailed Honiton lace produced by the British lace industry, which was floundering at the time), her fashion choice was widely reported in newspapers and magazines and was soon influencing domestic as well as international wedding trends. Initially embraced by wealthier brides, the trend of a white wedding gown eventually spread across all economic levels and was cemented as “tradition” in the 20th century.
与今天不同的是，尽管不像我们现在有那么多不同的媒体，当年的皇家婚礼得到了大量的报道，所以容易引领潮流。维多利亚女王和阿尔伯特王子的婚礼也不例外。因此，当维多利亚选择穿白色礼裙时（据说是为了展示当时正处于困境的英国花边行业所生产的精致的霍尼顿花边），她的时尚选择被报纸和杂志广泛报道，并很快影响了国内和国际的婚礼潮流。最初只有较富裕的新娘选择的白色婚纱，后来成为所有经济阶层的新娘喜爱的礼服，并在20世纪固定下来成为了 “传统”。
【Vocabulary】
1. purity n. 纯洁
2. practicality n. 实用性
3. yonder adj. 那边的；那时的
4. coverage n. 新闻报道
5. albeit conj. 尽管
6. nuptial n. （常作复数nuptials）婚礼
7. flounder v. 困难重重；（在泥中）挣扎
8. cement v. 加强；巩固（关系）
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