Wednesday 12 January 2011

BRIDAL GOWN OBSESSIONS

The attire of Wedding Day would be every unmarried single lady's personally cherished dream. Every woman wants a fairytale wedding in THAT Wedding costume. Wedding dresses in South India have always been the famed Kanjeevaram sarees, as sarees are South India's traditional attire. Irrespective of religions, kanjeevarams of bright hues and designs dominated every woman's dream of wedding.
Image Courtesy- Chennaisilks.com
These sarees are delicate, smooth and the feel of one on you can be absolute heaven. The price tags of these sarees, especially the ones taken for wedding were almost a matter of pride for the bride! The notion of wedding attire was limited to sarees only for a very long time, even though the British left the legacy of veil and bouquets in Christian weddings, the love of average Indian woman for a kanjeevaram never diminished. But there was a revolution in the late '80s where the world witnessed the Fairy tale wedding of Lady Di.

Image courtesy- google search
Her meringue gown with 25 foot long train and innocent face still remains etched in my memory. The white wedding gowns in West was a phenomena started by Queen Victoria in 1840. Till then, their wedding gowns were gowns made of velevets and silk in rich bright colours. It was after Queen Victoria's famed white lace wedding gown, the 'white- mania' took over. It was wrongly assumed white meant the virginity of the bride. It was just Western Catholic tradition were Church clergy, choirs and servers who used white gowns. It continued when children wore white for christening, first communion and confirmation, all Christian rites. I remember wearing one for my First Communion, full of lace and with a veil, i felt like a little princess. It was then i adored the white gown and my adoration grew into full blown obsession watching Hollywood movies. I watched the Run Away Bride umpteen number of times, every time i watch it, the off shoulder halter gown of Julia Roberts keeps dragging me like a magnet.

Image from wikipedia
So when my D-day came, i voiced my opinion on Wedding gown to Mother whose first reaction was a knowing smile. She took me aside and spent the next fifteen minutes trying to convince me that Kanjeevaram saree was the best, i would look traditional and beautiful. When i ketp on vehemently arguing i wanted a gown istead, she laughed it off, saying " You getting married in a white dress? Forget it." As per local custom, everybody knows, white is the no-no colour that only widows wear. Why would Mother agree to a white dress then? I doggedly nodded my head and submitted to her.


Img courtesy googlesearch
Off we went to buy a lovely Kanjeevaram and with a veil and a bouquet, i looked a funny mix of East and West on my Wedding Day. Recently though, i see many of my friends and relatives exchanging vows in beauiful white gowns with a tiny white bindi- an Indian touch. It is great to see some foray into bringing on a refreshing change to the bridal wear. I would some day love to marry of my little princess in a white designer wedding gown, complete with a veil and a red rose bouquet! Did I hear something? Yes, that must be my Mother turning in her grave!!! Sorry Mother- My obsession with white gowns has now become almost narcissistic and i prefer walking my daughter down the altar in a tulle laced off white gown rather than a red kanjeevaram.


Actress Gopika in white gown
Img courtesy-googlesearch








6 comments:

  1. hehe so sweet....u shud hav put ur weddin pic too...wud hav been real nice! :)
    tho in my opinion, a maroon lehenga is THE weddin attire to die for! one shade less n i wil run away frm my own weddin :D

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  2. Thanx a lot for your comment Sadiya:) Just in case, look for the maroon lehenga well in advance, will save you from running away;)hehehe....Thanks again ma:)

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  3. Dont know how I missed this!! Really sweet! You know there is this impression that all Christian brides wear a gown.. But having married a Malayali Christian and attended umpteen weddings and other Tamil Christian Weddings I am yet to see a bride in a wedding gown.. ! But I think all this heavy dressing up for a wedding actually makes a girls look awful! My friend who is a very pretty girl looked like a Kathakali dancer on her wedding! I am not for lehengas either...One has no use for it later ( as gowns). Like your mom said atleast you can wear a Kanjeevaram saree again or at best pass it down the generations to your daugther or her daugther!

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  4. Dear Meera- Thanks a lot for your wonderful comment! Sad you are yet to see Tamil Christian brides in white gowns, i have seen a few of my cousins wed in the gown. As for what you say about Kanjeevaram, yes, indeed i can pass that on to my daughter like my Mom did- only they would be out of fashion and unwearable anytime:(

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  5. hey cloud nine,
    seriously i was in search of this article.... am gonna get married in a year...
    i was born in Tamil Nadu and brought up in Kerala,
    i asked ma mom to buy me a white gown for ma wedding and its under consideration...
    am so much in love with white gown.... since i dont know to which family am going am afraid if they will accept ma wish....
    what all are the accessories for white gown???
    how can i customize the gown acceptable by all who attend ma wedding...?
    am glad i fond u...

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  6. hey cloud nine... am a Tamil girl who live in Kerala...
    i too have same feeling as urs...
    i wanna have white gown as ma wedding outfit...
    please... tell me if i can put it on...
    is it so common in Tamil Nadu???
    ma mom agrees partially....
    can i go for it 100%???
    ma love for white gown is soo soo much...... am gonna buy it for ma wedding...
    but i wanna know its social acceptance..
    can u share your view in considering current scenario

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