Wedding dress

This blue silk wedding dress was worn for a wedding in Wales in 1894. It was brought to New Zealand by the wearer in 1907.

It has leg-of-mutton sleeves, which were very fashionable at the time and reached their largest in the mid-1890s. These enormous puffs were balanced by the wide skirt which emphasised the tiny waist cinched by a corset underneath (forming an 'X' shaped silhouette).

Brilliant bride

The brilliance of the blue silk comes from aniline dyes, which were synthetic dyes developed in 1856. White was firmly established as the favoured colour for wedding dresses by the end of the 19th century, but brides also wore colours such as blue and brown which they could easily wear again after marriage.