I am curator of a small history museum that interprets the heritage of a
small PA German Protestant group, and I have noticed an interesting (at
least to me!) phenomenon regarding the wedding gowns of the group members in
the late 19th century.  We have at least 4 rather similar BROWN dresses from
the 1880s-90s.  They are typical in style for that time period, they are
silk with various trims.  I am aware that the white wedding is a 20th
century thing, more or less, but I've never run into so many similar dresses
from different brides from this time period. Makes for a pretty dull wedding
exhibit!!!
I am trying to determine if this was another peculiarity of this group, or
actually might have been fashionable for brides to wear brown in that time
period.  Can't say I've run into it in other collections.  A bit of
background -- the group (the Schwenkfelders) were conservative and modest
but not "plain"  and they were members of rural communities, for the most
part.
Looking forward to any input,
Candace Perry
Schwenfelder Library & Heritage Center

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