Custom Apparel and Tradition: Love and Marriage - Regalo - Corporate Gifts, Promotional Products, Screen Printing and Embroidery

Custom apparel is not a new concept. No matter how often the execution changes, there were always occasions in both past and present that require clothes for special occasions. The most common occasions that rely on custom clothing are often weddings, courtships, funerals, and welcoming a newborn family member. These occasions require different states of dress. As well as custom clothing for the people in the center of the event.

The most notable event that requires people to dress for the occasion is weddings. And this is the month that has St. Valentine’s Day, a holiday for romance, love, and marriage. It makes sense to look into custom apparel for things like love and marriage.

Love Knots

He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there?

But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,

Bess, the landlord’s daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

The Highwayman

One of the more obscure and ancient symbols of love, friendship, and romance that spans across multiple cultures is the tying of knots. We even have a common expression that equates “tying the knot” to marriage. There is no pinpointed origin of it as a tradition. However, there are traces of it in both Celtic and nautical culture. In Ashley’s Book of Knots, “A True Lover’s Knot tied with gold wires is a very characteristic gift from a sailor to his sweetheart. The rings could move independently but could not be separated which undoubtedly carried meaning to the young couple that made the long separation entailed by a sea voyage more tolerable.”

The most common form of love knot is two overhand knots that are twined to form a symmetrical unit. They often involve two different ropes or lines of wire, visually implying the unbreakable connection between one person and another. It would not surprise me if this form of design for custom jewelry and apparel was the concept that predated the modern-day wedding ring.

The Modern-Day Wedding Gown

Custom apparel for weddings, whether they are for a bridesmaid or a bride, has not always been the same. While custom apparel or the finest clothing was an expectation for weddings, the wedding gowns that predate the Victorian Era are a far cry from the dresses we know, today. For starters, the traditional color for custom wedding dresses before 1840 was not the color white.

While white was an option for wedding dresses for a few upper-class people, it was an exception, not a rule. In fact, white was more common for funeral wear than it was for weddings. Blue and black were popular choices for custom wedding gowns, both because it was easier to hide stains or it evoked the image of the Virgin Mary.

wedding dress, custom apparel, history, bride

In fact, brides would wear gowns made with any color they wanted along with stripes, paisley, or other patterns. The only restrictions on wedding gowns varied from culture to culture. One example is the wearing of pearls during the Renaissance in Italy. Pearls were only worn on a wedding day, thanks to the context of social climbing or status in mind.

It wasn’t until Queen Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, combined with the availability of cheap textiles from the British Industrial Revolution, white dresses were growing in popularity. White dresses would peak and in popularity in America and Europe during economic growth and consumer-based economies in the 1920s and again after World War 2.

” Elaborate white dresses, worn once, became a central part of this ritual. For those in the wedding business, ensuring that the bridal dress was unique and so distinctive that they could wear only once made good business sense “.

Custom Apparel in Weddings Today

These days, wedding accessories and custom clothing for weddings are becoming less about fitting a standard. If anything it is about making it more personalized. With today’s wedding gown variety, as well as reception themes, weddings are less of a standard tradition and are more about custom celebration. Clothing or jewelry are not the only things getting customized for wedding apparel. Even custom apparel for the wedding party is part of the wedding experience.

So, why not get your wedding favors from a company that knows how the latest in creating custom apparel? If you live in the Decatur, Alabama area, consider Entrustedtees. If you want to get custom apparel at a good price, or want custom party favors for the big day, visit our site and give us a call.