Unveiled Wedding Dresses

Unveiled: Wedding Wear in New York, 1910s–1940s

November 18, 2021 to December 31, 2025
New York Metropolis Hall

In choosing their wedding clothes, brides and grooms are influenced by fashion, economics, technology, religion, geography, celebrity, personal taste, and their role in society. This was as much the case in the past as it is today.

Wedding clothing holds memories, and pieces—dresses, shoes, suits, and head wear—are often preserved and passed to subsequent generations. A couple’s choices reveal information about both the individuals who wore them and those who made them. Some garments, like those exhibited here from the 1910s to 1940s, find their way to museum collections.

Related Videos

Unveiled: Wedding Wear in 19th-century New York Virtual Tour