December 20, 2015

Sibu Tales : The Second Wedding Gown

In the 1950's every bride would be expected to change from her bridal gown after the wedding rituals into a new gown, who could be knee length or a full length gown.

Photo from Google..This was the kind of bridal dress or gown you could rent in Sibu.

It was a hard decision to make: knee length or full length?

All these second gown or reception gown had to be hand sewn and custom made, while the wedding gown could be made to order from Singapore, especially by the richer families. Those from poorer families would have to rent bridal gowns from the shops or tailors who would have stock with suitable sizes. Some tailors would have more, and some only four or five for the year. So some brides actually wore a rented gown which might have been worn by more than 10 brides.

Now the reception gown was a great item for gossip or talk in a small village...too daring, too much exposure of skin, too tight?????



Some brides had poor taste and they would look horrible in their poorly made dresses. Some would look like stuffed bolsters because they chose long sleeves and a superflous skirt, etc etc...

The poor bride would be hot in her dress and her make up would become runny with her sweat especially if the restaurant they were having their reception was not air conditioned. Air conditioning was something new then.

 While some of course would chose a simple dress and look the perfect bride...and the reception would be a breeze.

This reception gown could be pink,peach, red or purple. No other colours would be deemed suitable because all elders like to see brides in auspicious colours.

Today brides try to lose at least 5 kg for her wedding...just to look nice in their wedding gowns and reception gowns..

Some things never change...and some traditions only become better.

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