White Satin Dress: From Victoria's 1840 Gown to the Slips Now

Dear Friends, on 10 February 1840 Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in a white satin gown, the satin woven in Spitalfields, in London, with a deep flounce of Honiton lace on top. She skipped the heavy robes a royal bride was expected to wear, and a writer who visited the dress at Kensington Palace says her plain choice started the custom of the white wedding dress. So the white satin dress has been making a quiet statement for a very long time. I went deeper on a related idea in White Mini Dress: Lace, Satin and Beaded Styles With a Very Short History.

 

The lesson I take from it is restraint. A white satin dress works because the fabric does the talking: the shine moves, the cut stays simple, and nothing else needs to shout. Satin is a weave, not a fibre, which is worth a look at the label (silk satin and polyester satin behave differently). Below are the modern options, from slips to corsets (and yes, I will be a little nerdy about cut). I also put together Cocktail Dress Edit: Sequin, Satin and Midi Styles for Party Season.

 

Start with the slips, which owe a lot to Madeleine Vionnet, who was known by the early 1920s for the bias cut, fabric cut across the grain so it clings and drapes. The Elisan from Bardot is an ivory lace-trimmed maxi with thin straps, and the Dylan from KAT THE LABEL has a lace-trimmed V neckline and a high side slit. The Lucile from Significant Other goes bone with a twisted halter neckline, while the Allessia from Steve Madden adds black lace at a plunging neckline for a little contrast. Picture her on a late October evening, a long coat over the RÓHE scoop neck, thin straps showing at the collar.

 

If you want something shorter, the Eloise from Kat The Label and the Alerie from Bardot are both minis. My tip: hold the hem up to a window before you commit, because a good slip should not show you through it.

Short satin has a different job. It turns up at rehearsal dinners, city hall, a birthday dinner, and it does not need a train to make its point. Cut matters more than length here, so I look at the neckline first.

 

The Reanna from Simkhai is a white halter with a cowl neck and a draped skirt, and the Adrift from For Love & Lemons is cream with a gathered wrap skirt and tonal floral jacquard. The Allegra from Shona Joy is an ivory long-sleeve mini with a sheer lace panel across the shoulder, and the Nash from Lovers and Friends is a white mock-neck mini with long sleeves and lace trim at the hem, which makes it the one I would reach for in a cold October room. The Elliatt is a satin mini with a square neck on slim straps, a fitted bodice and a flared skirt. For a bride, the Line & Dot Gloss Scarf mini is ivory with a high neck, a long scarf tie and a structured fit.

 

(House of CB, by the way, was founded in 2010 by Conna Walker, and it has grown into bridalwear too.)

 

Fitting-room test: sit down and lift both arms. You want the bodice to stay put and the seams to lie flat.

 

What I would skip: the bubble hem on the Miss Circle Aubrey if you plan to dance a lot in a crowded room, since the volume wants space.

Midi is the length that carries white satin into the real week. Mid-calf hems look right with boots now and with flat sandals in spring, and a satin midi takes a leather jacket without fuss.

 

In my fashion dreams it is a Saturday dinner in November and she is wearing the Kylen from Michael Costello, an ivory cowl-neck slip midi with a bias drape that swings as she walks. The Stella McCartney in white has a high neck, a ruffle drape and a structured waist, a neat contrast to the soft cut of the Kylen. The Jacka from Simkhai is draped with an asymmetric cape sleeve, the Ondina from Camila Coelho is a bone-white satin high-neck midi with cap sleeves, and the Estra from MISHA is ivory with an asymmetric draped neckline and a slim bias skirt. The Sandro has a lace edge on an asymmetric hem, and the Ilaria from LPA has a strapless corset bodice with draped hip detail.

 

Bias-cut satin is cut at 45 degrees to the weave, which is why it drapes so well. Look at how the skirt hangs from the waist before you decide on a hem.

 

What I would skip: the Delanie from Camila Coelho, an ivory one-shoulder draped midi, on a cold night with no wrap. It is the one for a warm dinner that needs a little movement.

Gowns are where satin gets serious. In the early 1930s the bias cut made slinky satin evening dresses with low backs that flared out at the hem, which is the shape many of these gowns are still chasing. If you want to keep going, Brown Wedding Guest Dress: Long Gowns, Slits and Soft Satin is the one I would read next.

 

The Gwyneth from Natalie Rolt is a white off-the-shoulder gown with a sheer bodice panel and a column skirt, and the Maria from Norma Kamali is a snow-white bias-cut column gown with a scoop neck and thin straps. The Miss Circle Ivona is a corset gown with a draped off-shoulder strap and a mermaid skirt, a much more structured shape than liquid satin. For a wedding, the Rianne from Sau Lee has a sweetheart neckline and a sweep train, and the Miss Circle Unna is an off-shoulder bardot cowl with a full skirt and train. For weddings, guests should leave white and ivory to the bride, so the Self-Portrait lace satin maxi, white with fine lace sleeves and a V-neck, is one for other occasions. Han Chong founded Self-Portrait in London in 2013 and trained at Central Saint Martins.

 

The ROTATE has a high halter, a ruched waist and a floor-length train. The Ava from Lovers and Friends is a white halter-neck column gown with an open back and a floor-length skirt.

 

Fitting test: walk up a flight of stairs in it. If you step on the hem, ask for a different length or shoes with a little height.

A corset gives a satin dress its own architecture. The structure sits in the bodice, and the skirt is free to flow, so you get shape without a stiff dress.

 

The Bias Strapless from Norma Kamali is a snow-white mini with a straight neckline, and the La Lune from Shona Joy is a cream bustier mini with a structured sweetheart corset bodice. The GUIZIO satin corset is a white strapless mini with a boned bodice, and the Oriana from Runaway The Label is an ivory strapless bustier mini with a flared skirt. Short and sweet is the Bruna from Lovers and Friends, a white strapless mini with a structured bodice. The JLUXLABEL Regal Rising is a strapless bias-cut column, the Mac Duggal is tea-length and crystal embellished, and the Miss Circle Marnie is a pleated strapless midi.

 

Check the boning before you buy: press a hand against the side seam and make sure it does not dig or buckle. A strapless bodice should stay up when you lift your arms.

 

What I would skip: the crystals on the Mac Duggal if you want to wear it twice in the same circle of friends.

I would choose in this order: the length I would actually wear again, then the neckline, then the cloth. A white satin dress lasts when the cut is simple and the fabric is good.

 

Check the label for silk or polyester satin, test the hem and the seams, and leave the white to the bride if you are a guest. Victoria wore plain satin in 1840, and the idea has aged well. If a dress needs a lot of decoration to look finished, I would walk past it, and if it hangs well on its own, I would take it home. It is a short list, and it works for a registry office as much as for a late dinner.

 

With love, and a clean hem.