The Jewish Art of Wedding Dresses
February 9th, 2007 by Menachem Wecker
The author of Ode to Craigslist Weddings, who describes herself as “a Soviet Jew obsessed with the most extravagant of american traditions-weddings,” has this to say about dresses and Jewish art:
We have all experienced the moment when, while watching TV or reading a magazine, we find ourselves aghast that some socialite fashionista paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a couture skirt from a Paris fashion house. “It is just a piece of material sewn together!” we tell ourselves, “why would anyone pay so much money for fabric?”
Those in the industry will tell you that couture, and fashion in general, is worth the price because the items are not just pieces of clothing, but pieces of art conceived, designed, and sewn by artists whose canvas of choice is fabric.
Let’s look at a small segment of often pricey fashion items — wedding dresses. These are particularly questionable investments as they are (hopefully) only worn once, for a few hours, to be filed away in a vacuum-packed box in the back of a closet somewhere. The math on wedding dresses can be staggering — Donald Trump’s current wife, Melania, wore a Christian Dior Haute Couture creation during her wedding to the Donald that cost a reported $200,000, and weighed nearly 50 pounds. Assuming a wedding lasts at most 10 hours, that is $20,000 an hour for a dress that she is likely never to wear again. And yet, this 50-pound mountain of fabric is more than just a little girl’s dream come true — it is a one-of-a-kind work of art from a renowned fashion artist. Rembrandts and Chagalls sell for millions at auction houses, so perhaps $200,000 for a piece of art is really a bargain?
What does any of this have to do with Jewish art? To all you Jewish brides, planning to spend hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars on a wedding dress, consider this supposition — a wedding dress is an artistic expression of how you perceive yourself, your religion, your traditions, and how you would like others to perceive you. (Art by Judith Yellin)
There is little to be found in terms of specific guidance about traditional Jewish wedding attire. “Modesty” is an oft-mentioned style guide, including the appropriate covering of shoulders and arms. Those of you who have visions of strolling down the aisle toward your hoopas and blushing grooms in a strapless, puffy princess number — what are you to do?
This is where artistic expression and interpretation are sure to lend you a hand. I was recently a witness at a Conservative Jewish wedding ceremony. The bride wore a spaghetti strap gown, arms exposed galore. During the ceremony, the bride wore a beautiful, long veil that cleverly covered her arms and bare back.
How is that artistic you might ask? The bride and her wedding consultant took a tradition, and interpreted its intent according to their own vision and design, creating a new interpretation of an old theme. Isn’t that what art is all about? The world around us, interpreted through our own point-of-view?
Even if you are the kind of Jewish bride who has no time for tradition and it’s your day so you’ll wear that slinky silk number that makes your babe blush, perhaps you are standing under a hoopa that has been passed down for generations in your family, interwoven with themes of happiness, and fertility, and good luck, lovingly sewn by generations of Jewish women before you? By incorporating this piece of folk art into your modern day gala, you are conveying some respect for the old ways to your guests, to your ancestry, to the sanctity of the marriage institution you are agreeing too?
Traditional?
Or not … (Photos from bridaloriginals.com)
Most of us perhaps think of weddings as overpriced events that are likely to bankrupt one, or both, sides of the family, or maybe as a great big party with a chance to see our long lost friends and family. To every Jewish bride, I say this — think of your wedding as your very own personal work of art, a carefully orchestrated play about who you and your husband want to be and how you want to live. An event that will define for others how you as a couple are to be perceived. Art, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.