Evelyn Peters achieved this dreamy look with lots of affordable netting, in both the veil and dress. Other brides wore the wedding dress their mother, grandmother or other relative had worn. Such a dress had great sentimental value, and the price was right.
This classic 1890s dress has leg-of-mutton sleeves. It was worn again in 1939. Around 1930, designers began to cut silk on the bias (on the diagonal, rather than along the horizontal and vertical threads in the woven cloth). The bias cut gave a little stretch and a beautiful drape, so dresses became slinky and hugged a woman’s curves.
Women were interested in what celebrities were wearing. Actress Jean Harlow is still famous for her dress in “Dinner at Eight.” Wallis Simpson married the former king of Great Britain in a bias-cut gown of blue silk.
Barbara Cheesewright, the daughter of a well-known interior designer, apparently loved color. Her wedding gown is aqua in natural light (but mint green in the exhibit gallery, which has colored walls). She chose the same color for her veil and headpiece, at left above. Under the brim of the headpiece, she placed delphiniums, which are often blue. I am not sure they were blue flowers, but I like to picture them that way, complementing her aqua dress. 
There are three seams below the neck and three at the side, where there is usually a utilitarian dart. The three seams extend under the arm to the back. These dresses are on display at the Pasadena Museum of History until July 14. To see more online, see the Women Writing the West blog: http://www.womenwritingthewest.blogspot.com/2013/05/four-brides-and-their-dresses.html 
