This piece challenges the dominance of the white wedding dress as a global visual norm—an aesthetic born in Victorian England and spread through colonial narratives. By using black as the primary color, I reject the myth of “white equals purity” and instead reclaim black as a color of power, dignity, and ritual depth.
Inspired by early 19th-century Regency fashion and theatrical costume, the design features a detachable overgown, allowing the wearer to shift between ceremonial and personal states. The act of undressing becomes symbolic: not a loss, but a transformation.
Through structure, silhouette, and symbolism, this work reframes marriage as a rite of passage—not a romantic climax. The bride here is not an object of fantasy, but a subject in transition.
Model - Madison
Photographer - Becky Chen
