Since wedding dresses have  been a topic of interest lately, here is a link to an interesting article on how one such dress was conserved and put on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This dress belonged to a Mary Littledale (nee Primrose) who was married in June 1885. Tragically, Mrs. Littledale died in 1886 and the family carefully preserved the dress.  Below are some pictures and information about the dress itself:

Wedding Dress, Gladman & Womack, 1885; Victoria & Albert Museum (T.428 to B, G-1990)

The dress silhouette is characteristic of mid-1880s style with the skirt and bodice are made of a cream silk satin. The dress is decorated with rows of cotton machine-embroidered net, artificial pearls made from cellulose nitrate, and metal thread tassels. The skirt hem is trimmed with a row of ruffles. The use of a swagged satin overskirt combined with an underskirt with rows of netting creates an interesting contrasting effect. The above is only a brief overview of the dress, for a fuller description click here.

To us, the stories behind some of the wedding dresses are just as interesting as the dresses themselves and it adds a human touch.