Post-War Boom 戰後的嬰兒潮
Marriage rates soared after the war, and thanks to the wedding industry’s careful positioning, it was ready to meet the demand spurred by wartime ideology.
在二次大戰後，結婚率大幅地提升，而且這得感謝戰間期的宣傳和紡織業的努力，使得戰後婚紗業能夠有足夠的產能去符合需求的提升。
More people were entering the bridal shop business, now generating billions of dollars in sales, boosting the industry’s advertising about the significance of the celebration and the need for a formal white gown.
隨著市場的日益蓬勃，有越來越多人投入了這樣的產業，時至今日已經創造出近數十億美金的產值。普羅大眾無不被產業的廣告所吸引，也接受了這樣的婚紗款式，甚至還會認為婚禮不能沒有白婚紗。
Chart by Randy Olson using data from CDC NCHS
19世紀中期以來美國的結婚與離婚率, 來源: Priceonomics
“With her bridal crown and floor-length gown, a woman looked like the princess she saw in books and movies,” writes Jellison. “And like them, she now held an exalted position. She was assuming her sanctioned postwar role of becoming a wife.”
〝穿著長至及地的禮服再搭配新娘的頭飾，這樣的女性就像是活生生出現在書和電影上的公主〞〝而且就像是在前線的男性，女性同樣備受褒揚，被認為是成功男性背後所需要的那樣不可或缺的人物。〞
Technological advances played a key role in making the gowns more accessible. What had begun as a fashionable tradition for the elite would now be fully accessible for everybody.
除了時代背景和戰間期的宣傳，科技的進步也是婚紗普及化的重要原因。還記得在前面提到的，以前婚紗只是貴族的〝專利〞，到現在，幾乎每位女性都有機會使用。〈編按：好啦，不想結婚的、不想穿婚紗的例外〉
“The first step in the definitive democratization of the white wedding gown was the development and, more importantly, refinement of synthetic fabrics,” writes Carol Wallace in All Dressed in White.
另外，卡洛華勒斯在他的著作中提到：白色婚紗的平民化是源自於科技的進展，如果講得更精準點，就是合成纖維的改良。
Manufacturers had begun developing synthetic fibers as early as the 1930s, but much of the production shifted to military purposes during the war. Wartime research accelerated the development of synthetic fibers, which were used for making parachutes, tents, and ropes, and improved the fibers’ quality while driving down costs. When peacetime resumed, manufacturers found that bridal gowns were a uniquely good fit for the burgeoning supply of the materials: the fabrics were far less expensive and easier to deal with than satin and silk, making the dresses more widely available. Saks department store, Wallace notes, advertised in 1950 a long-sleeved satin gown with a train for $250 in silk compared with $185 in rayon.
早在1930年代，紡織工廠就已經發明了合成纖維，但多數為戰爭用途。在戰間期，許多人投入相關材質的研究而促進了合成纖維的演進。這些合成纖維都被用於生產降落傘、帳篷和繩子，所以為了因應大量的需求，這些研究人員在戰間期改善了質量也同時降低了成本。當戰爭結束後，生產商發現原來這樣的材質也相當適合用來製作婚紗：除了有著比絲和綢緞更為便宜的成本外，也更好處理，使得這樣材質所製成的婚紗更加地普及。另外華勒斯也提到，從在1950年代的婚紗廣告上可以發現，當時絲質的長袖婚紗要價250美金〈約等於現在的2350美金〉，而人造纖維呢，只需185美金即可〈約等於現在的1740美金〉。
“By 1947, silk was again available, but only for the most expensive gowns,” she writes. “Why would a girl bother, when the synthetics were so appealing?”
他接著表示：〝到了1947年也就是二戰結束後的第二年，絲綢的國家專賣權總算還給了平民，但因為時代的變遷，絲綢只用於製作高檔的婚紗。當合成纖維的婚紗價格那麼吸引人的時候，一個女生真的還會想再穿絲質的婚紗嗎？〞
Industrial and consumer giants like Du Pont and Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company launched their own ad campaigns for the new materials.
與此同時，紡織業的巨擘，像是杜邦、約氏企業和森氏企業在戰後也開始宣傳這樣的新材質。
A 1948 Life magazine ad for Du Pont’s new nylon fabrics, for example, shows an illustration of a bride in her white gown tossing a bouquet: “Lighter, lovelier, more radiantly right for the bride than bridal gowns have been,” it says.
以杜邦為例，在1948年的時代雜誌上，他們在廣告上展示一位穿著白色禮服的新娘拋出花朵的畫面〉在廣告裡有這樣的一句台詞：〝最輕、最有光澤且最精巧的婚紗，是您從未見過的款式〞
A little later, Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company, which manufactured rayon and other synthetics, helped sponsor the 1960 Miss America contest, photographing the winner – and later, her successors – in their “dream” wedding gowns, to be promoted in department stores across the country.
過了不久，約氏跟森氏這兩間生產人造纖維和合成纖維的廠商，贊助了1960年的年度美國小姐比賽，並請了冠軍穿著他們生產的禮服做廣告拍攝，後來在大大小小的百貨公司，都能看到這類穿著的模特兒的身影。
A window display at Macy's Herald Square location in New York City promoting the Miss America bridal gown. Photo credit: The Hagley Museum
在百貨公司展示的美國小姐禮服，圖片來源：海格利博物館
At the same time, a decades-long rise in ready-made, as opposed to custom dresses, helped bring down costs as well. There were a dozen large bridal manufacturers in the U.S. by the mid-1940s and, thanks to the marital boom that followed the war, the number of factories grew to about one hundred by the end of the 1960s.
與此同時，這種材質的改良也順帶降低了相關產品的生產成本，進而讓這些產品的價格降低。拜價格降低讓更多顧客趨之若鶩，加上戰後嬰兒潮讓需求量增加所賜，紡織廠如雨後春筍般的一間間營業，到了1960年末期，美國的紡織廠的數量來到近一百間。
Even as the conformity of the early 1960s gave way to the sexual revolution and the rise of mainstream feminism, the white wedding gown continued to reign. According to Jellison, the vast majority of women still reported wearing white or ivory for their ceremonies in the early 1970s.
即使是在1960年代早期，像是性別革命和女性主義這類型的思潮逐漸興起，白婚紗的風氣依舊不減。根據傑利森的說法，一直到1970年代的初期，都還是看得到大部分的女性穿著白色婚紗來參加他們的婚禮。
She cites the publisher of Modern Bride, who at the time noted, “Each year there is even a higher rate of white wedding gowns sold than is accounted for just by the increase in the number of marriages. More and more people are having formal weddings every year. It astonishes even me.”
傑利森接著說：〝儘管一年又一年的過去，這樣的風氣依舊不減，甚至從銷售額來看，白色婚紗的人氣反而是越來越旺。主要是因為辦婚禮的次數逐年增加了，有越來越多人每年都在辦婚禮，就好像例行公事一樣，這也讓多年研究這方面的我嚇了一跳。〞
The countercultural uprising of the 1960s took aim at a number of social norms, including some of the assumptions around a woman’s role in the home, but it still failed to unseat the white wedding.
在1960年代有許多革命性的文化思潮興起，並把焦點放在改變許多固有的社會傳統，包括女性在家庭角色的規範。儘管以現在來看，是成功地改變了大眾的思維，但仍舊無法打破關於婚禮時女方須穿著白色婚紗這項習俗。
即便在60到70年代間，新的文化思潮興起，依舊無法撼動白婚紗的地位，圖片來源: Charisse Kenion, Unsplash
Today, the dress may no longer symbolize virginity, if it ever did, but it’s still considered central to the festivities. Several years after David’s Bridal, the behemoth wedding discount chain, introduced colored wedding dresses in 2010, they accounted for just 4 to 5 percent of bridal gown sales.
到了21世紀的現在，這樣的禮服可能不再具有純潔的意義，但它在婚禮的重要性不隨時間而有所轉變。儘管在2010年，大衛婚禮〈一間婚紗的經銷商〉開始引進了各種顏色的婚紗，不過到目前為止，他們的營業額約只佔總營業額的4到5%。
And while a growing number of women now adopt non-white gowns, the decision is still considered remarkable, fodder for countless trend pieces.
雖說有越來越多女性接受非白色的婚紗，但這樣的選擇依舊被許多人認為是不尋常的。
For a tradition fueled in large part by World War II propaganda and wartime research meant to build more parachutes, the white wedding dress is a remarkably enduring element of American culture.
雖然我們還是無法證明，白色婚紗是歷史和傳統的象徵到底是真是假，但至少我們可以知道，由於二戰期間的宣傳和戰間期紡織材質的改進，造就了白色婚紗成為了現今美國文化很重要的一部份。
結論：
1. 白婚紗的普及化的原因：因應戰間期大量的軍事需求，使得相關的科技進步-合成纖維發明，進而拉低生產成本，吸引更多人購買
2. 雖然到了1960至1970年間，戰後嬰兒潮的成長為當時的世人帶來一波新的思潮，但仍無法撼動白婚紗的地位
3. 儘管現在市面有其他顏色的婚紗，但依然無法取代白色婚紗
原文作者：Victoria Finkle
撰文日期：2016.9.29
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