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In western culture, the bride's white dress has come to symbolize virginity. But according to some recent statistics, there aren't so many virgin brides anymore -- but still the white dress prevails. Some uptight traditionalists might say it's wrong to wear white if you're not a virgin, but actually, virginity was not the original meaning of the white dress.

The tradition of wearing white isn't even that old, really. It gained popularity when Queen Victoria of England married Albert of Saxe-Coberg in 1840, wearing a white gown to incorporate some lace that she owned. At that time, a white wedding dress was extremely uncommon, and not a sign of purity, but a sign of wealth -- for only very wealthy women could afford a dress that could never be worn again (cleaning a white dress was not so easy in 1840).

Though many copied the queen's style for their own weddings, it still wasn't until the mid-20th century that white came to dominate the wedding dress market, as pictures and videos from weddings of the world's wealthiest and most famous really spread the trend.

Really, the white dress was more a symbol of vanity than virginity. Before Victoria, brides married in almost any color, except black, the color of mourning, and red, which was associated with prostitutes. Brides who wanted to wear a symbol of their purity wore blue.