STYLIST: JACLYN HODES
Stylist’s assistant: Adrienne Goloda. Photo assistant: Chris Grosser
Hair: Teddy Cranford at Bumble and bumble
Makeup: Robert Greene at See Management using Mac Cosmetics. Model: Laura at Muse
Set design: Amy Henry at CLM. Set design assistant: Andrew Graham
Sometime around the days when it was fine to throw slaughtered pigs into the crick behind the factory, the bridal veil outsourced its power to the wedding dress. The latter gets all the credit these days for a lady in white’s blushing beauty, but really, that’s bullshit. The veil contains the secret lore of marriage rites, its origins so arcane even the smartest historians of head lace do not see eye to eye on its inception.
Is the veil a quick derivation of the canopy under which a Middle Eastern bride and groom of yore said their forevermores, handheld somewhat apocalyptically by four members of the wedding party? Or was it perhaps invented for the Crusaders, who upon returning from slaying vile heathens were presented with maidens, face-swathed to hide their probable homeliness?
Regardless, the veil begat lots of rituals referring to death rites and shrouds, the womanly triumvirate of blood (of period, of deflowering, of childbirth, as demonstrated with the color red), hiding sadness and other unseemly behaviors or appearances, and preventing a woman, a natural conduit for evil, from possession.
Let’s lift some mystery from this gossamer illusion with the following compendium of veil-trivia bits ’n’ bobs.
Bridal Veil Falls veil
Videos by VICE
bridal veil is more like a gimp hood among the Berber folk in Morocco. The bride is dressed from the neck up like a fancy execution victim, donning an attractive square red sack into which a long, thin cushion is stuffed, along with her head. Called an aâbroq, the pillowcase-mask getup goes down to her chest, and just to make extra sure she won’t be showing any skin from the collarbone up, she’s sewn into it. It is not to be removed throughout the three-day ceremony, to protect her otherwise easily entered face orifices from crabby anthropomorphic spirits who’re known to possess or even kill a bride if they wake up on the wrong side of the bed. It only comes off (maybe) when the couple goes home to do you-know-what.
Bridal Veil Falls veil, Happy Socks socks
eil popularity vanished for several centuries after the time of the Roman hair dart. Early Anglo-Saxon brides preferred the Ren-faire look, with garlands of flowers crowning their free-flowing locks. Early Christians held a square net, called a care-cloth (a pale rip-off of the Jewish chuppah), over the bride and groom while the service was performed. During Renaissance and Elizabethan times, lots of ladies married in glorified bathing caps trimmed with all sorts of flouncy girly stuff.
Stylist’s own veil, Rachel Comey cardigan, Calvin Klein underwear
n the Slavic areas of Europe in the 1500s, brides were given extra headgear on their special day to distinguish their new status, since daily veils for women were customary. This “capping ceremony” was a puberty initiation ritual during which an older married woman removed the bride’s headdress and chopped her hair off while she and her fair maids sang maudlin dirges for her tresses (metaphoric for impending loss of cherry, of course). It was generally assumed the sadness was a sham and the Slav teens were anxious to get laid.
Bridal Veil Falls veil
Videos by VICE
n Radom, Poland, it was customary for the bride to run away screaming when it was time for the shearing and to be forcibly returned to a sheepskin-covered box, where she finally became a matron. For Polish brides, this was only the beginning of the ritualistic embarrassment. After a wedding ceremony, bridesmaids would put on red veils and blindfold the bride with her white one, rub honey on her mouth, and throw wheat at her while the groom escorted her to their home. (Greeks also enjoyed red veils, as it was the color associated with Hymen—which is not only that sexy membrane but also their god of marriage.)
Bridal Veil Falls veil, top from a Hare Krishna Temple in LA
eils continued their shame spiral and weren’t worn at all for white weddings of the 18th century. Western brides instead opted for hats, bonnets, wreaths, tiaras, jewels, lace, and ribbons. But then, one magical day, technological advances in clothing manufacture made veils feasible again. Tulle, once reserved for the lace machine of 1768, became handy and cheap thanks to newfangled machinery. And then came Queen Victoria, who was the first modern monarch to wear a veil. After her, no self-respecting lass would be seen without one.
Bridal Veil Falls veil, American Apparel top and shorts
n the Christian church of Abyssinia, a happy couple are locked away for the first six weeks of their marriage, during which the new wife has to wear a black veil over her face the entire time. The 19th century saw the invention of another fun Christian veil game in Lorraine, France. The bride and three pals were covered with a large white cloth, the peaks of their headgear adjusted to the same height. Using a twig, the groom had to prod the body he thought was his future sweetie. If he selected the wrong girl, his punishment was to dance with her all evening, not with his bride.
Bridal Veil Falls veil and wreath, Prada underwear, La Crasia gloves
