Wedding dress

This wedding dress was worn by Eliza Larken for her marriage to William (later 6th Baron) Monson at St. Giles in the Fields Church, London, on 8 May 1828. Eliza (d. 1863) was the youngest daughter of Edmund Larken of Bedford Square, who was employed by the East India Company. William John (1796-1862) was the son of Colonel the Honourable William Monson and Ann, née Debonnaire. The Monson family estates are in Lincolnshire.

In choosing white for her wedding dress Eliza was making a fashionable choice. Although white and cream were worn for weddings in the 18th century, it was in the following century that white became the colour to which brides aspired. Eliza's dress was made with a pair of detachable long sleeves which fit over the short puff sleeves. These would have been worn for the wedding and made the dress suitable for day wear. Worn without the long sleeves, it was transformed into evening wear. The dress also has a matching pelerine - a short cape which is extended at the front with narrow lengths of pendant fabric.