Pearls were among the highlights of fashion shows in the first half of 2024, with exhibiting brands incorporating them into just about every fashion article. This goes to show where the wind was blowing: pearls were expected to trend once more this year and possibly in the following years. Fashion experts refer to this as the “pearlcore aesthetic.”
On a related note, does this mean pearl veils will be fashionable among brides today? As we explained before, pearls hold significant meaning as far as weddings go, from eternal happiness to good luck. Here’s a look into how likely pearl bridal veil styles will trend now and in the foreseeable future.
Trending Through The Times
To say that pearls have never trended this much before is incorrect. New discoveries pique interest, eventually building up into a phenomenon people can’t afford to miss, and pearls are no exception. While there’s no way to tell exactly when humanity started using pearls, we can make a few educated guesses.
If we go by the oldest pearl in existence, which is the Abu Dhabi Pearl, humanity may have begun around 8,000 years ago. Found in 2019 off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, this pearl was likely traded with ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms as jewellery.
However, pearl’s popularity in ancient times was limited to wealthy circles because of its cost. Harvesting one requires waiting for oysters and other molluscs to grow, which may take months depending on the species. The process also involves diving to the depth of the molluscs’ habitat, which is tens of metres deep.
A member of such a circle was Cleopatra who, according to Roman author Pliny the Elder, owned at least two pearls worth 60 million sestertii or roughly USD$30 million in today’s money. She crushed and mixed one of them into her drink in what we described in a past post as her way of flexing her ostentatious wealth.
Despite the cost, demand for pearls would increase over the centuries, peaking during the so-called Pearl Age of the 15th and 16th centuries. By then, the colonial powers of Europe found new sites ripe for pearl harvesting in the Caribbean and South America. The influx of pearls from the New World made pearls affordable enough for multiple social classes.
With the advent of pearl cultivation in the 20th century, pearls finally became accessible to everyone. Due to the aforementioned difficulty of growing and harvesting all-natural pearls, the majority of pearls in the market today consist of cultivated ones. As they’re also grown by molluscs, cultivated pearls are virtually indistinguishable from natural ones.
A Comeback?
Considering pearls are reportedly making a comeback in the modern fashion scene, can the same be said for pearl bridal veils? To this, we say, how can a trend make a comeback when it never went out of style in the first place?
Sure, fashion trends can ebb and flow, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve gone out of style. In the case of pearls, they’ve been a staple of weddings for centuries. Pearl veils may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they’re still an option for brides and will stay that way for as long as pearls are still used in fashion.
JUNO I - One Tier Veil with Pearls
What we’re experiencing now with pearlcore is another resurgence in pearl’s long history of influencing fashion trends. Just as New World pearls and pearl cultivation opened them to more social classes, fashion influencers opened them to uses beyond special occasions. All the while, there’s no reason pearl bridal veils won’t be any less trending this time.
If the Roman flammeum or a direct inspiration of this ancient veil sees a revival in modern weddings, we can consider that a comeback. As it stands, flame-coloured veils are, if any, too rare to be the next fad.
The Veil’s The Limit
Pulling off an attention-grabbing look with a pearl wedding veil can be rewarding because of the complexities that come with designing one. For starters, a single pearl can weigh a few grams (or less than a gram, depending on the carat). It isn’t much, but hundreds of pearls in a veil can quickly add up.
Just because it’s called a pearl wedding veil doesn’t mean you can stud it with as many pearls as you desire. Apart from weighing your head down uncomfortably, too many pearl embellishments defeat the purpose of making your bridal ensemble's elegance visible to everyone. And let’s not get started on the risk of the tulle tearing from the weight if it’s too fragile.
We talked about the various pearl veil layouts you can try, so you can start from there. As it turns out, pearl bridal veils can become so much more with the right arrangement and materials.
Key Takeaways
There isn’t any comeback for pearl wedding veils to speak of but rather a renaissance, one of many over millennia. They’ll remain a staple of weddings for as long as pearls remain a staple of modern fashion.
