subject: The Fact And Fiction Of Wedding Day Superstitions [print this page] One of the most enduring wedding superstitions is the rhyme, 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue'. Even the most modern, sophisticated couples who tell you that they don't believe a word of the saying, will admit to checking that all four items are in place, even if they're not on view.
But how did this wedding superstition develop and why these four items rather than any others? The rhyme itself is not that old and there's no written evidence of it before 1876. There are several variations and in some areas of the country the 'something borrowed' was written as 'something golden' or even 'something stolen'.
The 'new' bit of the rhyme is the most easily understood because everyone getting married is at the beginning of a new partnership, about to embrace new loyalties and ways of living. For most people, a new item of clothing easily fulfils this part of the saying.
The 'old' part is more difficult to understand until you know that at one time, on the eve of a wedding, the bridesmaids would dress the bride in her oldest nightgown just before she went to bed. One can just imagine the girlish giggling about the following night when any form of nightwear would be considered inappropriate. Interestingly, many brides chose to wear their old shoes on their wedding day. There are so many superstitions connected with shoes at weddings that it's difficult to begin to unpick their reasoning for choosing old footwear. One can't help but feel that practicality and comfort were the most important factors and many young women probably couldn't afford new shoes as well as a new dress.
The rhyme doesn't state what should be borrowed, so anything goes. What isn't stated, but is always taken as granted, is that the 'something borrowed' must be from a person who is already happily married, presumably so that their good fortune rubs off on you. Wedding veils were often passed from friend to friend, but as that may not suit your intended outfit, choose anything you want for your borrowed item.
What about the 'blue' bit; why blue rather than any other colour? Some colours were considered really unlucky when worn at weddings. Green, for instance, would never have been seen at a wedding because it was assumed that the wearer would soon be wearing black and mourning the loss of their partner. Of all the items, the 'something blue' is the most traditional element of the rhyme and long before white was popular, many women wore a blue dress on their wedding day. The colour has long been associated with the Virgin Mary and, although there's no known proof, wearing blue may have been associated with virginity and eventually becoming a perfect mother.
Nowadays, most brides opt for a blue garter without realising that they've also adopted other old superstitions. In the days before modern tights and elastic, men and women kept their stockings in place with knitted garters so must have been used to stop their hose wrinkling down their legs. No matter, because if, as a single woman, a garter started to slip down, it meant that your sweetheart was thinking about you. If it fell off your leg, well that was a different matter and very unlucky indeed. Wearing a garter made of wheat on the night before your wedding meant that you were hoping your first child would be male, whereas if the garter was made of oats then you wanted a daughter.
So there you are, 'something old' may be a simple saying but there are all sorts of traditions and ideas caught up within it. And whether you believe it or not, bear in mind that if a single young man steals a bride's garter, he's going to be really lucky for evermore.
