Most brides wear their wedding dress once, then store it in the attic as a memento and, possibly, a family heirloom to be passed down to a daughter or granddaughter someday. But one divorced woman wore her wedding dress everywhere, to change it from a reminder of her failed marriage to a symbol of the new phase her life had entered.
The woman, who made a photography project out of wearing her dress, recently shared her story with the Today Show. Depressed after her marriage of 19 years ended, the woman said she tried exercise and therapy, but both failed to help.
One day, she was looking at her wedding dress when inspiration struck. She started taking the dress to unusual locations, like a baseball stadium and a stack of hay bales, where she would pose for photographs wearing the dress.
She wore the dress to moments that symbolized the end of her marriage, such as when she signed divorce papers in her lawyer’s office and when she went to the bank to open a solo checking account.
She posted the pictures on her Facebook account and later to a blog, calling the art project “Acid Neutral,” after the treatment the dress received to keep it from fading. The woman credits the project with helping her heal after divorce.
The final photo in the series is a departure. Instead of black-and-white like the rest of the pictures, this one is in full color. The woman stands in a field of sunflowers wearing a red dress, her arms stretching to the sky. The wedding dress lies crumpled in the dirt behind her.
How each divorced person deals with the pain and uncertainty is largely up to them. But Virginia divorce law applies to everyone equally, so it is important that your divorce lawyer be experienced and knowledgeable.