“Wallis blue” became the distinctive color name associated with Wallis Simpson’s 1937 wedding dress.
The dress was designed by Mainbocher and made in a blue shade selected to complement Simpson’s eyes. The color was so closely identified with her that it became known as Wallis blue, illustrating how a single famous garment can influence fashion vocabulary.
The gown was not white, which reflected both Simpson’s personal style and the unusual circumstances of the wedding. She married the former King Edward VIII, who had abdicated the British throne in 1936 so he could marry her.
The ceremony took place at the Château de Candé in France on 3 June 1937. “Wallis blue” is sometimes mistaken for an official royal color, but it was a fashion label linked specifically to Simpson’s dress and its blue-gray appearance.