Its exquisite hand-embroidered and appliquéd lace, and emphasis on 'best of British' materials, recalled Queen Victoria's decision in 1840 that her bridal gown should promote the nation's skills, while the classic and graceful lines could have been inspired by both the modernist Princess Margaret, who in 1960 also married in Westminster Abbey, and the more romantic style of Princess Grace, whose wedding had taken place four years earlier. The latter reference could be also be seen as a very sensitive and sympathetic homage to Diana, Princess of Wales, who had had an instant rapport with the former Hollywood film star and saw her as a style icon.
When Catherine Middleton stepped out of the vintage Rolls Royce Phantom, she stepped straight the pages of fashion history, finally revealing her wedding dress to a waiting world audience, estimated at around two billion people. She carried a small bouquet of flowers which bore a secret love message to her future husband.
The wedding dress was a model of sumptuous simplicity, perfectly suited to the sweet and serene style of the woman who is now Duchess of Cambridge and is destined to be the future Queen of England.
Kate Middleton's wedding dress designer, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen
The design was fabulous, fashionable and fairytale, perfectly in tune with Ms Middleton's desire that it should combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Britain's most famous fashion label, established by the late Lee Alexander McQueen, in 1994.
It featured a strapless,Victorian-style corset, narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips - long a signature of the late couturier - underneath a high-necked, long-sleeved, sculpted bodice in intricate lacework, handmade by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, and incorporating individual, hand-cut and embroidered flowers representing the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. The English Cluny lace was handworked in the Carrickmacross tradition, which originated in Ireland in the 1820's, and was mixed with French Chantilly lace.
Posted in: Kate Middleton,Royal Wedding Fashion
