Over the past week, I’ve been asked numerous times about what I thought of the new Duchess of Cambridge’s overall look for her wedding. To begin with, even prior to the wedding, I was surprised by Kate’s rumoured choice of Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen, to design her dress.
Alexander McQueen, whilst he was alive (before his tragic suicide last year) was renowned for his use of theatre and drama, his use of contrasts and heavy fashion influence from controversial issues such as sex, religion and politics. No wonder…since the house of McQueen has designed for the likes of fashion rebels such as Lady Gaga and Naomi Campbell!
In fact, in Sarah Burton’s debut collection from Paris Fashion Week just last October, she showed an interesting blend of bondage-like apparel, lacing, dresses and skirts with exaggerated hips, feather work, fur trim, Japanese printed silk, corn stalks and copious amounts of pleated organza; all meshed together with impeccable tailoring.
Items fit for a Princess on her wedding day? Probably not!
So now…you can understand fully, my surprise that conservative Kate, chose Sarah Burton in the first place!
Kate actually got her first inkling about Sarah Burton through her friend and fashion editor, Sarah Buys, who wed Prince William's stepbrother, Tom Parker Bowles in 2005. Sarah’s dress was a £10,000 silk, strapless gown, created by Sarah Burton. I have to be honest and say I didn’t love Sarah’s dress and so, I didn’t know quite what to expect for Kate’s.
However, the moment I saw the dress, I loved it for its romanticism and modernism – a hard combination to come by. It was evident that the shape of the dress harkened back to 1950’s styling. The satin gazar fabric on the ivory and white dress, was accented with hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace. The lace appliqués on the dress represented flowers such as: roses, thistles, daffodils and shamrocks, which were all hand-placed onto the dress.
The lace itself was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework using a technique called Carrickmacross (a type of needle lace which was first made in Carrickmacross, Ireland). I feel perhaps that this was Kate’s homage to the late Diana, since Diana herself used a piece of Carrickmacross lace, which had once belonged to Queen Mary, in the centre panel of her own wedding gown, as her “something old.”
Although I thought Kate’s deep V-neckline, sweetheart bodice and long, lace sleeves were stunning; I thought the lace on the full skirt, made the gown look out-dated and overly traditional.
I would have loved to see Kate be a little more fashion-forward there, especially since McQueen is known for dramatic skirts. It was evident to me that Sarah Burton showed fashion restraint, obviously knowing that a skirt that pushed the envelope too far would not fit in with the personality and style of her client or with such a historical event watched by 2 billion people!
However, the silhouette of Kate’s gown did feature a large skirt and padding at the hips, which is quite typical of Alexander McQueen’s style. At the back of the dress, there were 58 gazar and organza covered buttons.
Kate wore a Cartier tiara which was loaned to her by the Queen and a veil made of ivory silk tulle. I thought the veil went perfectly with the dress since it was not decorated, gathered or too voluminous and so, I thought it echoed the streamlined nature of the dress’ shape.
On her ears, she wore Victorian-styled, tear drop earrings, which were a gift from her parents. The earrings were custom-made to match the tiara. Her shoes were also hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and were made of ivory duchesse satin, with lace embroidery.
In terms of comparisons, Elizabeth Taylor had a somewhat similar lace placement as Kate’s with the gown she wore to wed her first husband Conrad Hilton. Moreover, though, Kate’s dress closely resembled Grace Kelly’s gown, worn to her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Grace Kelly’s gown had similar long lace sleeves and a V-neck line, although her neckline was more demure than Kate’s. Although some people have noted that Kate’s dress resembled Queen Elizabeth’s dress in 1947, I don’t share this opinion; since the Queen’s dress was ivory, embroidered with images of spring flowers, encrusted with pearls and crystals and featured a scalloped neckline. It was an ornate statement, completely unlike the understated elegance of Kate’s dress.
Overall, what I most admired was that Kate wore the dress and the dress didn’t wear her. She was completely self-assured in it and radiant. That inner beauty, really...is what fashion is supposed to promote!
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