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Kate Middleton stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey looking nothing less than spectacular. Every self-respecting fashion commentator had their money on Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen as the designer, and they were not wrong. Also, the bride very sensibly chose a dress that won’t age in photographs, as Diana’s unfortunately did. Her look echoes that of Princess Grace, another timeless bride.
As expected in fashion circles, Kate wore a lace overlay over her arms and shoulders. She was also predicted to wear a long train, to take advantage of the Abbey’s long aisle; that was also confirmed – the train was two metres 70 centimetres of ivory silk tulle. The dress had a sweet-heart neckline and a tightly corseted waist. There was hand-stitched embroidery across the front of the skirt, sweeping up from the hem.
There was also lots of speculation also focused on which tiara Kate would choose, having the royal vaults open to her – it’s a tradition that a royal bride has her pick of the archives. She chose the “halo” tiara made by Cartier in 1936.
The details of her ensemble have now been released:
The design
The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. The lace design was hand-engineered (appliquéd) using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s. Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. Hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace has been used throughout the bodice and skirt, and has been used for the underskirt trim. With laces coming from different sources, much care was taken to ensure that each flower was the same colour. The whole process was overseen and put together by hand by Ms Burton and her team.
The dress is made with ivory and white satin gazar. The skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats. The train measures two metres 70 centimetres. The ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a hallmark of Alexander McQueen’s designs. The back is finished with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops. The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.
The Fabrics
French Chantilly lace was combined with English Cluny lace to be hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition. All other fabrics used in the creation of the dress were sourced from and supplied by British companies. The choice of fabrics followed extensive research by Sarah Burton and her team.
Veil and Jewellery
The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, which was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework. The veil is held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen. The ‘halo’ tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by the Duke of York (later King George VI) for his Duchess (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King. The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now the Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday.
The bride’s earrings, by Robinson Pelham, are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre. Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family’s new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves. The earrings were made to echo the tiara and were a personal gift to the bride from her parents for her wedding day.
Wedding Shoes
The wedding shoes have made hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.
The Bride’s Bouquet
The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.
The flowers’ meanings in the bouquet are:
Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness
Sweet William – Gallantry
Hyacinth – Constancy of love
Ivy – Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection
Myrtle – the emblem of marriage; love.
The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947. The myrtle was first carried by Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, when she married in 1858, and was used to signify the traditional innocence of a bride.
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