Royal bride Kate Middleton picked British label Alexander McQueen for her wedding dress, revealing the design to the world as she arrived at Westminster Abbey to marry Prince William, the second in line to the British throne.
The floor-length ivory dress with lace detailing was designed by Sarah Burton, assistant to McQueen for over a decade before he committed suicide in 2010. Burton, a Briton, was appointed creative director of McQueen, part of PPR (PP) SA, last year. Middleton wore a diamond tiara and full veil.
“She looked just like a princess should and beautifully British,” Peta Hunt, fashion director ofYou and Your Wedding magazine, said in a telephone interview. “We have a new Grace Kelly amongst us,” she said, recalling the American actress who married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.
The dress was made of ivory and white satin gazar, a loosely woven silk, with the skirt echoing an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats and a train measuring 2.7 meters (9 feet). 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 McQueen’s designs, Prince William’s office said.
‘Tradition and Modernity’
The bride “wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterizes Alexander McQueen’s work,” William’s office said in an e-mail.
Middleton’s dress, which was a closely guarded secret in the run-up to the wedding, featured a lace applique bodice and skirt handmade by the Royal School of Needlework and lace flowers on ivory silk tulle in a design incorporating the symbolic rose of England, thistle of Scotland, daffodil of Wales and shamrock of Ireland.
The train of the dress was “big enough to fill the abbey but not ostentatious,” and overall, Middleton’s outfit was “simple, classic and chic,” Hunt said. “For a mere mortal to buy that dress, I imagine you are looking at over 50,000 pounds ($83,000).”
The royal bride, 29, had a chance to see Burton’s work at the wedding of friends. She designed a silk strapless dress worn by Sara Buys, who married the Duchess of Cornwall’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, in 2005. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is Prince Charles’s second wife and William’s stepmother.
