JeWho could miss the royal wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton??? Now conjoined and ennobled as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, they come to attract more attention than Lady Diana's Wedding to The Prince of Wales. They had over 24 million viewers in the UK alone and billions of viewers around the world.
My interest here is first off, how gorgeous the new Duchess looks and what she is wearing. She glowed in her white gown designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. This is pure luck...Sarah Burton is lucky that she got this opportunity of a lifetime. This will blow up her career and her work, to create millions or even billions of sales and popularity in her name.
One major way that trends emerge is from celebrity figures and you bet that Kate Middleton is a BIG focus right now! It is all about what she is wearing - so lets start....
Tiara - This 1936 Cartier tiara lent to her by Queen Elizabeth was purchased by King George VI for the Queen's 18th birthday. As gorgeous as this piece is, I am sad to say it is very simple and wished to see something more ornate!
Earrings -
According to the Official Royal Wedding site, the earrings are “diamond-set stylized oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pave set diamond acorn suspended in the center.” The design was inspired by the new Middleton family coat of arms, which features oak leaves and acorns. Designed by Robinson Pelham, to match her tiara, these earrings were given to her by her parents (Carole and Michael Middleton). I would've worn insanely huge diamond chandelier earrings...but that's just me...
Hair - Half up and half down (this will definitely create a trend in wedding hairstyles and probably everyday hairstyling too!) Very simple yet again..she is just a simple kind of gal...
Bouquet - Designed by Shane Connolly, included lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth and ivy.
Gown -
As mentioned above, this is a Sarah Burton by Alexander McQueen creation. The Official Royal Wedding site, posted a statement saying, “Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing."
This gorgeous V-neck, long sleeve gown had a lace appliqué which was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique. (This technique is made by applying fine cambric or muslin to a mesh base, the design being outlined with a thick thread and the surplus fabric cut away to form the pattern on the net base.
I am loving this gown because of the peek-a-boo effect of the lace applique on the upper body...very sexy yet still very conservative. The new princess seems to be a very conservative lady (as a princess should be) and Prince William is a very lucky man. :)
Tid bit*** The designer of the dress was kept a secret up until the wedding day.
What are other designers saying??? (OK Magazine)
Designers are speaking out and sharing their professional thoughts on Kate’s dress. Do you agree?
“She is very elegant,” Karl Lagerfeld said (via WWD). “The dress is classic and goes very well in the Westminster decor. It almost reminds me of (Queen) Elizabeth’s wedding, the royal weddings in the ’50s. The proportion of the train is good. The lace is very pretty. I like the veil a lot.”
Christian Lacroix said, “I like the dress very much, simpler than expected: A combination just in between 1956 Grace Kelly and 1947 Queen Elizabeth. I love the modest veil with the queen mother’s ’30s scroll tiara and balanced volume of the whole gown.”
“She’s radiant; she never was so beautiful,” Christian added. “And Prince William’s red Irish [Guard] uniform is gorgeous.”
But some designers were bold enough to add in a few negative comments with the positive ones!
“The dress is very simple and very nice,” Hubert de Givenchy said. “The veil is a little flat, but because she has such a lovely face, she can afford to wear it this way. She is very pretty.”
And Hubert thought that Kate choosing a dress from McQueen was “a lovely thought, a nice tribute.”
“It was a very elegant dress, subtly refined and discreet, in keeping with her style,” Elie Saab said. “I would have liked it even more with a little extra volume and a longer train.”
After all this being said - simple style or not, I think they look gorgeous together and as the entire world congratulates their union, so do I!