Catherine Middleton's Wedding Dress


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I was pleasantly surprised by her dress.It had a lot of lace and detail to it.
The bodice was nice and I liked the neckline and sleeves ( Who was saying on this forum that it was too low cut? are you serious?) It was quite modest without being matronly. Bodice Grade B+
I also thought the train with it's panels was lovely and very well executed (although it could have been a little longer ;)). I noticed that her train lay flat and didn't bunch up very much, which was no easy feat on the designers part. I'll bet it was heavy. Grade A-

I love the Scroll / Halo tiara, but would have liked something slightly bigger for the wedding itself. however it will be a perfect tiara for the Heir to the Heir's wife. Grade A-

The veil was lovely with it's lace trim and I could have lived with the waltz length, but it was to clingy and kind of looked, well, heavy and cocoon like in the wind (or while moving). Some stiff tulle would have been better IMHO. Grade C

I agree with most of you that the bouquet was too small and non descript. I couldn't tell you what it looked like if my life depended on it. Thats not a good thing. A splash of color in there somewhere would have been nice. Or at least something so I wouldn't dismis it in the micro second I glanced at it. :whistling: Grade D-

Page boys Perfect! A+

Bridesmaids (little) looked like Diana's & Sarah's somewhat. I would have liked a colored sash. Or something to make them more original. Grade C-

Pippa's dress was gorgeous!!!! and Pippa's figure... fabulous! But white ?? :eek: Really? would have looked lovely in yellow or... well, anything but white..... Grade B due to color (or lack of it) :D
 
Sister Morphine said:
I think we can be safely certain that the long-dead Helen Rose who designed Princess Grace's wedding dress doesn't give a flying fig about Catherine's dress looking reminiscent of it.
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I respectively disagree with you...Besides I guess my main point was that Sarah Burton should've designed something more original in keeping with her signature. There is no need to look at someone else's design.
 
I talked to Sarah Burton yea right I wish no I heard it on Good Morning America's coverage it was Barbara Walters saying it BUT with that said she was a horrid commentator so you can take or leave what she says. She was just awful with the royals names and history of the royals. She is getting to old for the job I believe.
 
Fox news just said Kate just answered a question and said that her and William had a great day....are reporters in the Palace? how would they know this? I want to see her 2nd dress LOL
 
MichelleVA said:
I talked to Sarah Burton yea right I wish no I heard it on Good Morning America's coverage it was Barbara Walters saying it BUT with that said she was a horrid commentator so you can take or leave what she says. She was just awful with the royals names and history of the royals. She is getting to old for the job I believe.
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You certainly have that 100% correct. Time for her to give up the ghost and retire.
 
Catharina said:
Beautiful pictures. The Duchess looks glowing in these:

Royal Wedding 2011: Kate Middleton marries Prince William in dress designed by McQueen's Sarah Burton | Mail Online

I blame the broadcast quality; I didn't see it in HD! :lol:
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Thanks for the link. Now that I have seen her dress, veil, and bouquet in close detail (I don't have HD or a big screen), I love it even more! It's very elegant. This is not a Las Vegas wedding. There was a little criticism in the article (and perhaps on the forums) that she's not cutting-edge fashion, but that expectation comes from Diana -- she dressed very fashionably because that was (or became) her personal style, but it's not a requirement that a princess be in the latest fashion. I'd rather see her elegant and true to her own choices.

Maybe her makeup was a bit heavy because of the long distance cameras or to try to cover that she didn't sleep last night! But I thought she looked lovely.

I think it's a bit odd that some people complain that her makeup was too dramatic and her dress was not dramatic enough! Let's face it, you can never please everyone.
 
Simply elegant

Catherine's dress was beautiful. I loved the embroidery on the skirt, the lace detail on the veil, the tiara, everything. I liked the fact she didn't have a humongous bouquet. She looked so lovely and must indeed have taken Prince William's breath away. :)

Nothing wrong on Sarah Burton to have the dress inspired on the iconic one worn by Grace Kelly. She adapted the design to reflect Catherine's personality and she did a superb job.
 
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Catherine looked very lovely and certainly set a good example for other brides.
 
PrincessKaimi said:
Major designers, interviewed about the dress, are saying it was inspired by both Queen Elizabeth's and Prince Grace's dress, as well as being modern and updated from both. There's an article somewhere that lists like 6 major designers, including Lagerfeld, all saying just about the same thing - and they all liked the dress very much.

Returning to the mid-century notions of dress is not a bad idea at all.

As for Princess Grace being an AMERICAN, she was also a COMMONER, and therefore, there's a connection between Catherine and Grace, both of whom married well above the station of their birth.

It would be really odd if British designers never incorporated looks from outside their own national boundaries (silk is after all, originally Chinese) - and isn't Cartier French? The fact that British designers can look about the world and make a design that works for a home grown British lass is a good advertisement for British design. But total originality? That's not what was wanted or needed here.

The fact that Princess Grace's dress is, in my view, the most iconic of all wedding dresses, was not lost on Sarah Burton or Kate.

There were several of us who said, all along, that emulating that dress would be the perfect choice for Kate. Many of the designs that were speculated over over the past six months here have been interesting and very fashion forward - but I think most people watching the wedding felt as some of us here did - that the dress was perfect.

The makeup is only heavy when in close-up, Kate seems to have a stagey attitude toward her makeup, and she knows how she looks in photos at various distances. This is her look for the public, and I thought she looked beautiful (except in extreme close-up).
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The couple said for months that this wedding would showcase the best of Britain and updating the design of another person's dress is hardly the best of Britain. I wanted to see Sarah Burton's ideas and see if she could create a gown that showed the often times quirkiness of Alexander McQueen with elegance. I believe it is possible to combine fashion-forward with an elegance suited for a royal wedding without looking to another gown. As I am entitled to disagree with you, I was not one of those that wanted to see her emulate another gown. If you have the good fortune in life to have someone design a gown to your needs, then I would want it to look original. Besides Grace Kelly's gown is so iconic because of it's elegance and timelessness which Sarah Burton could have created in her own right...which would have had nothing to do with the design of the gown. That would have been the most appropriate use of inspiration. Designers often say they are inspired by certain objects yet you don't see them send a life-like version down the runway. Also Cartier didn't copy another jeweler's design for that tiara and it still is beautiful correct.?

As for Grace's station in life, she was born into a well off family so the comparing is not there for me. Also she was a very successful movie star who gave up a great career to marry into a royal family. So there was a unique aura that flowed around her.
 
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What I've heard (several places) is that Kate herself had a dress design in mind, which she took to several designers (who probably did mock-ups). Then she chose one. Finding fabrics (especially exactly the right lace) is a designer's job - as well as pleasing the client.

If Kate had wanted a Sarah Burton signature dress (which she obviously did not, thank goodness), she would have had one.

Instead Sarah Burton showed that she can design to please an about-to-be-royal client - which is a good thing, in a designer.

I think it odd that there's so much complaining, and I do indeed now understand the importance of the motto, Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense - it has to be something that British Royals use as a mantra, to get through each royal occasion.
 
I am not seeing this comparison to Princess Grace's gown. Just because it has lace and long sleeves?
The skirts are completely different on the bottom. Princess Grace has a wide waist where the Duchess had a lower waist. The neckline on the hers was lower and in a V Princess Grace high. Only similar thing is the lace they both had lace on top. The trains are different lengths I believe and Grace had a ton of lace on the train I believe.
I think the Duchess of Cambridge has a timeless gown that is all her own. I have to admit from Sarah Burton I am thinking it is 98% the Duchess's design and Ms. Burton helped construct it and give her some ideas. That lable is not known for being so regal and restrained LOL. IMO
 
Is every gown that has a lace bodice and sleeves supposed to be a copy of Grace Kelly's gown? I loved her gown but to me, this gown did not look like that. If one looks at the Kelly gown, it is very clearly a 50's almost bell shaped skirt, not to mention that the necklines were completely different. Catherine's gown silhouette was much more in line with QEII. As to "quirky", well Catherine is just not quirky in her dress style and IMO would not have looked like herself if she had.

I was struck by the elegant simplicity of this wedding, a very difficult thing to achieve, I think.
 
jemagre said:
As for Grace's station in life, she was born into a well off family so the comparing is not there for me. Also she was a very successful movie star who gave up a great career to marry into a royal family. So there was a unique aura that flowed around her.
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??? I was born into a well off family in America too, but that doesn't make me anything more than a commoner. We don't have aristocracy in America, even if you are born wealthy and into a well-established family.

As for being a movie star -- even less "aristocratic"!
 
I thought the similarities to Princess Grace's dress were undeniable. Catherine's gown was gorgeous in its own right, but the sweetheart neckline, the long lace sleeves, the multiple buttons at the wrist, all bore similiarities to Grace. Granted, the shape of the skirt, the depth of the neckline, and the fact that the bodice was simpler than Grace's, all are major differences, but I think that "on first glance" the dresses look similar.
 
The Daily Mail confused the Duchess's they called Catherine the Duchess of cornwall.
 
Here's a quote:

"McQueen was a brilliant choice. The choice of the label and the style of the dress was a very clever mix between edgy fashion and tradition - all in a very British way. You could see references to Grace Kelly or Queen Elizabeth's dresses, but in a simpler, more modern way. I loved her hair down. It looked perfectly natural and noble. Truly royal." Antonio Marras of Kenzo .

So, those of us who think it had only a touch or a reference to GK are not alone. Antonio's emphasis on the difference (more modern) echoes what so many other designers are saying.

And I totally agree, far harder to produce than some splashy gown, slashed/bejeweled detail, etc. The dress silhouette itself drew on centuries of British bridal fashion.
 
lovely .. in a way, but also painfully thin - I have the impression of bones sticking through the dress ..

at least she is looking relaxed and happy now, while in the morning she seemed stiff with nervousness and perfectionism; Quite understandably, i think.
 
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Even more boring than the wedding dress, colour would have been nice for the evening reception.
 
I really love this gown, it's very timeless and elegant. It's very much in the style that Catherine wears, and I love the long lace sleeves. I always find it very sad that when I open a bridal book, all the gowns are strapless. :sad:
I think Sarah Burton captured Catherine's style perfectly. She wears the gown, it doesn't wear her. Simply Stunning!!
 
The evening dress is nice but as I look at it more I agree that it should have some color or something.

Both dresses are not in McQueen style IMO.
 
She looked amazing but I think she has the kind of complexion/figure that *anything* would have looked great on her. Would have preferred to see her maybe choose someone like Stella McCartney and do something a *wee* bit edgier and hip but altogether a great look for a future Queen. Pippa's dress made me want to stand up and shout-classy yet not too stiff and formal. Loved the flow of the fabric, the cut, and the color on her as well-she's a beauty too in her own right.
 
I don't like the way that today, the press has been saying McQueen this McQueen that. DM has a headline Here comes the McQueen. When I think Sarah Burtons name should be mentioned more often, yes the fashion house is McQueen but Sarah designed the dress.
 
princess carmen said:
I may be the only one but I had no expectations of what she would wear or look like. I hoped to see a beautiful and happy bride and that is what I saw.
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Sister Morphine said:
It's not Catherine's job to do what we expect. It was her job to do what made her, William, and their friends and family happy. We don't factor into it at all, nor should we.
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Hear, hear!
 
With wedding gowns, there are only so many variations on a classic style. Just because it had lace does not make it a copy of the late HSH's gowns. I have to say I was more than impressed with the design.

I thought her make up looked great; I guess I'm just out of touch with everything...so I'll just go merrily along my way.
 
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I loved the Kate's dress, it does remind me of Grace Kelly's dress which I think is a major compliment because Princess Grace's dress in my opinion is not only one of the best wedding dresses in history but will look good today, tomorrow, and 50 years from now.

I understand people wanting something more I guess original but Kate's style has never seemed to me to be anything more than traditional, simple, and classic. Besides she can't exactly go out there with Gwen Stefani's wedding dress, it had to be traditional and classic.
 
Although I can see why people compare it to Princess Graces dress, the overall impression I get from the bride and the dress reminds me actually of Queen Elizabeths wedding dress. Maybe it is the long, dark hair?The veil worn rather flat? Excellent choice for a country in difficult times.
 
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