Catherine Middleton's Wedding Dress

[Mirabel]

I hope that Catherine has put an end to the strapless bridal gown-so naff! so crude,so inappropriate.

I hope so, too!

But in fairness, it can be difficult to find an alternative. I've heard many women say they would have liked something other than strapless but couldn't find anything nice.

Now, I think things may change, and sleeves may at least make an inroad again.

 

[Sister Morphine]

Now that the fuss has died down somwhat; can I add my opinion?

The dress was exactly what a girl like Catherine should have worn-A "commoner" (how I hate that word) being elevated to the status of a Duchess-it was a dress you might find in any country church-made different by the excellent tailoring, the stuff it was made from, and attention to detail-and that essentially, is the difference between a Simplicity pattern and a Couturier. It suited her, she looked lovely.
As far as the Grace Kelly likeness-it had a lace bodice-otherwise-not really. Helen Rose designed Grace Kelly's gown, and it is interesting to note that she also designed the dress for Elizabeth Taylor's wedding to Nicky Hilton, a couple of years earlier-lace bodice, tight sleeves, full silk skirt. very 1950's- and that to my mind is where she (H Rose) got the inspiration for G Kelly-but pared down for Kelly's taller more slender frame-and where the inspiration for the Royal dress came from-If you go to the Vogue Vintage pattern site for the 1950's you will see many, many designs that draw on that design of Christian Dior's "New Look"-made famous by the likes of Audrey Hepburn Lauren Bacall Grace Kelly(think "Dial M for Murder") and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, in the 50's, as well as the Dior house models. Perhaps that's what Sarah Burton wanted...A "New Look" for a new princess.
I hope that Catherine has put an end to the strapless bridal gown-so naff! so crude,so inappropriate.
I have heard she went from a size 10 to a size 6 in the last month or two-no wonder she looked tired and drawn-and the makeup for TV wouldn't have helped. Let's hope she rests and regains her "freshness" she is a very attractive young woman. He's a lucky fella-
And...Harry doesn't walk, he swaggers.....I guess I would too!!

Strapless bridal gowns are neither crude nor inappropriate. ANY wedding dress if it's not properly fitted, will look poor on a woman, whether it has sleeves or whether it doesn't.

 

[PrincessKaimi]

Liked your post, MichaelG. Welcome!

Yes, Harry did swagger - but I read later he was wearing spurs with his uniform, which may account for some of his gait. You can see William look down and then grin at him as they're coming up the aisle (at least in the non-BBC feed that I've been watching since yesterday).

 

[Skippy]

Strapless bridal gowns are neither crude nor inappropriate. ANY wedding dress if it's not properly fitted, will look poor on a woman, whether it has sleeves or whether it doesn't.

It's just his opinion, Sister Morphine , and I tend to agree with him. I think strapless dresses are in poor taste and many women should reconsider their choice if they have or are going to pick such a dress. Just my opinion though, don't shoot the messenger .

I do agree with your last sentence, that is a very clear one and obviously very true.

 

[Skippy]

Liked your post, MichaelG. Welcome!

Yes, Harry did swagger - but I read later he was wearing spurs with his uniform, which may account for some of his gait. You can see William look down and then grin at him as they're coming up the aisle (at least in the non-BBC feed that I've been watching since yesterday).

Do you happen to have a link for that feed? I'm curious.

 

[Chris77]

Kate looked absolutely stunning!! I loved the dress, the lace, the neckline, the detail, everything! It made me want to get married all over again! LOL! The dress was a perfect fit for her: modern with a touch of the old, timeless and stunning, the dress really showed off how beautiful she really is!

 

[angieuk]

Forget Kate! The dressmakers working overtime on copycat gowns for brides-to-be... who all want to look like Pippa | Mail Online

 

[chen bao jun]

Everyone has different taste about these things (that's why there are so many different styles of bridal gowns--although there are definitely trends, like the recent strapless one). I can only give my own opinion here and I'm sure it won't change anyone else's, but I thought it was a lovely dress, beautifully made, and what was more, it suited the bride. I don't think it was a Grace Kelly knock-off. I think that both Kate and Grace wore very traditional dresses (the lace overlay and sleeves over a plain bodice is just classic and did not originate with Grace) and that the seeming resemblance is only because we haven't seen this classic style in some time. If you look at the cut and shape of the dresses and the other details, they are very different.

Kate's dress did indeed showcase British craftsmanship--I sew myself and admire beautifully made clothes and that dress was perfectly fitted and perfectly made. To me, simplicity is often true elegance and the most beautiful things are often simple. Like Kate herself. She seems a very quiet girl and a natural beauty who knows enough not to gild the lily or emulate the overdone Hollywood starlets who have come to define glamour for a lot of the younger set--but who all too often are either a)tacky or b)naked or c)both at once.

I would second the person who posted hoping that sleeves make a reappearance in wedding dresses after this. Though I have seen some lovely dresses in the past five or six years that have no sleeves or shoulders and it can be an attractive style, usually it isn't. I have seen so many young women coming down the aisle that are not flattered by this style, quite often looking as if their bodices are actually going to creep down if they don't tug at them, and as for what it does to the poor girls who actually have bosoms! Oy! It would be nice for there to at least be a choice and I think Catherine's dress makes a lovely option. Her sister's dress was also simple, lovely, alluring but modest and though that would not have been suitable for a ROYAL bride, I think it would be very tasteful, with the right wedding veil for girls who wished to push the envelope just a little, but not have the more conservative guests cringing.

 

[chen bao jun]

I also loved the bouquet. I thought it was so wonderful that it included 'sweet william'. I love the Victorian language of flowers and wish it would be brought back for things like wedding bouquets.

I also thought that it was suitable that it was little. In my opinion, Catherine needs to have smaller accessories and small scale things. She is a tall girl--but she is a little girl, built on a small scale, small head, small features, small everything--basically a petite in scale, though she is probably something like 5 ft. 10. She seems to realize instinctively that dramatic, large scale clothes or accessories are going to overwhelm her. She is a very different type than the late Princess Diana, who was very beautiful in a different style and was built on a large scale. Diana was able to diet herself down to small dress size, but if you are able to compare photographs, look at the size of her head, her feet, her shoulders and jsut her general bone structure compared to Kate's. Diana could wear very dramatic styles and large scale accessories and jewelry that Kate could never, never wear and look good in. Just think of the different wedding dresses, and how wonderful Diana looked in that huge dress, with those enormous sleeves and the gigantic train and the larger tiara (and even if the dress did crease a little in the coach, by the time she went into St. Paul's she looked jsut great. Then try to imagine Kate in something like that. I don't know if she has ambitions to be a fashion icon or not, but the different style of her beauty and her slight body and bone structure (even when she is at her normal weight, which she was not at the wedding) are always going to mean that she is going to have to wear very different--and much more understated--clothes to look good.

 

[Susanna Wynne]

Nordstrom's website has a "copy" of The Dress already! For $695. It looks like a pale imitation, however, and kind of surprising for Nordstrom. But it looks like The Dress will be a world-wide phenomenon and is going to be widely copied.

 

[Mia_mae]

Forget Kate! The dressmakers working overtime on copycat gowns for brides-to-be... who all want to look like Pippa | Mail Online

The dress is beautiful but you have to have her body to carry it. Unfortunately that's not my case.

 

[mrswhitham]

Does anyone know where a picture is that shows the detail at the waist in the back. I can't tell if it's a bow or something else.

 

[Mia_mae]

Does anyone know where a picture is that shows the detail at the waist in the back. I can't tell if it's a bow or something else.

it's not a bow it's more like a double fold

http://media.oregonlive.com/oregonian/photo/2011/04/9529170-essay.jpg

 

[Sonjapearl]

The more I think about it, the more I believe Catherine's dress will go down as the most beautiful. Yes, it may have been inspired by Grace Kelly's, which is considered to be the most beautiful wedding gown. But there's something about Catherine's that I think will rank higher than Grace's.

The one thing I did not like was the veil. Why does the British royal family still use veils? The Swedish, Norwegian and Danish don't. Personally, I find veils old fashioned and archaic. I have no plans to wear one to my wedding. The most I'll have is something like Mette-Marit's.

 

[Mia_mae]

Tears of a Gown - Scots seamstress who helped make Kate Middleton's dress reveals how she felt when she saw it - The Daily Record

she should be proud, indeed!

 

[dazzling]

The more I think about it, the more I believe Catherine's dress will go down as the most beautiful. Yes, it may have been inspired by Grace Kelly's, which is considered to be the most beautiful wedding gown. But there's something about Catherine's that I think will rank higher than Grace's.

The one thing I did not like was the veil. Why does the British royal family still use veils? The Swedish, Norwegian and Danish don't. Personally, I find veils old fashioned and archaic. I have no plans to wear one to my wedding. The most I'll have is something like Mette-Marit's.

I must say that im glad Kate wore a veil to her big day, I like the old fashioned about it.

As much as everyone is going on about it being similar to Grace Kelly's dress, well I honestly don't think so. I think it's just the fact that the two ladies used lace as the body/top part but if you look at the design, the skirt and the neckline opening, its all very different.

 

[IloveCP]

Im glad she wore a veil.None of the CPs or any other royal brides today have worn a veil.I think its beautiful.Do you like veils in general?

 

[Skippy]

The more I think about it, the more I believe Catherine's dress will go down as the most beautiful. Yes, it may have been inspired by Grace Kelly's, which is considered to be the most beautiful wedding gown. But there's something about Catherine's that I think will rank higher than Grace's.

The one thing I did not like was the veil. Why does the British royal family still use veils? The Swedish, Norwegian and Danish don't. Personally, I find veils old fashioned and archaic. I have no plans to wear one to my wedding. The most I'll have is something like Mette-Marit's.

Did the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish royal family not use veils? Then what did Victoria, Mette-Marit, Mary and Marie wear on their heads? I would call that a veil.
Or do you mean that piece that is in front of the bride's face?

Im glad she wore a veil.None of the CPs or any other royal brides today have worn a veil.I think its beautiful.Do you like veils in general?

According to me, a veil has been worn by almost any royal bride. Can you name a bride who has not worn one?
Unless you (also) mean the piece in front of the bride's face.

 

[Vita]

I was prepared for an understated wedding because the press had said that the two were mindful of the economic times and they are not about flash anyway. I thought the dress was beautiful, elegant, and timeless. I feel like the Mrs. Eltons of the world just don't understand what this wedding was about and how much even I as an American appreciated the beautiful simplicity of the entire thing and that they remaimed true to their selves and thought about their subjects while planning.

It seemed so intimate and Kate looked amazing. I even loved her evening gown. The white sweater added seemed so beautiful. White on white on white! I loved it. And I liked Pippa too. Her dress suited her figure and she was an excellent maid of honor!

 

[Sonjapearl]

Or do you mean that piece that is in front of the bride's face?

According to me, a veil has been worn by almost any royal bride. Can you name a bride who has not worn one?
Unless you (also) mean the piece in front of the bride's face.

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. I see veils over the face as very archaic.

 

[NGalitzine]

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. I see veils over the face as very archaic.

Isnt the part covering the face referred to as a blusher? I think all of the royal brides in Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Sweden have worn veils. If not what do you call what was attached to their tiaras and hanging down the back of their heads? Also I believe the Infanta Elena wore a "blusher" at her wedding in Seville so it is not strictly a British traditon.

 

[dazzling]

A very similar dress if not exact but for the lace. Well, fashion IMO will always stay the same and come back round form previous years therefore designs will never change much.

Copy Kate! Washington fashionista says Kate Middleton ripped off her wedding gown

Read more: Clare Cushman | Kate Middleton | The Daily Caller

 

[Sister Morphine]

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. I see veils over the face as very archaic.

The part of the veil that covers the bride's face is called a blusher. She's still wearing a veil though, even if that part is removed or not worn.

 

[EmpressRouge]

A very similar dress if not exact but for the lace. Well, fashion IMO will always stay the same and come back round form previous years therefore designs will never change much.

Copy Kate! Washington fashionista says Kate Middleton ripped off her wedding gown

Read more: Clare Cushman | Kate Middleton | The Daily Caller

Haha, and I bet Helen Rose and Princess Grace saw this woman from beyond the grave in 1991 and accused her of ripping of their design/wedding gown!

 

[KittyAtlanta]

Haha, and I bet Helen Rose and Princess Grace saw this woman from beyond the grave in 1991 and accused her of ripping of their design/wedding gown!

There is nothing new under the sun, only variations.

 

[bethaliz6894]

i am not really sure about how her dress was made, is the train seperate or is it a really long skirt? all the pictures to me look like a really long skirt.

 

[princess carmen]

i am not really sure about how her dress was made, is the train seperate or is it a really long skirt? all the pictures to me look like a really long skirt.

It is all one piece with along train.

 

[Humera]

Great comparison photos of Isabella Orsini and Catherine's dress, the similarity is indeed striking: (more so than with Grace Kelly's dress which had a completely different neckline and waist)

The striking similarity between Kate's Royal wedding dress and gown worn by Berlusconi's Princess goddaughter | Mail Online

Despite all the copycat claims, I don't think Catherine's dress was a copy. It was beautiful but I'm surprised that Sarah Burton did not come up with anything a bit more original. I guess Catherine must really have been keen on the design.

 

[Princess of Durham]

The thing is .... this was a very traditional design. I find it so silly that people are going on about "copying" a design. It's very easy to go back and look at pictures of bridal gowns of the 30-40-50s and see almost the exact design. The point is ..... the devil is in the details" and given that, Katherine's gown did NOT look like a knock of of Princess Grace OR this more recent lady. Katherine's gown had a very distinctive skirt, as was the lovely design of the lace. Certainly also her veil was totally unlike either of the previously mentioned ladies. What all this says to me is that these people have a very limited knowledge. But then ... I am older and have personally seen previous designs. (Well, NOT the 1930s or even early 40s.)

 

[KittyAtlanta]

In past times, what is now called a "blusher" was called a veil. You can't veil your face unless you are wearing a veil. Blusher is simply an evolution in vernacular and I like it.