Catherine Middleton: Royal Wedding Dress

The Wedding Dress

Miss Catherine Middleton’s Wedding Dress has been designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.  When they announced that it was the Alexander Mc Queen label that made Catherine's dress I actually wept.  I was so moved that she chose to honor his label, his memory and his upcoming museum exhibit by wearing his label.  call me sentimental but I was really moved

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. Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueen’s work. Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress.

The dress epitomises timeless British craftsmanship by drawing together talented and skilled workmanship from across the United Kingdom. The dress design pays tribute to the Arts and Crafts tradition, which advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often Romantic styles of decoration. Ms Burton’s design draws on this heritage, additionally giving the cut and the intricate embellishment a distinctive, contemporary and feminine character. Which I think suited her beautifully, and was suited for the "smaller venue" that he wedding was supposed to be.

The design The lace applique 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 (appliqued) 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. Some of the same elements that were used in the Late Princess Diana wedding dress that I was fortunate enough to see when it was in Cleveland on display last year

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.  Many reported that they were reminded of the Late Princess Grace of Monaco on her wedding day.  For me there was some reminder of that wedding but for me the day that kept replaying over in my head was the marriage of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana thirty years ago.

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. This I felt was a wonderful element to the dress by creating all for all the opportunities i opened in the creation of that fabric by skilled craftsmen

The Royal School of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN), based at Hampton Court Palace, assisted the Alexander McQueen team in accurately cutting out the delicate motifs from the lace fabrics and positioning the lace motifs with precision into the new design. The lace motifs were pinned, ‘framed up’ and applied with stab stitching every two to three millimetres around each lace motif. The workers washed their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean.

The RSN workers included existing staff, former staff, tutors, graduates and students, with the youngest aged 19. The RSN’s work was used primarily for the train and skirt of the Bride’s dress, the bodice and sleeves, the Bride’s shoes and the Bride’s veil.   You imagine being the fortunate graduates and students working on this veil?  Having that achievement on one's resume.  How did they pick the studentsand graduates?  How many were considered?  Imagine someone of Catherine's stature coming to the Kent State School of Fashion for this kind of thing!

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.   You imagine borrowing such a thing?!  I would be worried to death to wear the damn thing!  What if t got bumped, or a stone fell out?  The pressure for me would have been brutal, but I wonder did any of this ever cross Catherine's mine?  When was this actually returned to the Queen?  Can we have the opportunity to see her in it again or not?  Is part of her not appearing in it again because she is just a Duchess and not a Princess?  Will the people still call her Princess Catherine anyway?

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. The earrings were a personal gift to the Bride from her parents for her Wedding Day.

One wonders did Catherine help pick them out or were they a surprise for Catherine?  If they were a surprise when did her parents give them to her?  One also wonders what the parents were thinking on their drive to Westminster Abbey?  Are the parents now expected to take on some form of public life?  What happens to their party supply company? Were their private conversations between the two, right before the big day?  What was said?  Did Catherine's sister feel out of place with all the children in the wedding party or was it the other way around or was this whole thing a non issue?

Robinson Pelham have also designed and made a pair of diamond earrings for Miss Philippa Middleton. These earrings are more floral in nature to compliment the headpiece worn by Miss Philippa Middleton during the Service. Wonder if these were bought the same time as Catherine's earrings or not?  Were they a gift of  from Cathrine to her sister or not?  When did Catherine give them to her?

A tourmaline and diamond pendant and matching earrings have been designed and made for Mrs. Carole Middleton. Two gold stick pins, one with a single gold acorn at the head and the other with an oak leaf, are also worn respectively by the Father of the Bride, Mr. Michael Middleton, and the Bride's brother, Mr. James Middleton. It was refreshing in many ways to see Mrs.Middleton wearing her hair done for this occasion as well as seeing her walk into the Westminster with her very dashing son!

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. Curious minds, mine being one of them wonders what shoe size she wears.  Then I heard a reporter say I believe sh had three pair of shoes for today, with a pair of flats that she was to wear walking down the aisle.  One also wonders if it was the same motifs embroidered on her shoes that were also in the dress?  Was the same students who worked on the dress who also worked on the shoes?

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.

I have to go on record here and say I slightly disappointed by the size of this bouquet.  I was hoping for something bigger and a tad bit more glamorous than what seemed to be just a simple Chapel Bouquet but I will also have to admit some big obnoxious thing would have NEVER gone with the simplicity of the dress

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 tradition of carrying myrtle begun after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany. In the same year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House as a family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive today.  The myrtle was first carried by Queen Victoria eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, when she married in 1858, and was used to signify the traditional innocence of a bride.