Kate Middleton’s Wedding Dress: A Creamy-White, Lace-Sleeved Homage to Grace Kelly

source:vanity fair

by Sarah Ball

April 29, 2011, 6:00 AM

Middleton. By Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.
And at last, we know:
Catherine Middleton, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, wore a nip-waisted, long-sleeved dress (Grace Kelly alert!) with sheer, cream-lace arms and a V-neckline over a form-fitting bodice. It was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, as was long rumored. On her head, Catherine wore a slim, feminine tiara, covered with a stunning scalloped-lace-edged veil; the tiara is the Cartier Halo tiara, and was a gift to Queen Elizabeth when she was a girl of 18. The dress’s skirt was full with a long train, with a ruffled bustle at the train’s top—it is made of ivory and white satin silk gazar. Though Burton meant to convey the opening of a full-blooming flower, the fullness and train-length of Kate’s dress are quite a bit scantier than those of Diana, whose cream-puff gown notably burst forth in crinkly fashion from that carriage 30 years ago. Catherine’s earrings were dangling, diamond-encrusted drops—a gift from her parents that were commissioned to echo the tiara’s motifs and the new Middleton family crest. Her hair was swept off her face in the front, but down in the back in loose curls around her lace-covered shoulders. Her bouquet was a humble, wildflower–esque green-and-white posey—full of ivy, hyacinth, myrtle, and sweet William (ha!)—and her attendants wore the same shade of creamy white.

The stunning lace pattern on the bride’s ensemble is known as Irish Carrickmacross, an ornate appliqué form of hand-made lace that was made for her using a combination of French Chantilly lace and English Cluny lace. Carrickmacross is an Irish embroidery tradition that dates to 1820.
Under the dress, Middleton wore hand-made Alexander McQueen shoes, wrought of ivory duchesse satin and hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework. According to the official royal-wedding website, the needlework-school craftsmen who handled the lace fabrics in Middleton’s gown and accessories “washed their hands every thirty minutes.”