Sketch of Duchess of Sussex wedding dress by Clare Waight Keller. Image by Clare Waight Keller.
We now have seen Meghan Markel’s (Duchess of Sussex) wedding dress and we know who designed it – British designer Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of the French house Givenchy.
I must confess that I did not get up at the crack of dawn to watch it all. Heck, I like my sleep and I knew I’d catch up in the following days. I watched the BBC coverage of what Ms. Keller had to say about the dress. She went into some detail about the veil and how she suggested including flora and fauna of the Commonwealth. She recounted for the BBC reporter what she had said to the bride: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we took the 53 countries of the Commonwealth and embroidered a flower and some floral and fauna from each one of those and they would go up the aisle, the journey up the aisle with you …”
In wanting to create “a little bit of a wild garden” included in the veil were orchids, forget-me-knots, thistle, and so on.
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation gown. Designed by Norman Hartnell.
Hmm … this was ringing a bell. British designer Norman Hartnell did something similar for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation gown in 1953. I wrote about it for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The coronation gown included hand embroidered flowers of each of the Commonwealth – Tudor Rose, Thistle, Shamrock, etc. – on the bodice and skirt of the dress. Great minds think alike in Great Britain!
Back to Meghan’s dress. For my two cents, I think it was stunning in its simplicity. I love the unusual boat neck and the 3/4 length sleeves were perfection. It was made from a double silk cady fabric, which is very stable and that allowed for the shape of the dress. My only quibble was the choice of white. Perhaps a little color would not have gone amiss. A pale blue or green for spring. There may be royal rules about such things, I don’t know.
The platinum and diamond tiara (on loan from the Queen) originally belonged to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother. Keeping it minimal, the bride wore diamond earrings and a bracelet by Cartier. Again, some color here would have been a nice touch – rubies or emeralds. The look needed a pop.
It really was all about the veil and the best perspective on that was from above. It took many skilled workers and many hours to create. I read that each embroiderer stopped to wash their hands every 30 minutes to keep the white fabric white.
But what an honor to be part of such a significant event.
Congratulations to one and all! Now get some sleep.
Ms. Rhodes did design various dresses for Princess Diana and in the early 1970s she designed the dress Princess Anne wore in the official engagement photos after the announcement that she was to marry Captain Mark Phillips. (They divorced in 1992, just FYI.) As you can see pictured on the left, it was very much a fairy-tale dress and of its era.
OverDressed for Life 