The Royal Wedding
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2011 (5438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THE bride’s dress was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, the famed British designer who committed suicide last year. Kate worked closely with Sarah in formulating the design of the dress. The goal was to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterized McQueen’s work, which was known for its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship.
Making the dress was a job that drew together talented and skilled workers from across the U.K. The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was handmade by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. The lace was used with a Carrickmacross technique that originates in 1820s Ireland. Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle, incorporating the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, representing England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The design combines French Chantilly lace and English Cluny lace with the Irish lace.
Workers, who included existing and former staff, tutors, grads and students (the youngest 19) at the Royal School of Needlework, had to wash their hands every 30 minutes and renew their needles every three hours. They also worked on the wedding shoes, which were handmade by a team at Alexander McQueen.
The train is two metres by 70 centimetres.
The workmanship was the “something old” in the trousseau.
Kate’s something new was a pair of earrings from her parents.
Something borrowed was the tiara. It was on loan from the Queen and held Kate’s veil of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in place. It is a halo tiara, made by Cartier in 1936 and purchased by the Duke of York, later King George VI for his Duchess, later the Queen Mother, our Queen Elizabeth’s mother, just three weeks before he succeeded his brother (who would have been King Edward VIII but abdicated to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson) as king. The Queen Mother gave the tiara to the Queen, then the Princess Elizabeth, on her 18th birthday.
Kate’s something blue was a blue ribbon sewn into her dress.