Daily Times

On April 29, 2011, the world’s eyes were on Prince William and his blushing bride, Kate Middleton – and she didn’t disappoint.

While everyone already had a fascination with her wardrobe, the interest after her engagement spawned the ‘Kate effect,’ with fans flocking to copy her style.

Her now-iconic wedding dress , designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen , has inspired hundreds of replicas and saw lace long sleeves come back into bridal fashion again.

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge celebrate their sixth anniversary this year, we take a closer look back on everything Kate wore on her big day.

There was much anticipation over which designer Kate would be wearing on her wedding day and this was not formally announced until she stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey. But of course, there was always speculation in the weeks leading up to the event that it would be Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton.

The Sunday Times reported at the time, “A fashion source said that the dress will be a combination of Middleton’s own design ideas and Burton’s deep knowledge and understanding of high fashion,” but of course, she denied any involvement.

She was likely to have been sworn to secrecy by the palace but it’s said that Kate first noticed Burton’s work when attending the wedding of Tom Parker Bowles in 2005, where she had designed the bride Sara Buys’ gown. Even the embroiderers at the Royal School of Needlework, who crafted the lace on Kate’s dress, were told that it was going to be used in a television costume drama.

Burton attended the royal wedding and styled Kate’s dress before she walked down the aisle, making sure everything was perfect.

Kate’s ivory gown featured a satin bodice, which was slightly padded at the hips and incorporated floral motifs cut from machine-made lace. Burton used traditional Carrickmacross craftsmanship in making the dress, a technique which dates back to the 1800s, to represent “something old”.

The attention to detail was breathtaking – from the hand-cut Chantilly lace of the sleeves, to the lace appliqué on the bodice and the individual lace roses, thistles, daffodils and shamrocks hand-engineered on to the ivory silk tulle.

The skirt was crafted with white satin gazar arches and pleats to echo an opening flower. And the weight of the silk tulle underskirt and 2.7m train ensured it glided along.

Kate’s veil was also created at the Royal School of Needlework and crafted with hand-embroidered flowers, and on the back of her dress were 58 buttons of gazar and organza, which fastened by means of rouleau loops.

In terms of British wedding traditions, while Kate’s lace was ‘something old,’ her ‘borrowed,’ her tiara from the Queen, and her ‘something new’, her earrings, a blue ribbon was sewn inside her dress for her ‘something blue.’

Kate’s bridal train measured just under 9ft and like the dress and was modest in comparison to the almost 25ft train worn by Princess Diana. It was pieced together like petals on a blossoming flower. It was made of layers of soft, ivory silk netting with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers made by the Royal School of Needlework, housed in a wing of Hampton Court Palace.