Junior Rasmussen
Royal wedding dresses have captivated the attention of millions around the world, with their designs often becoming cultural touchpoints that inspire fashion trends for decades. One of the most iconic royal wedding dresses of all time was worn by Princess Diana, featuring a record-breaking train, 10,000 pearls, and an 18-carat gold horseshoe trinket. Other notable royal wedding dresses include Queen Elizabeth's satin gown with a 13-foot train, Princess Grace Kelly's timeless lace design, and the Duchess of Sussex's minimalist dress designed by Givenchy's Clare Waight Keller. More recently, Princess Eugenie's fairytale gown by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos turned heads with its low-cut back and meaningful motifs. With each royal wedding, the world eagerly anticipates the breathtaking dress that will become a part of fashion history.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Designer | David and Elizabeth Emanuel, Helen Rose, Clare Waight Keller, Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, Norman Hartnell, Cristóbol Balenciaga, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Lindka Cierach |
| Fabric | Taffeta, lace, silk, organza, peau de soie, duchesse satin, mikado, silk tulle, cotton, viscose |
| Details | Long trains, embroidery, floral details, pearl embellishments, beading, veil, tiara, bateau neckline, refined modernity |
| Wearer | Princess Diana, Grace Kelly, Duchess of Sussex, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria, Duchess of York, Princess Charlene of Monaco |
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What You'll Learn
Princess Diana's wedding dress
The dress was first unveiled on Princess Diana's wedding day when she married Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral. Over 750 million people tuned in across the globe to watch the royal celebration on television, and a reported 600,000 people gathered on the streets of London to witness the event in person. The world was captivated by Princess Diana and her awe-inspiring wedding dress. The dress became one of the most famous in the world and was considered one of the most closely guarded secrets in fashion history.
The Emanuels described the dress as something that "had to be something that was going to go down in history, but also something that Diana loved" and which would be "suitably dramatic in order to make an impression." The dress certainly made an impression and set wedding fashion trends after the wedding. Large puffed sleeves, a full skirt, and "soft touch fabrics" became popular requests. Copies by other dressmakers were available "within hours" of the wedding.
While some considered the dress a "gold standard" in wedding fashion, others felt it was "too much dress, too little princess." Diana herself reportedly said that she hated the dress because it represented how naive she was. Nevertheless, the dress remains an iconic and influential piece in royal wedding dress history, with Elizabeth Emanuel noting in 2011 that she still received requests for replicas of Diana's dress.
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Grace Kelly's wedding dress
Grace Kelly, the American actress, wore a wedding dress that is cited as one of the most elegant and best-remembered bridal gowns of all time. Kelly wore the dress during her wedding to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, on 19 April 1956. The dress was a gift from her studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was designed by Academy Award-winning costume designer Helen Rose. Kelly worked closely with Rose to come up with the design, and the two looked to costumes in the MGM archives for inspiration. The dress was made of twenty-five yards of silk taffeta, one hundred yards of silk net, peau de soie, tulle, and 125-year-old Brussels rose point lace. The high-necked, long-sleeved gown featured a fitted torso and billowing skirt. The Juliet cap that she wore was bejeweled with seed pearls and orange blossoms, and her 90-yard veil was made of tulle.
The wedding dress is considered one of the most influential bridal gowns of all time. It has inspired many brides, including Kate Middleton, whose wedding dress to Prince William in 2011 seemed to take cues from Kelly's wedding look, with long lace sleeves and a flowing skirt. In 2017, Australian model Miranda Kerr wore a wedding dress inspired by Kelly's when she married American businessman Evan Spiegel. In 2021, American socialite Paris Hilton wore an Oscar de la Renta wedding dress inspired by Kelly's gown when she married Carter Reum. Brenda Janowitz's novel, 'The Grace Kelly Dress', explores the influence of the dress over 60 years.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, which owns the dress, displayed it from 1 April to 21 May 2006 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the wedding. The exhibition was titled 'Fit for a Princess: Grace Kelly's Wedding Dress' and was arguably the museum's most popular exhibit.
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Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress
On 20 November 1947, Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey. The Queen's wedding dress was designed by Norman Hartnell, a leading British couturier. The final design of the dress was kept secret, although much speculation surrounded it. The dress featured a ""heart-shaped neckline and long tight sleeves", with a fitted bodice and a spreading skirt of ivory duchesse satin. The silk cloth was chosen at the specific request of the Queen's mother, who desired an "unusually rich, lustrous stiff satin which was made at Lullingstone Castle". The silkworms to manufacture the silk were bought from Nationalist China, avoiding the UK's enemies during the war, Japan and Italy.
The dress was embellished with 10,000 pearls, wheat ears, and diamante, with floral motifs of jasmine, smilax, lilac, and white rose-like blossoms. The rose of York was a prominent feature, hand-embroidered in pearls and crystals. The dress also featured two trains, one fastened at the hips and the other floating from the shoulders, with a border of orange blossom appliquéd with transparent tulle outlined in seed pearls and crystal. The final cost of the dress was $42,000, equivalent to approximately $1.6 million today.
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$34.39 $42.99
Kate Middleton's wedding dress
The dress was designed by Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen. It featured a fitted white V-neck gown with a long-sleeved lace overlay, a nine-foot train, and floral details of rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock, representing the four regions of the United Kingdom. The main body of the dress was made of a combination of white and ivory satin gazar, with an ivory and white satin gazar skirt. The dress was noted for its design, symbolism, and expected influence on Western bridal gown trends, and replicas were quickly produced and sold.
The dress generated much comment in the media from fashion experts and was very well received. It was noted that the design was largely traditional and inspired by dresses from the 1950s, with references to Grace Kelly's iconic wedding dress.
The dress was later displayed at Buckingham Palace, breaking royal records.
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Meghan Markle's wedding dress
Markle chose Waight Keller because she admired the designer's "elegant aesthetic" and "relaxed demeanour". Additionally, as a woman and a Brit, Waight Keller embodied Markle's commitment to empowering women and embracing her new home in the UK. The dress was made in Paris by a small team of ateliers, requiring 3,900 hours of design, eight fittings, and five months of collaboration between Markle and the design team.
The veil was also a standout feature of Markle's wedding ensemble. It was 16 feet long and embroidered with flowers representing the 53 countries of the Commonwealth, as well as the California poppy and wintersweet, a flower that grows at Kensington Palace. A piece of the blue dress from Markle's first date with Prince Harry was also stitched into the veil. The veil was designed to represent the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country, united in one spectacular composition.
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Frequently asked questions
There is no consensus on which royal wedding dress is considered the best. Some of the most popular ones include Princess Diana's, Princess Grace Kelly's, Queen Victoria's, Meghan Markle's, Kate Middleton's, Princess Eugenie's, and Princess Beatrice's.
Princess Diana's wedding dress was a one-of-a-kind ivory taffeta gown designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel. It featured a record-breaking train, 10,000 pearls, lace that once belonged to Queen Mary, and an 18-carat gold horseshoe trinket. The dress combined intricate and dramatic details, creating a maximalist design that set the style for wedding gowns at the time.
Royal wedding dresses often feature long trains, intricate beading, embroidery, delicate lace, and dramatic silhouettes. For example, Princess Eugenie's dress had a low-cut back, showcasing a scar she obtained from surgery at age 12, and Meghan Markle's veil represented all 53 countries in the British Commonwealth with floral embroidery. Princess Beatrice wore her grandmother's dress, and Queen Victoria's white wedding dress started a trend that has lasted for centuries.
