![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
BBC MUNDO RADIO
Bruce Oldfield? Alice Temperley? Alexander McQueen? Never has one dress caused so much excitement, says Kate Finnigan
24 April 2011
From left to right: A McQueen by Sarah Burton wedding dress, Alice Temperley, Kate Middleton in an Issa dress and Victoria Beckham Photo: PA/REX
In the history of royal weddings there has never been such speculation about not only what the bride's dress will look like but also who has designed it.
Since the last royal wedding of note, that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the British fashion industry has changed beyond recognition. It has risen to the top of the news agenda to become a topic of national importance.
This level of fashion literacy simply didn't exist even five years ago.
In 1981 there was no secrecy about the designer of Lady Diana Spencer's wedding dress. Everyone knew it was going to be made by Elizabeth and David Emanuel. But even if the name had been kept under wraps it is unlikely that we would have cared so much. Back then, pushed to name a fashion designer, most people would have struggled (the Emanuels became household names only after the royal wedding). In 2011 the names of fashion houses, brands and designers trip easily off the tongue.
Will the dress be by Alexander McQueen or Alice Temperley or Bruce Oldfield? Groomed in the art of dressing by the likes of Trinny and Susannah, and Gok Wan, we are now all au fait with what our clothes "say" about us and what the choice of a designer will say about the kind of princess Kate Middleton intends to be.
Bruce Oldfield would prove a link to the past and specifically to William's late mother; Alice Temperley's modern fairytale dresses, loved by many upper-middle-class brides, would maintain the status quo of Kate Middleton's feminine and relatively safe aesthetic; Alexander McQueen would be a bold gesture, announcing a fiercely up-to-date princess.
Anya Hindmarch, the handbag designer and non-executive director of the British Fashion Council, says: "I am hoping that Kate retains her own mind, and that she ends up looking like herself and sticking to her own sense of style. I would love to see her in a British design, and she would be spoilt for choice as we have so much great talent."
This is surely one of the few things we can assume about the dress. Not to choose a designer from these shores would not only be oddly unpatriotic on a day when the whole world is watching Great Britain but also very "off-trend" - even Michelle Obama wears British designers these days. Of course, it's also traditional for a royal bride. As Joanna Marschner, the senior curator at Kensington Palace, points out, in the past royalty did everything it could to promote the "Made in England" message, utilising British-produced fabrics.
Today, when the launch of a new breakfast cereal can be promoted as a "red-carpet event", the expectations for this genuinely big and important occasion are almost off the scale. If one were Kate Middleton, one might be tempted to run for cover and wear something entirely modest. However, according to Marschner that is unlikely. "The dress must suit the occasion and the scale of Westminster Abbey. A little wispy number is not going to carry the day," she says. "You don't want to invite a football stadium of people and not be seen yourself. That's not playing your part. It has to be a big showy dress."
Whatever our predictions for the dress, one hopes that there will be an element of surprise, that it will go beyond expectations and assumptions. For this dress will say as much about us as it will about Kate Middleton and the Royal family.
"As with all royal weddings, the times and the dress are inextricably bound," Marschner says. "It will say everything about our taste - and that can be a pride in the modern as well as a treasuring of the past. The one thing we can say for sure is that it will be a royal wedding dress for 2011."
THE CONTENDERS
Alexander McQueen
WHY? The fashion writer Sara Buys, the wife of Tom Parker-Bowles, is said to be acting as style adviser to Kate and wore McQueen, now designed by Sarah Burton, for her own wedding. Alexandra Shulman, the editor of Vogue, has suggested the house to the bride, too.
Alice Temperley
WHY? The daughter of a Somerset cider farmer, Temperley has the perfect profile for the Kate Middleton brand. Carole and Pippa Middleton were spotted hugging the designer outsider her studio earlier this month, further fuelling rumours that she is the chosen one.
Bruce Oldfield
WHY? A favourite of Diana, Princess of Wales, Oldfield became No 1 contender after Carole and Pippa Middleton were seen visiting his boutique in January. Current thinking is that he has designed an outfit for the mother of the bride.
Issa
WHY? Kate Middleton favours the dresses of the British-based, Brazilian-born Daniella Issa Helayel and wore one for the engagement announcement. What's more, the designer recently started making wedding dresses…
Jenny Packham
WHY? All nice middle-class girls consider a Jenny Packham dress at some point. But not everyone considers her look grand enough for Westminster Abbey.
Marchesa
WHY? The designer Georgina Chapman knows how to put together a wow-factor event dress and has dressed half of Hollywood. She designed Coleen Rooney's wedding dress in 2008.
Victoria Beckham
WHY? David Beckham is a friend of Prince William and the couple will be guests at the wedding. Victoria is rumoured to have sent Kate some dresses to wear in future. However, with little experience of designing wedding gowns, she remains an unlikely choice.
Vivienne Westwood
WHY? You can't get more British than Westwood, a favourite of fashionable brides. However, the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker wore a Westwood dress in Sex and the City: The Movie might make her too commercial a choice.
Kate Finnigan is style director
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário