[quote=""Michy""]I guess I am the lone dissenting opinion in that I was disappointed with Kate's dress. [/quote]
No, you're not the only one. I liked the top half better than the bottom half and when she got out of the car I was slightly disappointed. I didn't like the way the skirt hung and the volume reminded me more of the 1970s than the 1950s.
LH is right, the gown wasn't as plain as it appeared on TV. I had a look at the cover of Hello in the supermarket today and I liked the dress much better in that picture because you could see the details of the embroidery on the skirt and how it unified the design. I can't find a comparative photo online unfortunately.
Although the dress wasn't quite to my taste I think it was the right choice for Kate and for the day. If she'd had bare shoulders she would have looked too sexy; if she'd covered up completely with lace a la Grace Kelly she would have looked a bit too prim and perhaps even hypocritical. If she'd gone any fuller in the skirt she would have been accused of having an 80s style meringue. If she'd had a longer train it would have looked pretentious. Train length has always been linked to rank - Diana could get away with a 25 foot train because she was an earl's daughter, but it wouldn't have been right for Kate. Not to mention that a shorter train is much more practical and meant she only needed one bridesmaid. And she was also careful to choose a material which wouldn't crumple en route like Diana's did.
I was a little nervous watching because not only was the ceremony representing Britain to the rest of the world, Kate and Pippa were representing the English middle class and I have to say, neither one of them put a foot wrong from beginning to end.
When Kate saw the York girls she might well have been thinking "there but for the grace of God..." If she'd gone for something more fashion-forward, she could have ended up in the same boat. It wasn't a risk worth taking.
Found this post on
10 iconic wedding dresses. The Jackie dress is by far my favourite - not so much for the detailing as for the cut of it - it's beautiful.
As for Diana's dress, I liked it and still like it despite its shortcomings. The ball dress I had made when I was in college, in black dupion silk, was partly inspired by it although with no pie frill and the puffed sleeves very much toned down. It would have worked better on the day in a more practical fabric and also if Diana hadn't been drowning in it - she had obviously lost a great deal of weight since they started fitting it. I liked the Duchess of York's wedding gown too - it was actually relatively restrained for her and for the mid-1980s.
), but keep in mind that it was 30 years ago and styles were different. The thing is, it had a huge impact; I thought Kate's dress might have a similar impact on fashion, but I don't think that's going to be the case. 
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