As the coronation procession made its way up the aisle of Westminster Abbey yesterday, the woman under most fashion pressure was the Princess of Wales.
All eyes were on this woman who has blossomed into a stunning beauty with world-class style and has honed her tastes into something exquisite over the years.
“Royal” attire can sometimes result in a stark, bourgeois look. Kate has elegantly avoided this and stands out alongside her European counterparts as a lesson in adult glamour.
I’ve been asked a million times over the last few weeks which designer Kate would wear to the coronation.
For me it was child’s play. I was sure it would be Sarah Burton on Alexander McQueen.
As the coronation procession made its way up the aisle of Westminster Abbey yesterday, the woman under most fashion pressure was the Princess of Wales
The Alexander McQueen dress Kate wore yesterday – underneath her red, white and deep blue Royal Victorian Order coat – gave the Princess of Wales all the protection she needed
Burton is the British designer who Kate has trusted in so many of her most important moments.
It was Burton who designed her stunningly beautiful wedding dress. She has dressed the Princess of Wales for state visits and numerous daytime events.
McQueen’s signature style—that tailored, structured, cinched waist, flared skirt, and slim arm—emphasizes Kate’s incredible figure. It gives her a silhouette to die for.
I was fortunate to work with the late Alexander McQueen early in my fashion career and have been dressed by him many times.
He designed my wedding dress when Sarah Burton was his executive assistant and helped bring his vision to life with the seamstresses at the Hoxton studio in London.
Alexander was typically blunt when I suggested at my first fitting that I might have a very trendy silver lace wedding dress as I loved the way he worked with lace.
He countered that it was a terrible idea – “You’re not supposed to look ‘trendy’ on your wedding day. The dress has to be white,’ he admonished me. “You must look flawless.”
For all his East End sophistication, Alexander had an underlying culture that understood that fashion had to be appropriate to the occasion.
He believed that a well thought out silhouette and construction produces great clothing and instills innate confidence in the wearer.
He trained as a tailor on Savile Row before attending Saint Martin’s School of Art, and whether he was designing a jacket or an evening dress, each piece was based on serious construction.
For him, seams were the invisible architecture that supported a garment like the walls of a building.
He often said that his clothes were like armor for a woman, a fashionable protection. And everything Sarah Burton has done since taking over as the brand’s Creative Director honors that principle.
The extraordinary headdress, made by British milliner Jess Collett for Alexander McQueen, with its three-dimensional leaf embroidery in crystal and silver – you could call it a non-tiara tiara – was an ultra-modern touch
But between velvet and ermine, sashes and garters, there was an unexpected fashion moment that I won’t forget. Such was the sight of little Princess Charlotte, walking behind her parents into the abbey
The Alexander McQueen dress Kate wore yesterday – underneath her red, white and deep blue Royal Victorian Order coat – gave the Princess of Wales all the protection she needed.
The ivory silk-crepe dress, with its silver bars and thread embroidery of rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock motifs – symbolizing the four nations of the United Kingdom – was a work of art that ticked both the chic and the grand box.
It suited the pomp and seriousness of the occasion without being stuffy or old-fashioned.
The extraordinary headdress, made by British milliner Jess Collett for Alexander McQueen, with its three-dimensional leaf embroidery in crystal and silver – you could call it a non-tiara tiara – was an ultra-modern touch.
Combined with the pearl and diamond earrings that belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales and the glittering George VI garland necklace made for his daughter Princess Elizabeth at the request of King George VI in 1950, Kate was a vision of power glamour.
But between velvet and ermine, sashes and garters, there was an unexpected fashion moment that I won’t forget.
Such was the sight of little Princess Charlotte, walking behind her parents into the abbey.
She wore a three-quarter length ivory silk Alexander McQueen dress with a matching cape and adorable white ballet flats, along with her own Jess Collett silver headpiece – all a nod to her mother’s outfit.
It was a vision of purity, childlike innocence and yet chic.
When it comes to red carpet placements, Charlotte stole the show.
Plum Sykes is a novelist and editor at American Vogue