The Fashion Statement: Countdown to Royal Wedding
As more details of the royal wedding emerged yesterday -- including the start time ( 11 a.m. on April 29) -- there was, of course, more talk of the dress. Unless there's a press leak the size of a geyser, none of us will know what the bridal gown will look like until that fine spring day. Still, it's fun to speculate and when it comes to designers, there's been plenty of chatter on both sides of the pond. According to the bookies, here's where things stand.
Phillipa Lepley's shop (pictured above) has been under the magnifying glass since bookies first noticed real money being bet on the British designer who's known for simple silhouettes and top-notch fabrics. Another bookie favorite? WWD reported last month that Irish bookmaker Paddy Power says odds are 1-3 that British designer Bruce Oldfield will be Kate Middleton's choice, "and that it has suspended betting on the designer due to a recent 'flurry of big-stake bets' of more than 500 pounds, or $780 at current exchange." Oldfield has dressed everybody from Rihanna to Barbara Streisand. Jasper Conran, who's had his own made-to-measure bridal collection since 2007, is another name being thrown about.
Sadly, Alexander McQueen is not around. If the bride was me, he would be my first choice. Then again, it was rumored McQueen once embroidered the c-word inside Prince Charles' jacket. "I didn't embroider it, I wouldn't waste my time! I wrote it with a biro," he later admitted. Okay, so maybe that wouldn't be the greatest move in father-in-law relations.
Everybody agrees that for patriotic reasons, Middleton will most likely choose a British designer -- she has her pick of designers like Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney or Alice Temperley -- but that hasn't stopped other European and American designers from dreaming.
Commissioned by WWD last month, various designers imagined Kate in the perfect dress. Karl Lagerfeld suggested a "Victorian wedding dress, with a twist --- high boots and open in the front." Chris Benz imagined her in yellow noting, "I think taking risks with a confident, colorful spirit is where it's at with the royals." In addition to a patchwork gown and Queen Elizabeth's veil, Christian Lacroix thinks Middleton would be smashing in a red Elizabethan top, "as red was the wedding color until 1900!" Rachel Roy would put her in a modern hat under a full-length veil. And the new designers at Valentino drew her in a "blossoming' dress" because they imagined her as a new Botticellian Venus.
Commissioned by WWD last month, various designers imagined Kate in the perfect dress. Karl Lagerfeld suggested a "Victorian wedding dress, with a twist --- high boots and open in the front." Chris Benz imagined her in yellow noting, "I think taking risks with a confident, colorful spirit is where it's at with the royals." In addition to a patchwork gown and Queen Elizabeth's veil, Christian Lacroix thinks Middleton would be smashing in a red Elizabethan top, "as red was the wedding color until 1900!" Rachel Roy would put her in a modern hat under a full-length veil. And the new designers at Valentino drew her in a "blossoming' dress" because they imagined her as a new Botticellian Venus.
