She created Kate Middleton’s most famous frock – but didn’t even tell her mother! As designer Sarah Burton steps down from Alexander McQueen, CLAUDIA JOSEPH reveals the secrets behind THAT royal wedding dress

It was a refined tribute to the designer of her wedding ceremony robe: when the Princess of Wales found that Sarah Burton was stepping down this week as inventive designer of Alexander McQueen, she donned a navy-blue swimsuit by the style label.

She has the swimsuit – a blazer and cigarette pants – in quite a lot of colors together with white, black, and this summer time’s ubiquitous color – Barbie pink, in addition to proudly owning quite a few robes and coat clothes.

However it’s Kate’s wedding ceremony gown that has turn out to be the calling card of the designer, who has gone onto be named Designer of the Yr and obtain an OBE.

Kate is believed to have chosen Sarah Burton to create the world’s most talked about gown after being impressed by the Alexander McQueen gown that style journalist Sara Buys wore for her marriage to the Queen’s son Tom Parker-Bowles in 2005.

‘Miss Middleton selected British model Alexander McQueen for the great thing about its craftsmanship,’ the Palace stated in an announcement on the time of the marriage.

Based on Burton, the gown was a 50/50 collaboration between the designer and the royal, who’s believed to have been impressed by the frock that the late actress Grace Kelly wore to her 1956 wedding ceremony to Prince Albert of Monaco.

Kate visited the ‘Grace Kelly – Type Icon’ exhibition concerning the Hollywood actress on the Victoria & Albert Museum within the 12 months earlier than her 2011 wedding ceremony and style pundits seen parallels between the 2 robes.

The gown, which featured a Victorian-style corset, which narrowed on the waist and was padded on the hips, beneath a lace bodice, was a carefully guarded secret: the designer didn’t even inform her mom about it.

‘Even my mum known as me and requested me: “You’ll inform me, would not you?”, the designer revealed afterwards.

The again of the robe, which had a modest prepare, of two metres and 70 centimetres, was completed with 58 gazar and organza coated buttons completed by Rouleau loops.

The lace was created by the Royal Faculty of Needlework, which lower particular person flowers – the rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock – from vintage lace and appliqued them onto ivory silk tulle.

Embroiderer Amanda Ewing, who was a part of the workforce that made the robe, stated: ‘We knew who it was for, but it surely was very secret. We had internet curtains up, and cleaners weren’t allowed into the room and the code on the door was modified.’

Kate teamed the gown with a 1936 Cartier Halo tiara, loaned to her by the Queen – her one thing borrowed – and a pair of diamond earrings, created by the jeweller Robinson Pelham – her one thing new.

A present from her mother and father, the drop earrings, which echo the Middleton household coat of arms, had been formed like oak leaves with a pavé diamond acorn suspended within the center.

Her wedding ceremony footwear, which had been measurement 5 and a half, had been made from ivory duchesse satin and adorned with lace and crafted by the Alexander McQueen workforce.

The late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld stated on the time: ‘The gown is traditional and goes very nicely within the Westminster decor. It nearly jogs my memory of (Queen) Elizabeth’s wedding ceremony, the royal weddings within the Fifties.’

Sarah Burton joined McQueen straight out of Central St Martins School in 1997 – the primary query Lee (as McQueen was identified) requested her was: ‘Do you imagine in UFO’s?’

Sadly McQueen, who was her boss, buddy, and mentor, dedicated suicide in 2010 and Burton reluctantly took over the helm.

• How the Gown Like a Princess: The Secrets and techniques of Kate’s Wardrobe is revealed by Splendid Publications at £12.99