How much will Kate Middleton’s wedding dress rock the bridal world? Experts are predicting she’ll go train-free on April 29, a bold move that would shatter the existing royal-dress formula. Like Diana Spencer, Middleton’s choices could change the course of bridal wear for the next decade.
Or not. Middleton’s style choices so far have been anything but original. And when it comes to royal bridalwear, she’s contending with 171 years of tradition that dates to her fiancé’s great-great-great-great grandmother Queen Victoria and now slavishly adhered to globally.
So here’s what Middleton’s dress will look like: It will be white. There will be lace, probably antique. All the materials will be locally sourced. Contrary to current nonroyal trend, Middleton’s shoulders will be covered, but her decolletage could be in play. She’ll have a bevy of attendants to take care of the train that we predict she will, in fact, have (it’s a looong walk down that Westminster Abbey aisle; a train adds gravitas and looks good for the overhead cameras. Plus, a royal bride has to satisfy the visual hunger of millions, so the more there is to look at, the better). It might not be Diana’s 25-footer, but there’ll be some fabric trailing behind her.
Our chronology of royal weddings makes our case.