A Closer Look into Meghan Markle’s Wedding Dress

Source: Cropped from Flickr version: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rambomuscles/27537241539

Author: Mark Jones

A closely guarded secret for months, when Suits actress Meghan Markle—now the Duchess of Sussex—finally stepped out of the Rolls Royce on Saturday 19^th May, 2018, the long-awaited wedding dress was finally in full view for the first time.

With the favorites in the line up being big fashion names like Burberry, Ralph and Russo, Erdem and Roland Mouret, Meghan ended up surprising all of us by choosing Clare Waight Keller, the first female artistic director at the house of Givenchy.

Not the most obvious choice, Keller is a Birmingham-born Brit who has an impressive portfolio to speak for her – she has been artistic director at three major fashion houses; Pringle of Switzerland, Chloé and now, Givenchy.

The Dress

Given that the royal wedding would be THE event of the year, countless designers wanted the chance to design the royal dress – and no wonder!

With the number of people tuning in to watch the royal wedding soaring to a whopping 29 million in America, with probably a larger number following the wedding on social media, all eyes were on that dress. Imagine the exposure a brand could get with a viewership like that!

Let’s look at what will probably be the most iconic dress of the year in detail:

The Material

Meghan went for a pure white dress which was made from the finest quality double bonded silk cady. The train of the gown was cushioned by an underskirt made in triple silk organza—only the best for the newest duchess!

The Style

Unlike Kate Middleton’s lace embellished satin dress and Princess Diana’s iconic dress with ruffles, Markle went for a clean silhouette with no embellishments. It featured an open bateau neckline and three-quarter sleeves. Designed with the “heritage” of the Givenchy house in mind, six “meticulously placed seams” extended towards the train which flowed in soft, round folds.

The Veil

More than the dress itself, it was the veil that was the showstopper of the day. Made with the finest quality silk tulle, the five-meter veil had a touching tribute to the Duchess’ future work and title as a member of the royal family woven in silk threads and organza on the edges. The representative flowers of the 53 Commonwealth Nations, of which Prince Harry is Youth Ambassador, along with two of the bride’s personal favorite flowers, were painstakingly woven into the fabric of the veil. Throughout the design, Markle also chose to include crops of wheat symbolizing love and charity.

Fun fact: the veil took more time to make than the dress itself, with a whopping 500 hours spent just on embroidering the flowers!

With the amount of time and money brides usually spend perfecting their wedding dresses, they want something timeless, that fits perfectly and makes them look their best on their big day.

Imperial Valet specializes in wedding dress fittings and alterations and offers wedding gown preservation services in DC to make sure your wedding dress retains its beauty for decades to come.