The royal wedding is well and truly over. As Britain takes down the last of the bunting and returns to work after two consecutive long weekends, we’re still debating the fashion choices of Friday’s festivities. At Handle, we’re celebrating the opening of our new fashion recruitment division – so, to kick things off, here’s a quick recap of those unforgettable fashion moments.
Rule number one: never upstage the bride
When Pippa Middleton emerged wearing a slinky, figure-hugging ivory dress, Twitter nearly crashed. Here at Handle, we specialise in recruitment, not wedding planning, but isn’t the first rule of being a bridesmaid, or even a guest at a wedding “don’t wear white”?
Of course, Pippa was just following royal protocol, but we imagine that the requirement for the bridesmaids to wear ivory was made with very young bridesmaids in mind, not for a younger sister with a figure to die for.
What followed was intense media attention on Pippa’s fashion choice, everybody was talking about it, from the Daily Mail to fashion-forward publications, such as Marie Claire.
While Pippa almost stole the show, she couldn’t quite compete with the most closely guarded and highly anticipated fashion secret of the century.
The dress
No sooner had the royal couple announced their intention to wed, and the media was ablaze with speculation about, what’s arguably the most important aspect of a girl’s big day (apart from marrying the love of their life, of course): the dress.
With Kate’s famous fashion sense under media scrutiny, there was unimaginable pressure to get the dress right. When the bride stepped out of her car in a lace creation by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, the reaction was almost unanimously positive, sparking comparisons between the new Princess and Grace Kelly – although some fashion experts were unsure about the choice of designer, given Alexander McQueen’s anti-establishment attitude during his lifetime.
And the rest
There were undoubtedly some major hits and spectacular misses among the royal guest list. The Telegraph published a list of the worst-dressed guests with Tara Palmer Tomkinson’s electric blue outfit from outer space receiving the harshest criticism, closely followed by Princess Eugenie and Prince Harry’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.
With many Philip Treacy hats on display, some went down better than others, but none prompted more controversy than Princess Beatrice’s peach headgear for which she was, somewhat cruelly, compared to a Teletubby.
And over to you
What did you think of the royal fashion display? Do you agree with the hits and misses listed here? Do you think Pippa stole the show? We want to hear your opinions!