I think it is not appropriate for anyone but the bride to wear white on a wedding. Apart from that, the bride's sister had also an absolutely lovely dress. And the brides dress is really a timeless piece.

I was just looking at the same Vogue pattern. Usually, knockoffs appear post-ceremony, but in this case :-) It will be sold out soon, I guess. Lucky me, I already got a copy.

Loved both dresses! Kate looked amazing, I didn't really expect her to wear some ginormous puffy dress, just doesn't seem like her style. I am glad that she didn't let tradition dictate her entire wedding. For some reason it just seemed right for her sister to have on white as well, can't imagine what other color she would have worn.

Althoug, as you well pointed out, the Vogue version is almost the same copy of Grace Kelly's dress :-)

I loved the top of the dress, and the lace was beautiful, but would have like a slightly more shaped skirt. LOVED Pippa Middleton's dress - quite an unforgiving style but she looked stunning in it. I think if the bride chooses white / ivory for her maid of honour it's a different matter from random guests turning up in it!

I was immediately irritated by the maid of honor wearing a white dress. I'm not some stuck-up "the wedding day is all about me" bride but I do think it is incredibly tacky when other women wear white/ivory to a wedding. In her defense, I'm guessing she isn't 100% responsible for the dress choice. When I saw the bride's gown, I immediately thought of Vogue 2979. I did make that pattern for my wedding dress but didn't have the time nor skill to make it so beautiful. Her gown is gorgeous and timeless.

Agreed, the gown was perfect, perfect, perfect! An English commentator said that it is customary for bridesmaids in England to match the bride -- white gowns on attendants are expected. Hard to condemn a traditional family for following traditional wedding customs, especially as I am not a citizen of that country. (You sure popped up your posting quickly this sunny morning!)

In Britain it's quite common for the bridesmaids to wear white. I thought Pippa's dress was wonderful. Kate's too, of course, but I preferred Pippa's, for the sheer simplicity. In her case, it's all about the skill of the maker, no room for fudging it, it was perfect.

I have also read that the tradiition of the bridesmaids wearing white was to confuse would-be kidnappers who wanted to get some ransom-money out of the groom. That is also the reason the groom stands on the right, so that his sword hand (as _everyone_ is right-handed :-P ) is free to defend his bride. :-)

Erica, thank you so much for such a lovely post! I also think that her dress is extremely elegant and timeless!
BR
Maria

I agree that Kate was very stunning. Her dress was to perfection. And Pippa was lovely as well. It didn't bother me that she wore white and of course that is their tradition, so why not?

And thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.

As a Brit, white on anyone but the bride is definitely not customary - apart from, sometimes, the flower girls. In this case though, the dresses and their silhouettes were so completely different that Pippa having a white dress didn't really matter, because she was so, so simply dressed in comparison to her sister to make it different. Keeping it white/ivory, however, made the whole thing a lot simpler/more pleasing to the eye.

Also, as someone said, there is a big difference between the bride choosing your gown in white/ivory and turning up as a guest in the colour - an increasingly common trend. I wrote on my invitations "ladies, please no white" as a dress code..and still some people came in white!!

Loved the dress, which is identical, minus the train to my mom's 1952 dress, made at the time by a dressmaker. Loved the Pippa's dress too, thought it gave continuity. Expect to see a lot of white bridesmaids from here on it on this side of the pond.

Absolutely loved the dress! Just perfect in every way. The new princess doesn't make any missteps, does she?

Vogue patterns has a sale going on right now too!

I love Kate's wedding dress too! It is so elegantly modern. I didn't watch the ceremony, but everything looks like it was done beautifully from photos.

I was just wondering if there was a pattern that would be similar to Kate's dress and you were already a step ahead! That is as good match and could get even closer with some minor alterations. I am pretty sure Kate's sister could not have gotten away with wearing white without LOTS of approvals LOL

I hardly think ANYONE could have upstaged Kate no matter the color! Thanks, Erica, you're on your game this morning!

On subject of the bridesmaids dress colour,all the royal weddings I have seen have had the bridesmaids in white. Royal weddings have different customs to the rest of us.
Also think of all the glorious uniforms the men are wearing, and how the white stands out against them.

I'm not an expert, but I suspect tradition in royal weddings is differet. Both Princess Diana's and Queen Elizabeth's bridesmaids wore white.

For example, see Queen Elizabeth's bridesmaid's dresses here:
http://jewelry.about.com/od/royaljewelry/ss/Royal-Wedding-Princess-Elizabeth-1947_7.htm

And Diana's, here:
http://princessdianaremembered.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/decades-of-dresses-fifty-years-of-bridesmaid-dresses/

Stunning dress and great figure. Sister's dress, according to the designers commenting on both dresses, is cream and to be perfectly honest, any other colour would look plain tacky.

Her gown is so elegant and hopefully will set the scene for more traditional bridal wear for the next few years, much like Dianna did with her big puffy dress. I am tired of all the bare shoulders.

Remembering that Di's wedding party wore white as well, I was not taken aback by Pippa's gown. But in this country I doubt that would happen.

The entire wedding party was stunning in their simplicity and elegance. "Less is More" fits here. It will all be beautiful and inspiring in a museum someday. Very impressed with Kate's sense of style. She nailed it today!

I just saw this footage

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7364270n&tag=strip

and now am totally ok with the sister's white dress. If I was marrying into royalty and my sister was still single I would find it my duty to put her on display as a potential bride to all the eligible bachelors. I'm sure she wants her sister in court right along with her.

The dress was gorgeous. I absolutely loved it. As for Pippa wearing white, this was the brides choice and why shouldn't she do what she wants.

Lighten up people. It's England. The do things differently over there. If you look at all the specials of royal weddings past, you will see all the MOH's wore white dresses. And the bridesmaids are all babies.

"Lighten up"? Really? This fluffy post couldn't be any lighter...

i thought it was all just lovely. i liked pippa in white as well, and my understanding is in times long ago, all the bride's attendants wore white to confuse the evil spirits (or marauders)as to which was the real bride.

i've been reading that the dress is very reminiscent of princess margaret, that the brits aren't really enamoured with princess grace. either way, it is a beautiful dress. i want to join the royal school of needlework. :)

I really dislike Kates dress. Dont think it did her any favours really. Especially the terrible cold nipple effect the dress had. I'm sure she would've been wearing foundation garments, so it would've been the dress, and not actual nipples. It looked terrible. Her sister looked incredible

So glad you're okay there in Birmingham! The first thing I thought of when I heard the news was "Oh, no, Erica lives there."

It was a lovely dress. Some of the hats were pretty amazing...reminded me of Schiaparelli.

I also did not love the dress ... it's ok but I thought a straighter skirt would have been the go. I am not impressed with the designer ... nothing new there.. looks like any other wedding dress and the points at the bust did no say "quality craftsmanship" to me. I'm in the minority here I see, and that's ok! I thought Princess Mary of Denmark's dress was much more inspiring.


Pippa on the other hand looked simply amazing and stole the show in my opinion.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I thought her dress was simplistic, gorgeous and PERFECTLY fitted. I'm so sick of strapless Pnina Tornai puffy, wannabe-princess dresses. Catherine's dress was refreshing. To each, her own...

I thought her dress was so beautiful and elegant. It really suited her and her position in life. I would be proud to wear a dress like hers. As for Pippa's dress just loved that too. I don't know about other places but here in Australia it's traditional for the bride to choose the colour and style of her bridesmaids dresses. So I say 'simply stunning'!

I too thought the dress that Kate wore was stunning, simple and elegant and timeless,fitting for a princess!! I think her sister Pippa looked also stunning and I think it also shows how close and loving her sister is to her, and what she means to her sister as she was the ONLY bridesmaid!!!

Fabulous! Clean lines, elegant lace. As soon as I saw it I thought Princess Grace. Catherine's sister looked stunning. I had guessed McQueen - but was pleasantly suprised with the style, like you Erica I'm fed up withe the bare shoulders. I made a dress in black lace in March using the Wedding Dress Pattern Vogue V2788 and filled in the low back with black lace...the train was somewhat shorter!! Rae Torquay,England.

I like the dress. Perfect for a royal wedding, elegant and indeed timeless. I would'nt want to wear it though, too serious :)

I think Pippa's dress (also McQueen) will also be knocked off very soon by the Big 4. She looked fabulous except for her spray tan, which was totally unnecessary

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I loved both dresses. Princess Kate's dress was both traditional and almost sporty in its cut. It really reflects her personal style. I've never seen pleats like that in a train before. I'd love to get a good close up shot of the lace on the lower skirt. I caught a glimpse of it when I was watching the coverage, but I'd really like to be able to actually study it.

Dear Erica - loved your post and the dress and Pippa's too! That soft white against the ancient stones of the Abbey seemed right. Tiny correction, the lace was Carrickmacross and handmade in Hampton Court Palace by the Royal College of Needlework - very rare, unbearably difficult to make and almost impossible to clean.

I'm an Australian republican - but I do have a soft spot for Kate. She and her sister looked dignified, yet very sexy. Could set back the cause of an Australian head of state decades.

I loved her dress and her head peice. Beautiful!!!

A beautiful dress and Pippa's white dress actually worked, being she walked the flower girls in - it made them all appear uniform rather than "splotchy" colors. Being the type of wedding, it was beautiful. Anyways, if the bride or whoever sets the protocol says it ok, so what.

It was a beautiful ceremony and loved the wedding gown and the bridesmaid dress as well.