Princess Di's wedding gown

[themilesfamily]

I was young at the time of Princess Diana's wedding and I absolutely fell in love with her dress, with her, with weddings in general. That shot where she stepped out of the carriage and turned back to look at the train -- I was just in awe.

Today, at age 42, I still love it. I don't like the sleek, straight-skirted dresses you see today. (Like Prince Edward's wife Sophie's dress -- it just seemed too plain and anti-climactic.) Give me poofy anyday. I like a meringue, as they say.

It does seem like the people who loved Diana's dress were young girls at the time. Perhaps because it was straight out of our fairytales.

 

[sunshine girl]

I think Princess Di looked beautiful in that big floofy dress confection. But I think she's the only person on earth who could pull it off, and only for a royal wedding!

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't remember ever liking her gown, but still, it made a statement!

I read that that picture was a happy accident. She was tired from the formal pictures, sat down, the photographer saw her and rushed over to take that shot.

They said later that they did not know silk taffeta wrinkles. That boggles my mind. It is an inexcusable level of incompetence.

I've been watching all the Comcast On Demand shows and looking online, and I *think* they'd only had their shop for a few years...maybe they missed that day in design school and they hadn't dealt with the fabric before?

Diana called the designer personally, she met with the designer many times over the course of the design in secret. Like Kate's wedding dress, it was a big secret and even the designed was in on the secret and attempted to lead the press astray through falsely placing scraps of fabric in the trash.

You and I have been watching the same shows.

Also, do we ever see Kate's hair up? Another reason why I don't like hair up at weddings is if it's not how women wear their hair usually, why do it then? Some hair up is ok (to get it out of your eyes and accentuate your face) but the rest of it should be down. Long natural hair is beautiful!

To me, you want to be fancier on your wedding day than you are normally. So if you always wear your hair up in a librarian bun, you take it down and wear it fancy. If you wear your hair down, you put it up. etc.

Today, at age 42, I still love it. I don't like the sleek, straight-skirted dresses you see today. (Like Prince Edward's wife Sophie's dress -- it just seemed too plain and anti-climactic.) Give me poofy anyday. I like a meringue, as they say.

I think you have to really give Sophie's gown time to sink in. And you have to admire the actual SILK tulle veil she had...just amazing and gorgeous...oh I love silk tulle.



But Queen Victoria's gown is IT for me.

And, in fact, it's the starting point for all white wedding gowns...she's the one that started it (for non-wealthy people to emulate, that is...)!

 

[themilesfamily]

I think you have to really give Sophie's gown time to sink in. And you have to admire the actual SILK tulle veil she had...just amazing and gorgeous...oh I love silk tulle.

I think she looked very elegant and a little bit medieval, which I think worked with where she got married. I do think she looked good and it's a look that will stand the test of time because it isn't trendy.

I just prefer a full skirt for a royal wedding. All that taffeta, tulle and crinoline is my cup of tea.

 

[Buckalew11]

I thought Princess Sophie looked absolutely stunning on her wedding day.

 

[mhsjax]

I loved Diana's dress. To me it should have been over the top. It was a fairy tale wedding.

I much prefer it over the bland, boring ,dull ,and no thought what so ever, strapless dresses that EVERYONE is wearing now.

Kate was beautiful today.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Am I the only one who thought it was ugly?

I remember being so disappointed when she got out of that carriage and walked into the church. I thought it didn't fit well, it was to big on her and she looked lost in it. I did like the 25 ft train.

Not to mention the really bad haircut.

Hoping Kate makes a better choice.

Too big too fussy and looked like it had never been ironed. Horrible dress. Catherine's is much better.

 

[Deb in IA]

One of the reasons it looked too big was because - it was!

Diana was under so much stress that she kept losing weight, and the Emmanuels had to keep taking in the bodice. By the time she got married, she had a 23 inch waist.

Also, Diana was only 19 when she got married, and she had a very sheltered life. She was still very much a little girl, and that reflected in her design choice - very girlish.

As she grew older, her style definitely matured.

 

[happygirl]

I think it was in high fashion for the time

 

[akhenaten]

At the time I liked her dress... the only thing I thought was unfortunate was the choice of Taffeta... which wrinkled so much!!

 

[CdnCarrie]

I do remember hearing at the time, that her hair was done more with curls, but it didn't hold too well and due to the heat, it flattened. That was the biggest critisism that I can remember most people said (besides the wrinkles).....it was actually mostly agreed to be a beatiful dress.

I wonder if the weight of the tiara flattened the hair as well.

 

[akhenaten]

The Emmanuels did not do well by Princess Diana. The gown was poorly fitted. And they stupidly choose silk taffeta which WRINKLES when you look at it. They said later that they did not know silk taffeta wrinkles. That boggles my mind. It is an inexcusable level of incompetence. I always felt so bad for Princess Diana about the wrinkles.

How could they not know that.. I was about 18 at the time... not into design and even I knew taffeta wrinkled!!
I remember feeling awful for her the second I saw her step out of the carriage...

 

[Pigeon]

I was in high school at the time, and I remember being so disappointed when I saw the dress. Big, pouffy, goofy mess, with no style at all. While there were some fashion excesses in the 80s, that was so over the top, I don't think you can blame the era. I thought her hair was fine and she was lovely inside all those ruffles and fluff.

And I doubt she really had all that much genuine input on the basic style, or lack thereof. Poor woman didn't have control over much of anything in that entire relationship.

 

[lizanne]

I thought I was the only one who never liked the dress. I also didn't like how flat her hair looked when she was walking down the isle.

She looks much nicer in the picture than I remember her looking.