A Sneak Peak at Kate's Wedding Gown Before it Goes on Display

Sqeeee...A few news sources were given a sneak peak at The Duchess of Cambridge's Wedding Dress that is due to go on display and open to the public this weekend.

Kate's gorgeous Alexander McQueen wedding dress is valued at £250,000. It features lace applique floral detail and is made of ivory and white satin gazar, with a skirt that resembles "an opening flower" with white satin gazar arches and pleats. Its train measures just 9ft.

The lace applique for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework. Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered on to ivory silk-tulle. Each lace motif, some as small as a 5p piece, was applied with minute stitches every inch or so.

 

We were not able to get but maybe a glimpse of Kate's shoes at her wedding as she stepped out of the car. They too are on display. They reveal Kate's tiny shoe size of five and a half. Also created by the McQueen creative director Sarah Burton and her team, the shoes feature yet more impressive lace detailing hand-stitched over ivory duchess satin.

Also on display are Kate's veil, tiara and the diamond earrings.

An up close look at The Cartier Halo Tiara

In anticipation of Kate's dress going on display in just a few days, we are going to take an up close look at the Cartier Halo Tiara that Kate wore on her wedding day.

The queen loaned her gorgeous tiara to Kate on her wedding day. It was made by Cartier in 1936 inside their London workshop which is also known as “The English Art Works.” The tiara is made of platinum and the pretty wave-like shapes are described as ‘scroll’ or ‘palmette’ motifs.

The official description of the tiara given by Cartier is as follows "The tiara, featuring 739 brilliant-cut diamonds and 149 baguette-cut diamonds, was first purchased by His Royal Highness the Duke of York on November 18, 1936 for his wife a few weeks before he acceded to the throne of England after the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII. Highly fashionable in the 1930s, this head ornament appears to create a real halo of light, hence its name: the “Halo Tiara"

The tiara has been worn by Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret (1960's), and Princess Anne (1970s).

Daily Mail/Cartier

Update 9/29/2011

Pictures of Royals wearing the Cartier Halo Tiara

The Queen Mother

Princess Margaret

Princess Anne

The Royal Couple Wrap Up Their Tour with Two More Events

William & Kate wrapped up their trip to Southern California on Sunday by visiting an inner-city school in downtown Los Angeles's notorious Skid Row area and attending a job fair for veterans.

The couple were welcomed to the Inner City Arts academy by six elementary-aged children holding a welcome banner.

Their final stop before departing for the U.K. was with the group ServiceNation: Mission Serve, which aims to help veterans find jobs.

Kate wore a navy-and-white crochet top and an ivory 'Lina Dobby' pleated skirt (£95 and as of this writing only available in a size 16), both by Whistles.

The following description is from www.johnlewis.com 

'Featuring on-trend pleats and a light, feminine ivory tone the Whistles Lina skirt offers a high waist and all over dobby spot print.'

Kate accessorized with her Belle and Mimi Suede Pointed Court Shoe, her ivory moc-croc clutch, sapphire and diamond earrings and her diamond cross pendant necklace.

Kate & William departed aboard a British Airway aircraft from LAX this afternoon. They posed for a few pictures and were then ushered inside.

Update 7/11/11

I had been unable to locate the navy-and-white crochet top seen above that the media has been reporting as being Whistles. I contacted Whistles and asked them for confirmation that this was, indeed their top. This is the response that I received back from them:
'Whistles The crochet top is definitely not Whistles. The Lina double pleat skirt has sold out online but is still available in our stores'
I will continue to do my research and post when I have an update.

Update 7/22/12

After much thought and research, I have come to the conclusion that Kate's crochet top is, in fact, Whistles. Below are some close-up pictures of the top taken from Ebay.

Kate Wows Attending the BAFTA Event in McQueen

Kate and William were the guests of honour at a glittering Bafta dinner in aid of British creative talent at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The event saw some of the most famous faces on the planet momentarily become star-struck fans in the presence of royalty.

Famous names from the world of film and television gathered for the event, which had been touted as the hottest ticket in Tinseltown, which showcased up and coming actors, directors and other members of the video games industry.

Kate looked regal in a a floor-length pleated lilac chiffon gown with glitter waistband (custom made) by Alexander McQueen.

Kate accessorized with Jimmy Choo 'Vamp' sandals in champagne glitter  $750. Available at www.net-a-porter.com , Jimmy Choo 'Ubai' clutch also in champagne glitter ($595 and sold out) and diamond chandelier-style earrings loaned to her by the Queen.

Description from the Net-a-Porter website is as follows:

'Silver glitter-finish sandals with a heel that measures approximately 140mm/ 5.5 inches and a 25mm/ 1 inch platform. Jimmy Choo sandals have an open round toe, crossover straps at front and a designer-stamped gold buckle-fastening ankle strap.'

 

Update 7/12/11

Jimmy Choo has confirmed that Kate wore their shoes and held their clutch. The following was taken from their Facebook Page

'We are pleased to announce Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wore VAMP in Champagn...e Glitter from CHOO 24:7 and carried UBAI, also in Champagne Glitter, to the 2011 BAFTA Brits to Watch event in Los Angeles.

/Discover VAMP http://bit.ly/DiscoverVAMP
/Discover UBAI http://bit.ly/DiscoverUBAICG '

 

Kate Keeps it Simple in Santa Barbara

There may have been stars of stage and screen at the charity polo event in Santa Barbara today but all eyes were definitely on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The charity match took place at the exclusive Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. The event was held in aid of the American Friends of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

Kate wore a pretty 'De Gournay' silver and marble grey hand-painted chinoiserie silk dress by Jenny Packham (Spring 2011 collection) with taupe L.K.Bennett 'Sliver' sandals (£185.00 and sold out) and her woven straw LK Bennett 'Natalie' clutch. The duchess also wore her Kiki McDonough 18ct gold and citrine drop earrings.

The description of the sandal from the L.K. Bennett website is as follows:

'Sliver is a patent leather sandal with crossover straps. What a bold sandal! Sturdy yet sultry, these vampy shoes feature on-trend crossover straps.'

Prince William starred in the charity polo match. He scored four goals for his team and went on to win the overall match.

After the polo game, the duke and duchess will head to downtown Los Angeles to attend a black-tie event at the historic Belasco Theatre, where they will be guests of honour at a British Academy of Film and Television Arts dinner honouring 42 young British filmmakers.