Diana wore an ivory silk taffeta and antique lace gown, with a 25-foot (7.62 m) train, valued then at £9000. It became one of the most famous dresses in the world and was considered one of the most closely guarded secrets in fashion history
Design
The dress was designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who described it as a dress that "had to be something that was going to go down in history, but also something that Diana loved", and which would be "suitably dramatic in order to make an impression". Diana Spencer personally selected the designers to make her wedding dress because she was fond of a chiffon blouse they designed for her formal photo session with Lord Snowdon.
The woven silk taffeta was made by Stephen Walters of Suffolk. The Emanuels consulted Maureen Baker, who had made the wedding dress of Princess Anne, during their construction of the gown. One observer wrote, "the dress was a crinoline, a symbol of sexuality and grandiosity, a meringue embroidered with pearls and sequins, its bodice frilled with lace". The gown was decorated with hand embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls. The lace used to trim it was antique hand-made Carrickmacross lace which had belonged to Queen Mary. In contrast, the wedding dress of Kate Middleton, for her marriage to Prince William, Diana's eldest son, incorporated motifs cut from machine-made lace appliquéd to silk net.
Fittings of the dress posed difficulties because Diana had developed bulimia and dropped from a size 14 to a size 10 in the months leading up to the wedding. Even the seamstress was concerned about her weight loss and feared the dress might not fit as it should.
The twenty-five-foot train posed problems. According to
the gown's designers realized too late that they had forgotten to allow for the train's length in relation to the size of the glass coach Diana and her father rode into the ceremony. They found it difficult to fit inside the glass coach, and the train was badly crushed despite Diana's efforts. This accounted for the visible wrinkles in the wedding gown when she arrived at the cathedral. Diana also had a spare wedding dress, which would have acted as a stand-in if the dress' design was revealed before her big day.
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