Getty Images
In a traditional wedding that was as eagerly anticipated as any royal do, the Duchess of Cambridge’s baby sister, Pippa Middleton, wowed the world with her stunning frock when she married financier James Matthews on May 20, 2017, at St Mark’s Church in Berkshire, England.
It didn’t hurt that Pippa had the cutest entourage, including nephew Prince George and niece Princess Charlotte, but even with an adorable royal retinue, it was hard to look past the elegant bride, all dressed in off-white ivory in a cap-sleeved lace dress with delicate veil.
Here, all the details about Pippa Middleton’s dress designer and that gorgeous frock!
Who designed Pippa’s wedding dress?
The royal in-law chose British fashion designer Giles Deacon to whip up her bespoke gown for her big day.
“I was thrilled to work with Pippa on her wedding dress,” Giles said in a statement.
“It’s a privilege to show the craftsmanship that my team produces in London and a real testament to Pippa’s support of British fashion.”
“I wanted that ‘how-was-that-done?’ factor,” Vogue reports him saying.
“The red carpet is fantastic, but it’s a real privilege to create a unique bridal piece for a client who may have dreamed about it all their life.”
What style of dress was it?
Pippa chose a classic style for her big day, wearing a lace dress with a high neck and cap sleeves. It featured a fitted bodice that flared out in to a more A-line style with a dramatic full skirt.
Although the front of the dress was demure with her décolletage covered, Pippa showed a little skin with an open back.
Topping off the look was a handmade Robinson Pelham tiara and a pearl-embroidered veil by Stephen Jones while on her feet, Manolo Blahniks.
What materials what it made from?
The dress was made from ivory lace and organza, with a tulle veil.
In his statement, designer Giles Deacon gave more details about his creation.
“The bespoke silk cotton lace was hand appliquéd to create an illusion of the dress having no seams,” he said.
“The lace bodice is embroidered with pearl detailing over an organza and fuller underskirt, which has layer upon layer to enable a floor-sweeping movement.”
How much did it cost?
Hold on to your (wedding) hats.
The Sun newspaper reports that Pippa’s couture gown cost over $70,000. That’s nearly double the TOTAL price of an average Australian wedding.
Bridebook.co.uk gives a much more modest figure of around $10,000 (around $18,000 AUD) for the frock.
How much input did Pippa have into its design?
While the bride – who once told Vanity Fair she would marry in a tennis outfit – has since kept tastefully quiet about her wedding, she did controversially choose Giles Deacon to make her dress.
At the time he had a reputation for a style that were not always classy, but it seems, together with her input, they came up with a winner of a frock.
Working with Pippa on the dress was “wonderful”, designer Giles has said.
“My job was very simple, it was to create the most spectacular, wonderful and appropriate piece I could for her and it all went very smoothly,” he told PEOPLE magazine in 2018.
Ticking off her “something old,” Pippa also chose to reminisce over that other big wedding, her sister’s in 2011, wearing the same earrings as she did when she was bridesmaid for Kate and William.
What was the public’s reaction to the dress?
The dress was generally considered to be a winner, elegant but not boring. And, as reported by Hello, designers agree.
David Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana’s wedding dress, described it as “simple and pretty” and designer Edwing D’Angelo said, “I love the lace, it looks so clean, so pristine. She looked immaculate.”
Was it similar to any other celebrity wedding dresses?
Like Pippa, Nicky Hilton – also a younger sister to a more famous sibling – chose elegant lace when she married in 2015. The heiress said she was inspired by Grace Kelly, and there are nods to that classic bridal style in Pippa’s dress as well.
And even though Pippa’s frock was ivory, there is some similarity with former Disney actress Aly Michalka’s lavender gown for her 2015 wedding.
But many have remarked how similar – especially in its classic elegance – Pippa’s dress was to her sister Kate’s. Looks like those Middleton girls know how to nail good taste. Now that Pippa is also a mum, the pair can make yummy mummy style statements together.
