Kate Middleton's wedding dress

Now we know. After months of speculating from the press, fashion insiders and outsiders, we know that Kate Middleton’s ivory and white satin gazar wedding dress was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was handmade by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace, according to the Official Royal Wedding website, which released information about the dress just as Kate was stepping out of the car.

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Individual flowers were been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle.

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Hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace was used throughout the bodice and skirt, and has been used for the underskirt trim. 

The dress is made with ivory and white satin gazar.  The skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats.  The train measures two metres 70 centimetres.  The ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a hallmark of Alexander McQueen’s designs.  The back is finished with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops.  The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.

The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, which was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.  The veil is held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen.  The ‘halo’ tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by The Duke of York (later King George VI) for his Duchess (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King.  The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday. 

The bride’s earrings, by Robinson Pelham, are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre.  Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family’s new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves.  The earrings were made to echo the tiara.  The earrings were a personal gift to the bride from her parents for her wedding day.

The wedding shoes were handmade by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.