Mette-Marit was also not the expected royal bride candidate. She was a single mother who made a tearful apology for her questionable past in a pre-wedding press conference; she was young and lovely, but the glamour and polish were yet to come. To start on this dress for a most modern royal bride, the bride and her designer turned to a most traditional royal fashionista: Queen Maud.
Queen Maud's coronation gown, in a typical silhouette for her which seems to have been the start of inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown. |
The outcome is, as I wrote in my original post on this gown, a dreamlike and hypnotic interpretation of a traditional silhouette. The fitted bodice and sleeves give way to a beautifully draped skirt; the skirt’s extension into a two meter train creates the effect of a bride floating down the aisle on her own personal cloud.
Her veil was longer than the train – much longer, actually, trailing along for six meters (nearly 20 feet). The ensemble is made of silk crepe specially dyed an ecru color, and a staggering 125 meters (about 410 feet) of silk tulle.
It would have been easy to overdo it with the wedding gown – to throw lace and sparkles at her in an overreaching attempt to transform her into a fairytale character – but that’s not what Ove Harder Finseth, together with seamstress Anna Bratland, did. The lack of embellishment and lace means the dress doesn’t compete with the bride’s minimalistic look, her small Diamond Daisy Tiara, or her unique bouquet, but it’s not a plain or boring dress either.
The tulle effect cleverly creates a gown that leaves Mette-Marit to be herself but still adds that dream effect, turning into her own sort of princess. It’s a gown you don’t forget, and it’s earned itself the #4 spot on your countdown.
What puts this gown in the Top 10 for you?
Photos: Kongehuset/Scanpix/Aftenposten/VG/Silkehuset/V&A