Is US showgirl the inspiration for Meghan’s bridal gown?
SHE WAS an American star who gave up her acting career to marry into the British aristocracy.
So who could be more fitting than Adele Astaire to inspire the new collection of the designer tipped to be creating Meghan Markle’s wedding dress?
Erdem Moralıoğlu, a favourite of both Ms Markle and the Duchess of Cambridge, used images of the glamorous Miss Astaire as his muse for his autumn/winter collection, drawing on the idea of a “strong woman who was completely independent then marrying into a formal aristocratic family”.
Miss Astaire, the showgirl elder sister of dancer Fred, married Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the 9th Duke of Devonshire, in 1932, moving to Lismore Castle, Ireland, one of the family’s homes.
Her extraordinary life and style have been used as inspiration for Erdem, who is a favourite contender to design the dress Ms Markle will wear for her Windsor Castle wedding in May. Erdem, a Canadian-turkish degesturing signer, is already well-loved by the women of the Royal family, using the Queen as inspiration for previous collections.
Ms Markle has said she has worn clothes by Erdem “for years”. Bookmakers placed the designer at 2-1 to create her wedding dress, believing the choice would be a nod to the six years she spent living in Toronto, Canada.
At his London Fashion Week show yesterday, guests were presented with a small booklet, tied with black ribbon and explaining Erdem’s inspiration for his new collection. Its mood board included images of Miss Astaire, who gave up performing to marry Lord Charles.
Erdem had been particularly inspired, he said, by the time that the new Lady Charles spent at Lismore Castle after her marriage, and the summers after her husband died in 1944 when she would still return for summer holidays.
“I was obsessed by the idea of her coming back year after year,” he said. “I imagined her wearing her tweeds and glitzy, star-spangled capes, as she roamed the moors of Lismore. to snapshots from her glamorous flapper girl days, he added: “She was at the peak of her career when she married him. There was something so extraordinary about her, a strong woman who was completely independent then marrying into a formal aristocratic family.
“It wasn’t the done thing, then. She even delayed her engagement so she could do one more show.” Erdem’s collection took inspiration from Astaire’s penchant for jaunty neckerchiefs and trouser suits in delicate polka dot prints. It included velvet flapperlength dresses, ostrich feather collars with double-breasted blazers and faux fur coats, pairing “exquisite” embellishment with tweed tailoring and houndstooth skirt suits.
“The family really loved her. She was amazing, very charismatic, tiny, fun and witty, and she was known for her wonderful taste in clothes,” Laura Cavendish, Countess of Burlington, whose husband William will one day become the 13th Duke of Devonshire, told The Daily Telegraph after the show. Describing how Astaire won over her in-laws with a cartwheeling routine the first time that she met them, she added: “It was a high-risk strategy, but it paid off. Hers is a lost story but she was rather amazing as a person. The mixture of country living and jazz age drama was great to see in Erdem’s collection.”
The London Fashion Week show caused controversy before it had even begun after it emerged the entire National Portrait Gallery had been closed for the day for the first time to house it.
A gallery spokesman said in a statement: “The gallery is a charity and has to self-generate over 70 per cent of the funds needed. “A key income stream is hiring out gallery spaces. Every effort is made to ensure that this activity does not impact on public access, but sometimes due to the nature and complexity of an event some closure is necessary.” Asked whether Ms Markle had been on his mind as he designed the new collection, the designer opted for discretion, replying with a simple: “No.”