HERE COMES THE BRIDE
CHANCES are by the time you read this, the biggest question of the year will have been answered: who will design Meghan Markle’s wedding dress?
That said, who will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle has been running a close second in recent days, when it comes to THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW!
But it is not my job to write about the dramas of the dysfunctional Markle family, it is my job to write about clothes.
It is less than six months since Prince Harry got down on one knee over a roast chicken dinner (oh, the glamour). In the time since, Meghan has gone from an American actress really only known in the UK to viewers of Suits (that’s me) to one of the most famous, most photographed women on the planet and one of the most powerful forces in fashion.
We are all well versed in the ‘Kate effect’ that kicks in every time the Duchess of Cambridge wears a brand in public but insiders are predicting that Meghan could eclipse the £1bn that Prince William’s missus is said to be worth to the fashion industry.
Documenting every item she chooses is a veritable cottage industry online with the likes of whatmeghanwore. net and meghansfashion.com outlining every piece and telling you where you can buy them, if they are still available. The words ‘sold out’ feature heavily on both sites.
The team at Meghan’s Mirror (meghansmirror.com) go one step further, as well as telling you where Meghan’s outfits are from, it offers more affordable alternatives.
Given that the image has been printed countless times, even the least style savvy person could probably tell you that for the engagement announcement Meghan wore a cream wrap coat over a green dress with nude shoes.
For the official photos she upped the ante considerably choosing a £50,000 couture dress from London-based Australian designers Ralph & Russo.
The pair are the frontrunners to be the ones zipping the 36-year-old into her gown this weekend and, if reports are to be believed, it will be a £100,000 showstopper. Still that’s a bargain compared to the Duchess of Cambridge’s Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen number which was rumoured to have cost a whopping £250,000.
As for the design, much has been made of Meghan saying, in a magazine interview a couple of years ago that the slinky, nightdress-style Narciso Rodriguez gown worn by Carolyn Bessette for her marriage to John F Kennedy Jr. (one of my own all-time favourite wedding gowns) was “Everything goals.”
Putting aside the fact that their fairy tale ended tragically when John’s plane crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in 1999 killing the couple, I think Meghan will go for something much bigger.
She needs a dress that can hold its own against the historic backdrop of Windsor Castle and which works with a glitzy tiara, which there will surely be.
Strapless, lace, fitted, puffball, pink with yellow spots... whatever Meghan chooses, after all the drama she’s had to deal with in recent days, whether people like her frock might just be the least of the bride’s worries.