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I won't admit to a Royal Wedding obsession, but I do look forward to the event, the pageantry and the beautiful clothes. Working here at Threads, I'm interested in Prince William's tailor (he chose Gieves & Hawkes of London's Savile Row) and of course Kate's wedding gown. The gown designer is a closely-held secret, but many news sources report it is Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen's line.

This week I saw that the gossamer "dress" Kate Middleton wore at a 2002 University of St. Andrew's charity event is was put up for auction today, March 17. The handknit sheer tube was expected to draw more than $8,000. I just checked, and according to Reuters and the AP, the dress brought in more than $120,000 dollars.

The Internet is abuzz with the story - along with all kinds of pre-wedding coverage - but I was very interested to hear what the designer, Charlotte Todd, had to say about the dress. I've included an AP video about the auction and Charlotte talking to the press about the dress and her plans to auction it.

I always wondered what she was thinking! According to Charlotte, she didn't have a hand in styling the dress at the fashion show. She considered it a skirt, and thought it was going to be worn over a slip. Someone, be it Kate or a stylist at the event, decided to style it as a dress, over black undergarments.

Supposedly, it was this garment that turned William's interest in his fellow student Kate from platonic to romantic. Charlotte says she had a feeling the relationship was going to "go the distance," and that's why she saved the delicate silk garment all these years.

Do you plan to watch the royal wedding on April 29? It airs at 6 a.m. East Coast time on BBC America. The next big news, of course, is likely to be the announcement of Kate's chosen wedding dress designer. Who do you think it will be?

Sarah McFarland, contributor
Posted on Mar 17th, 2011 in design, online extras, videos, royal wedding, kate middleton dress, kate middleton dress auction

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Comments (4)

Snikwas writes: It was only a matter of time before this 'creation' became world news - having probably started out as a simple idea for a college charity event. When I was a fashion student we didn't have charity events but always some kind of show was going on which made it fun to display our creativity!

As for the designer - all sorts of speculation but nothing confirmed yet, I'm not at all bothered except of course delighted that its British - and excited about the actual design!

There is huge pressure on these two as they represent the continuation of our monarchy,anyone with an ounce of patriotism will be wishing them the very best of good luck, health and lasting happiness. Our present queen will be a very hard act to follow - such dedicated monarchs rarely, if ever exist now.
Posted: 2:02 am on March 23rd

ipodgrannie writes: I am always amazed at what the press think we are all interested in. I will watch the wedding of course, but could care less, who designs it. I am sure it will not be real fussy like Diana's was, too much. But, I am sure it will not be plain because then there will not be much buzz. I will not be getting up early to watch either, catch whatever is on when I get up it good with me. They seem like really nice people and that is what they need over there.
Posted: 4:40 pm on March 22nd

parrot writes: I'm always amazed by the interest in our Royal family. Yes, we're all looking forward to the wedding but I can't say I've seen much in the media about who's going to design/make THE WEDDING DRESS. Occasionally we see Kate/ Wills on TV christening a lifeboat or similar, tho Wills is currently in NZ visiting their earthquake area around Christchurch.
Gieves and Hawkes is one of the tailors who specialise in items for the military.My DH went there to be measured up for various uniforms/shirts etc.It was always a good excuse to have a few days in 'the city' (London) (DH is retired now but I married into the military, as the saying goes).
Being British we try not to get excited about these events. Secretly, we're as interested as everyone else!!
Posted: 2:49 pm on March 18th

smockerlady writes: Hi there,

I was pretty sure that it had already been announced, as Bruce Oldfield, a British Designer, much favoured by the Late Princess Diana?
Posted: 3:28 am on March 18th

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