‘Covered up’: This is what a princess bride actually looks like

Telling a bride in a wedding dress with a plunging neckline, garter-revealing slit skirt or lace-trimmed corset that she looks like a princess might be kind, but it’s inaccurate. And no, adding a tiara won’t make a difference.

“It’s regal to wear something more covered up,” says designer Stephanie Caltabiano of Sant Elia in Sydney.

This month Princess Iman bint Abdullah of Jordan drove the point home at the Beit al Urdun Palace in Amman, wearing a floor-length Christian Dior haute couture dress with long sleeves, A-line skirt, square neckline and high lace collar, with a tiara from Chaumet, for her wedding to financier Jameel Alexander Thermiotis.

Covering up might be expected from a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad, according to the Royal Hashemite Court website, but also it’s part of a global princess push.

“We have more brides wanting to look regal,” bridal designer Steven Khalil says. “Kate Middleton is a big part of this change in direction. People would like to be classic but conservative. It can be quite fashionable to be more modest.”

The refined boat neck, silk cady dress by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on her wedding day in 2018 didn’t have quite the same pull. “Kate’s was more memorable than Meghan’s wedding dress,” Khalil says. “People didn’t understand the simplicity of that one. Kate’s was a far more memorable moment.”

It will be 12 years next month since the debut of Princess Catherine’s full-skirted wedding dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, with lace sleeves and a high collar. Surely, the Kate Effect is fading?

“Trends move much more slowly in the bridal world,” Caltabiano says. “The timing of the influence is not as fast as in mainstream fashion. Brides see something and hold on to the idea until their wedding day.”

“Strangely we are seeing a resurgence of clients coming in for these Grace Kelly high-collar styles. Two years ago, these women would have been asking for a glittering, beaded dress.”