Game of Gowns: Wildling Rose Leslie's wedding dress throws shade on Meghan Markle's royal train
This year has been the year of fairytale royal weddings. First, it was actor Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal nuptials in May, and then more recently came along the wedding of another royal couple - King in the North Jon Snow aka Kit Harrington wed his real-life wildling Ygritte, Rose Leslie. Apart from fact that the wedding brought happy tears in the eyes of every 'Game of Thrones' fan, it also brought about an interesting observation - Leslie's Elie Saab gown looked much better than Meghan Markle's Givenchy. Even though Rose Leslie isn't a real-life royalty as Meghan Markle the Duchess of Sussex, she definitely won the wedding fashion game, quite regally.
Rose's wore the elegant Saab creation from their Bridal Spring/Summer 2018 collection. The pristine white gown, that fit her willowy figure perfectly was nothing short of a Cinderella deja-vu. The semi-sheer tulle gown featured a slight mermaid silhouette, as it flowed down from her slender waist all the way down to her toes. The neckline had its own story to tell - if you didn't look twice you couldn't figure out whether it was a semi-sweetheart neckline under the tulle or a bateau.
The illusion was perfect, adding a little bit of sexy to the otherwise demure dress. The gown also featured intricate white embroidery in silk threads and guipure lace. Like that wasn't enough to raise the absolutely gorgeous quotient, the full sleeved gown, complete with sheer embroidery on the sleeves as well, was cinched at the waist with a delicate white belt.
The veil enveloped the radiant bride in a graceful canopy of tulle before falling at her feet. Rose paired the look with simple white pointed pumps and a white floral wreath, which perhaps was a homage to her wildling side. She carried a small bouquet in her hand as she made her way to the wedding. Her fun, playful yet wild princess slash wood sprite look was a far cry from Meghan Markle's plain Givenchy.
When Meghan married Harry in Windsor Castle last month, everyone was surprised with her choice of wardrobe. After all the hype about her dress for the longest time and speculation that she may even wear a suit, she took everyone a little aback when she stepped out of the car in her Givenchy off shoulder number. To put it politely, the then soon to be royal's dress was underwhelming.
One would argue that Meghan's wedding was a real royal affair and thus, perhaps had its own boundaries. She looked stunning, no doubt but since Rose's choice was pretty demure as well it wouldn't be wrong to say that out of the two Meghan definitely failed to give out any princess vibes.
The boat-necked white dress was designed by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy, the powerhouse French fashion house. Meghan, who is known to be outspoken about women's rights, exhibited her knack for giving her two cents here as well. Keller is a British designer who went on to be the first ever female artistic designer of Givenchy last year. She has previously designed for Pringle of Scotland and Chloe.
While the speculation was all about Ralph and Russo, Meghan had secretly picked who would dress her already. She met Meghan earlier this year and the pair worked closely together to create the dress. The dress was supposed to epitomize a timeless minimal elegance.
The open bateau neckline showed off Meghan's shoulders and the beautiful fit at the waist emphasizes her petite figure. The unique shape was made with using just half a dozen seams while the dress flowed towards a train at the back, cushioned by an underskirt of triple silk organza. Made from silk tulle, the trims of the veil had hand-embroidered flowers that took hundreds of hours to complete. Made from silk threads and organza, the veil is five meters long and had to be held by two pageboys as Meghan arrived. When it was being made, the workers had to clean their hands every half an hour of working, so that it could stay spotless!
The embroidery shows off one flower each from each country in the 53 nations in the Commonwealth. A clear tribute to Harry, as he is the ambassador of the group. Along with the flora of the Commonwealth, it also has two of her favorite flowers — Wintersweet and California Poppy. The former grows in the Kensington Palace, her present home and the latter is from her American home.
But here's why Rose did it better in spite of all these details, the clever weave of empowerment and the ridiculous $465,000 bill - her Elie Saab creation actually looks like a wedding dress instead of a political statement. And to think Rose slipped into the dress for a fraction of the price, a relatively meager $20,000. Markle reminded us all of JLo's look as Mary Fiore from 'The Wedding Planner', to be quite honest. While her minimalistic makeup and hair looked great, that dress was just boring.
When you really think about it, Meghan did have the opportunity. If you look closely, Rose's dress will give you flashbacks to Prince William and Kate Middleton's nuptials in 2011. Kate wore a fitted white V-neck gown with a long-sleeved lace overlay, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. The dress combined elements of quiet elegance with a stylish future duchess vibe and Kate rocked it flawlessly. To this day, when you browse through wedding dress ideas on Pinterest, you look up to Kate for inspiration. The beautiful dress made of French Chantilly lace and English Cluny lace is iconic. I'm almost certain Kate never meant to scream different and neither did Rose. Perhaps sometimes, it is better to let a wedding dress be a wedding dress.