Princess line for Princess

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33383, 15 November 1973, Page 1

Princess line for Princess

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, November 14. Princess Anne’s wedding dress (see picture) was in pure white silk, and, appropriately, in the traditional Princess line.

The graceful dress, specially woven in extrafine silk, had a high neckline, with the Princess line emphasised at the bodice with fine, graduated pin tucks.

The dress swirled out into a wide flare, curving back into a circular train.

The sleeves flared out from just above the elbow into huge, arum lily-shaped, diaphanous Elizabethan dips. These dramatic cuffs dipped to about knee height. Under them were delicate, pleated, white chiffon undersleeves, ballooned into narrow bands at the wrists. A transparent shoulder train swept right down! over the dress train and shimmered with white sprays of silk orange blossom and silver threads, and was embroidered with pearls and tiny mirrors. The Princess chose sensible low-heel, pump court shoes in white silk, lined with gold kid for maximum comfort. The finishing touch to the bridal gown came from a gossamer veil in white, pure-silk net, held in place by a diamond tiara, which belonged to the Queen Mother. From the back of the gown there was a scalloped effect —circular white silk dress, then train shimmering with jewels, veiled with purewhite net. The embroidery on the wedding gown ran right around the high, almost poloneck, and across the shoulders, and was carried on along the arum splits of both huge sleeves.

Special material The material for the dress was specially made in pure ivory silk to the requirements of Susan Small’s designer, Maureen Baker. The silk was a rich double fabric, with a gleam which had been achieved by a special weave using more than 1000 threads of 20-denier silk to every inch. It was designed and woven at Sudbury, Suffolk, by a firm which has been making fine silk fabrics for eight generations. Modern touch A modem touch in fashion came from the bridesmaid’s dress, worn by Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret’s daughter, who wore a floor-length pinafore dress in pure silk organza, mounted on silk and wool. The sleeves under the pina«

fore were lattice-worked and long in silk organza and satin ribbon all-over, embroidered with 5000 small pearls for an encrusted jewelled effect. There was a cake frill around the neck-line and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones wore a jewelled Juliet cap over the page-boy hair style, and carried a tiny ball of white carnation petals suspended on a white ribbon. On the top of the ball was a miniature spray of flowers like those of the bride’s bouquet.

Susan Small, the ready-to-wear house, whose first Royal order for a wedding gown this was, has not disclosed the price of the gown. The Queen wore a sapphire-blue silk dress in a Princess-line, the same style as Princess Anne’s wedding dress. The Queen Mother wore a sable-trimmed, beige and gold silk outfit.