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About That Bespoke Word….and Kate’s Wardrobe

We are back with a quick update to Kate’s Calendar, and then a look at a topic many of us have wondered about as we have followed the Duchess’s style. First, the engagement added to Kate’s calendar.

Friday, June 16:  In her role as Patron of the 1851 Trust, the Duchess will attend the charity’s final Land Rover BAR Roadshow at the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre east of London. Kate will join in an educational treasure hunt with students from four East London schools; the group will also spend time with Sir Ben Ainslie, leading the British effort to win the 2017 Cup.

 

Now to our primary focus, answering often-asked questions about some confusing fashion terminology. Our guide through the different terms is by contributing writer Brooke Nurthen, who has authored some terrific posts for What Kate’s Kids Wore.

While the Duchess of Cambridge frequently wears one-off designs, the distinction between haute couture, bespoke, custom-made and made-to-measure can be tricky.

The majority of Kate’s wardrobe is ready-to-wear (RTW) clothing, purchased ‘off the peg’. We’ve noted in many instances the Duchess having had alterations or tailoring done to a certain piece, to improve the fit, ensure the piece falls and wears appropriately on her, or just to change a design element to be more to her liking. Good examples of off-the-rack designs are the LK Bennett Jude jacket and Davina dress first worn for engagements in Leicester and again for ICAP Charity Day.

Kate Middleton LK Bennett Davina Jude outfit ICAP Charity Day

©Polaris/Splash News/Polaris

The umbrella term ‘custom’, applies to most of what we’ll discuss today – a made-to-measure, bespoke, or haute couture garment could all be described as ‘custom made’.

To start from the top – haute couture is the pinnacle of art and expense in the fashion world. ‘Haute Couture’ is a strictly protected term, and only designers accredited by the French Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture can use the term. To qualify, fashion labels must meet the following criteria:

  • Fashion houses must have a workshop in Paris.
  • Employ at least 20 full-time technicians (who may be specialty seamstresses or embroiderers, as well as those who measure, fit and cut).
  • Present two haute couture collections in Paris per year. These collections must comprise both day and evening wear.

Fourteen official members, five foreign ‘correspondent’ members and nine guest members currently make up the Chambre. The full list can be found here; members include Givenchy, Christian Dior, Giambattista Valli and Maison Margiela. While haute couture designs can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, these houses also will usually also produce pret-a-porter (ready to wear) garments and show at regular fashion week events in March and September. More detail about haute couture pieces via a 2015 Huffington Post story:

Due to the insane amount of time fashion houses put into creating haute couture pieces, it should come as no surprise that a garment like that is going to cost you a pretty penny. The cheapest of couture pieces will cost you $10,000, but evening gowns start at $60,000 and can cost upwards of $100,000.

Needless to say, with a price tag like that, the market for haute couture isn’t that big. It is reported that about 2,000 women worldwide purchase haute couture and of those 2,000, only 200 are regular buyers.

As far as we know, the haute couture label isn’t applicable to anything we’ve seen the Duchess wear. As we’ll explain, this doesn’t mean we haven’t been treated to some incredible custom-made fashions in Kate’s wardrobe. We’ll get to those in a minute; first, a sampling of couture designs from the spring shows. London-based luxury label Ralph and Russo, designed by Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo, is currently a guest member of the Haute Couture Chambre. The duo presented some wondrous pieces in their January show – and some which I can definitely imagine modified, or as-is, for Kate.

The next step down the fashion ladder is ‘bespoke’, which refers to a design imagined and made specifically for the client. To be truly bespoke, the item’s pattern is made entirely from body measurements of the future wearer. ‘Bespoke’ needs distinguishing from ‘Made-to-Measure’ – garments also created from the client’s body measurements but adapted to a pre-existing pattern. Bespoke is Kate’s arena. This is where we find the bulk of her special pieces and an area which will only grow for her in years to come. Examples of bespoke items worn by Kate would include her wedding dresses and the Jenny Packham pieces worn leaving the hospital on the birth of Prince George and Princess Charlotte.Kate Middleton Duchess Cambridge McQueen Wedding Gown Jenny Packham Lindo Wing

The Alexander McQueen look worn to Prince George’s christening is a good example of a made-to-measure style. The original design for the garment originated with the spring/summer 2012 collection. It was an elegant, thoughtful and well-made design, but without the label of ‘haute couture,’ something clearly not necessary to the creation of a beautiful and appropriate garment.

Duchess Cambridge Kate Middleton McQueen Christening Prince George

PA Wire/Lyst

Kate works with a small network of designers – Alexander McQueen, Jenny Packham, and Catherine Walker, to name a few – who cater to the most special of occasions. State dinners, christenings, and other major events warrant a bespoke creation. There’s an oft-mentioned theory that bespoke garments draw less attention to Kate’s wardrobe for particularly serious or sombre occasions. And, as a duchess with a husband second in line to the throne, the prerogative to have some items made up to your style – particularly in the formative years of a lifelong position in a worldwide spotlight – is surely hers.

Some memorable bespoke daywear looks from recent years are seen below.Duchess Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead Jenny Packham McQueen Lace Aubergine Coat Christmas 2011

From left to right: the Emilia Wickstead coat worn for the Order of the Thistle service back in 2012; the Alexander McQueen lace dress initially seen at the 2012 Jubilee church service, and then again at a 2014 summer garden party; the black-lined, cream lace dress attributed to Jenny Packham, worn to the service for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in 2016; and the aubergine coat first seen at Christmas in 2011. Kensington Palace only specified that the coat was created by an ‘independent dressmaker’ – often speculated to be one of the Queen’s seamstresses.

‘Bespoke’ would also be the right word to describe the vast majority of the Queen’s wardrobe. While this isn’t ‘What Her Majesty Wore’, for further reading on the topic of bespoke fashion in the royal world I can highly recommend the 2012 book, Dressing the Queen by Angela Kelly, HM’s personal assistant and the head of her wardrobe team. It’s a truly fascinating read covering the fabrics, colours and designs of the Queen’s wardrobe, and explaining the full design process. It’s a must-read for the keen royal style watcher and displays the epitome of beautiful, considered, bespoke fashion.

How long does it take to create your average bespoke garment? This comes via a Grazia UK story cited in our original post about the Emilia Wickstead coatdress:

Our pals at Emilia Wickstead tell Grazia Daily that this is a bespoke dress specially made for Kate…. the yellow-gold raffia fabric featured a lot in the Spring Summer 2012 collection. They also tell us that altogether a dress like this takes about 6 weeks to complete.

We’ve also seen a number of bespoke evening gowns over the years. From left to right: the royal blue Jenny Packham beaded design worn for a gala in India; another Packham creation in red for the diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace in 2016; and back in 2012, the Alexander McQueen white and gold gown worn to a state dinner in Malaysia. Even though all of these may appear to fit the definition of haute couture they do not, as they were not created by one of the official Chambre fashion houses.©

A big ‘thank you’ to Brooke, for doing such a stellar job walking us through fashion terminology that can bewilder and confuse many a fashion follower.

While many of us would love to see Kate in an haute couture design, I think that is unlikely. Not only is the price far beyond what she typically pays for bespoke pieces, I don’t think she is so committed to fashion she would be interested in the time and energy involved in commissioning a piece from one of the officially recognized brands.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We originally included the Jenny Packham evening gown Kate wore in Paris in the montage of bespoke evening gowns. It should not have been have been described as a bespoke piece, because, as Laurie pointed out in a comment, the same design was worn by Taylor Swift several years ago. A *big* thank you to Laurie for letting us know so we could correct the post.

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ElizaMo

Tuesday 13th of June 2017

Thanks so much for such a gorgeous post with lots of sumptuous dresses to contemplate. While I've been too busy to get here it's been cheering me up to think of as I ploughed through life off-line.

It's great to have these frequently interchangeable terms laid out. I must have read the conditions for haute couture a thousand times but somehow when you spell it out it becomes so much more crystal clear. I suppose part of the problem is the way the words like couture, customised and bespoke get bandied around about the same outfit. I really miss Lili’s input on a topic like this.

The Ralph and Russo dresses are mouth-watering, the Chanel outfits quite perfect, imaginative and edgy in classic silhouettes. They might be a bit sharp for Kate but those suits are superb. Glad to see we have a new date in sight, Kate has been taking a break which is understandable as I feel we’ve seen her virtually every week since the New Year.

Lauren Quist

Monday 12th of June 2017

I enjoyed this article; thanks for enlightening us! Could you write further about this: What kind of 'creative control' might designers have when Kate obtains a garment (off the rack, made to measure or bespoke) and then wears their creations in public? I imagine that a big house can handle Kate looking less than fabulous in their garment, but for a small new designer, they need Kate to show their piece at its best. I can imagine them saying, " Kate, call me anytime, we'll tailor it. ANytime, Kate!" And would a designer tell Kate that a certain look or a certain design element just doesn't suit her?

Carol San Diego Ca.

Sunday 11th of June 2017

Thank you for giving us this wonderful post with so much information. Especially when the Duchess is not out and about these days. So glad I checked your post this morning!

Such a fascination on what goes into her choices and what it takes to make such beautiful pieces. I often wonder after looking at all the dresses the duchess has worn, where are they kept? what determines which will be worn again? Are their notes taken on pieces and public response? Or is this all the mystery that surrounds the Royal Family?

Thank you again for a wonderful read!

Brooke Nurthen

Sunday 11th of June 2017

Wouldn't we love to know - what I wouldn't give for a peek inside that closet! Thank you Carol!

michelle

Sunday 11th of June 2017

This was a great post and very informative.

It made me think about all the clothes she has made especially for her and one thing that has always intrigued me, like her Christopher Kane outfit or even some of her Sarah Burton designs. I was wondering if you can actually say these are under the Christopher Kane label, or some of the designs by Sarah Burton actually be classified as a McQueen piece. As some of the things, specifically the Christopher Kane, look nothing like the aesthetic this brand shows? Technically you could employ a seamstress from any high end label to create these designs for you? Some of the first clothes she wore by Sarah Burton, were referred to by the media as Sarah Burton for McQueen. Some of these have then later become available under the McQueen label, others have not? Like the Queen has most her clothes made by Angela Kelly, Kate could technically employee her own seamstress and have most of her bespoke outfits made by this one person, not by different fashion houses, as a lot of these do not fit/match silhouettes/fabrics they are known for? Also her McQueen Blackwatch Coat, would you say that is a Hybrid of Bespoke and Made to Measure, as it is based off a McQ piece but designed for Kate?

Brooke Nurthen

Sunday 11th of June 2017

I agree with Susan, great points Michelle! I also agree that no designer is going to turn the Duchess down if she asks for a custom made piece with their label on it. It definitely begs the question as to whether in future she will employ someone along the lines of HM's Angela Kelly, to make these items for her exclusively. This would be much more likely when she becomes Princess of Wales, it may be felt to be too extravagant for now, even if it did technically work out to be more cost-savvy.

I wanted to add another reason "Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen" is often referenced, particularly in regards to the wedding dress. As an eponymous label with a recently deceased head designer, I believe KP, AMcQ and others referred to the designs as "Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen" to avoid confusion and highlight the true designer - given the label itself doesnt bear her name. Does that make sense?

As for the Black Watch coat, it's very hard to say (we aren't really to know whether pattern pieces were borrowed from another piece or not, and it's so hard to tell!) but I'd wager it's technically bespoke and was conceived entirely as a one off for Kate... but I could definitely be wrong!

Thank you for your comment! :)

admin

Sunday 11th of June 2017

Those are all great points, Michelle, and excellent topics of discussion. I actually referred to some of the early pieces as "Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen," for several months, if I remember correctly. One thing that pushed me toward simply saying "Alexander McQueen" was the volume of items from the brand Kate was wearing. It seemed that the Duchess was going to wear the label with some frequency, and I thought it possible, if not likely, Kate might be working with other personnel, staff under Ms, Burton's guidance. I'm sure Sarah Burton signs off on anything the Duchess is going to wear, but I don't imagine Kate works exclusively with her when she is ordering items. I agree with you; we have seen garments that don't epitomize the design aesthetic of specific labels, especially those that might be considered hipper or edgier. The two you note, Christopher Kane and Alexander McQueen, come most quickly to mind. Although I think the longer Sarah Burton has been at the helm, the more we see RTW collections that appeal to a broader market. Many of Kate's dresses/coats are almost identical to styles sold at higher-end retailers. So the deviation from the original McQueen aesthetic isn't as jarring as it might be for some brands. (Oddly, looking at Christopher Kane before writing this, I was struck by how "mainstream" his pre-fall and fall 2017 RTW designs seemed.) A major contributor to the equation: If I'm Christopher Kane, or Sarah Burton, or almost any other designer, I'm not likely to turn down a request to create a dress for the Duchess of Cambridge; I accept the commission with the understanding the piece will need to be integrated into a wardrobe that is not one worn by a fashionista, but a royal, and it will likely entail a more conservative approach. Really good points for converation! :)

Carol

Saturday 10th of June 2017

I don't think anybody has mentioned this but wouldn't the beautiful tweed (?) piece by Channel the DOC wore in Paris be Haute Couturre? If so, she has worn Haute Coururre.

admin

Saturday 10th of June 2017

Hi Carol, that is a good question; I wondered about the same thing when working on the post, forgetting it was based on a design from this year's pre-spring collection: http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fashion/products/ready-to-wear/g/s.look-50-spring-summer-2017-pre-collection.17P.17P50.c.17P.html

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