How Does Princess Eugenie's Wedding Dress Compare to Mom Sarah Ferguson's Gown?

Christopher Luu
Updated

A royal wedding means a royal wedding dress. And like her cousins-in-law, Princess Eugenie's dress sparked speculation months before her actual wedding day. Who would design it? What would it look like? Of course, details were sparse and rumors ran rampant leading up to the main event. But instead of comparing it to the more recent royal weddings, why not compare it to her mother's gown, which made headlines in 1986 when it arrived at Westminster Abbey.

Eugenie's Peter Pilotto dress featured an off-the-shoulder neckline and a long train, but she noticeably skipped the veil.

African-born British couturier Lindka Cierach designed Fergie's dress. Being that it was 1986, it's not surprising that the gown featured puffy sleeves and plenty of embroidery and detail. Being the decade of excess, the dress reflected everyone's over-the-top mood. And being that the public didn't really see Ferguson as a fashion plate the same way they do today with Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, expectations were low.

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Adding the fact that Ferguson chose a relative unknown meant that fashion critics were expecting the worst. When they saw the dress, however, there was nary a naysayer. The gown was lauded for incorporating beautiful embroidery and a super-flattering scoop neck. Like most royal gowns, it ended up influencing many brides and copies of the stunner were in stores after just a few hours. Not only did it ride the wave of excess, it gave brides everywhere a reason to embrace their inner maximalists.

According to The Mirror, Cierach said that "her team of five women worked on the gown for four months." And like other royal gowns, everything had to be kept under wraps — literally. The Mirror notes that "determined to keep the design a secret, [the design team] covered the fourth floor of her studio with paper as they made sure no paperwork made it into the bin [garbage can] for fear of it being sifted."

Of course, copies and inspired designs are going to hit shelves in no time now that Eugenie's made its big debut. But it'll take a little longer to see if it has a lasting impact they way her mother's did.