'It Fitted A Little Too Well!': Pippa Middleton's Playful Response To Buzz Around Her Iconic White Dress
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The bride is inherently the star of any wedding, and that's even more true in royal circles. The eyes of the world were on Kate Middleton back in April 2011, when she walked down the aisle at Westminster Abbey to marry Prince William, well on her way towards her destiny as the Princess of Wales. However, eyes were also on her sister Pippa Middleton, who wore one of her best wedding guest looks ever, and perhaps the most famous maid of honor dress in history. Papers in the U.K. and around the world made a huge deal of the younger Middleton in her gown, which was also designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. In particular, they focused on the way it accentuated her backside, leading Pippa to address the controversy a few years later.
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"As I have found out, recognition has its upside, its downside and — you may say — its backside," she said during a dinner in 2014, adding that she was "glad it fitted" but "in retrospect, it fitted a little too well!" (via Splash News). While the royal family's policy is "never complain, never explain," Pippa is clearly not bound by the same strict expectations as her in-laws; she also touched on the topic in her 2012 book "Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends," writing, "It is a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom."
With 23 million viewers watching from the U.S. alone, Pippa walking down the aisle behind her sister turned into a definitive moment in royal wedding history, and in the history of fashion. Now, as fashion buffs looking back, we think it's high time to unpack why, in 100 years of bridesmaid dresses, this one became so iconic.
Why did Pippa Middleton's dress break the internet?
Like the rest of Kate Middleton's bridal aesthetic, Pippa Middleton's dress was understated. It featured a cowl neck, though there was fabric in place to avoid any cleavage unbefitting of a royal wedding, and a floor-length silhouette with romantic capped sleeves. The dress was trimmed in lace and had a slightly cinched waist, but it was the form-fitting shape that attracted the most attention, particularly around Pippa's backside.
The dress still had some give, rather than being skin-tight, and it made for a chic moment in the stunning style transformation of Pippa Middleton. So, the resulting media mayhem was probably a combination of the fact that the dress was slightly more form-fitting than we're used to seeing at royal weddings, and the fact that Pippa was caught at compromising angles throughout the broadcast. "It had a lot to do with the camera constantly catching Pippa bending over," one Redditor theorized. "The dress was also pretty form fitting, as far as 'bridesmaid at a formal, daytime wedding' goes." Meanwhile, fans hit back at accusations that Pippa stole Kate's thunder, with one commenting on YouTube, "She did not upstage the bride. It was a bit snug. It was probably best to acknowledge the snugness of the dress. Weddings are never complete without all the funny mistakes. She looked beautiful." Another agreed, "Pippa looked fine. Her dress fit just right. I don't understand the obsession with her back end."
Interestingly, Cameron Diaz wore a strikingly similar dress, also by Alexander McQueen, to the Golden Globes the year before — and hers was bright red. On a Hollywood red carpet, no one batted an eye at the silhouette of this gown, so the fanfare likely comes down to the context and culture around royal fashion rather than the dress itself.