A Charlotte Todd dress worn by Kate Middleton sold at auction in 2011 (London, March 16, 2011). Paul Hackett
The story of the friendship between two students at the prestigious St Andrews University would have needed a dress to pass for royal love. Chronicle of a kit with an undoubted destiny.
That was twenty-one years ago. This Tuesday, 2002 on March 26, students on the fashion and textiles course at the University of St Andrews are in turmoil. The evening takes place “don’t walk”, the tenth edition of the annual charity parade featuring their works. The show is made entirely by students, from the costumes to the show’s staging, including the casting, which is made up of students. Among the volunteers ready to play models that day, one Kate Middleton.
The 20-year-old student was admitted to a Scottish university last year to study art history. Undoubtedly, he did not expect to take his first steps on the podium after a few months. All the more so as this performance changes the course of his and the UK’s history. That evening, Kate Middleton marched out in a sheer dress that would have thrown off one of her friends in the room, Prince William.
“Wow, that’s sexy!”
The dress worn by Kate Middleton was designed by student Charlotte Todd. The see-through clothing is part of a project called The art of seduction. A follow-up thread from a budding designer who envisioned this piece of light silk knit with two stripes of stretch wool and duck blue ribbon in her bedroom. Charlotte Todd first thinks of a skirt, but eventually turns it into a dress. The future Princess of Wales wears it with a black underwear set during the parade. She will also wear other outfits including a white bra mixed with a sarong tied at the waist. Charlotte Todd will explain that she did not recognize her model. In a 2011 documentary When Kate Met William: A Tale of Two Livesshe slips, however, that one evening her model “might have had an idea” by displaying such a silhouette, recognizing the prince in the room.
“Wow, that’s sexy!” William would trust a friend in a see-through dress during a student transition, says Kathy Nicol, a journalist specializing in royalty, who reports these words in the pages of her book. The making of a royal romance in 2011. Other close friends of the two main characters and attendees during the evening will attest to the effect the outfit had on the prince. And while the pair claim they first struck up a friendship during their first year at St Andrews, Kate Middleton and Prince William are rumored to have shared their first kiss the evening after the parade. Either way, the legend will make these few steps in a see-through dress the birth certificate of a royal love story.
Charlotte Todd and her dress at the auction on March 16, 2011 (London) Fred Duvall
Knocked down for £78,000
For the dress, the story does not end there. As soon as the couple officially confirmed their relationship, the outfit made headlines in the British tabloids, which did not stop publishing pictures of a young Kate, curly hair and a see-through dress. Riding on the media effect of the royal wedding, Charlotte Todd tries to replicate her in spring 2011. masterpiece in a collection that will not find its audience. Finally, it was during the auction of clothing associated with the royal family, such as Lady Dee’s dress, that the garment was given a second life. During the session, which is held in London, the mystery shopper buys over the phone, through an on-site representative. The latter is ordered to be limited to the sum of £20,000 (€22,560). The piece eventually sold to its client for £78,000 (€87,989). It only cost Charlotte Todd about thirty pounds to make. At the end of the sale, the winning broker trusts the reporter Telegram: that Prince William was in the running, questioning the identity of his client.
Kate Middleton’s transparent dress has joined her personal archive. For now, the mystery remains. However, it is certain that his memory remains in the memory of the Princess of Wales. In 2012, during a dinner with students at the University of St. Andrews, Kate Middleton winked. You never know what you will be asked to wear.
Source: Le Figaro
