Meghan Markle’s wedding dress got a nod of approval from Elizabeth Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding dress with her then-husband David Emanuel.
“I thought she looked absolutely beautiful,” Emanuel told PEOPLE of Markle’s pure white silk Givenchy gown, which was created by British designer Clare Waight Keller.
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The dress featured an open bateau neckline, a sculpted waist and slim three-quarter sleeves, which added a note of refined modernity. The also incorporated a five meters long train, which flowed in soft round folds cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza.
“I expected it to not have decoration,” Emanuel said, adding that the dress’ simplicity made a “really solid fashion statement.”
“It was absolutely plain and pure and elegant,” she added. “Past royal wedding gowns tend to be very classic and very traditional, and this wasn’t because it did not have all the lace and all the decoration and anything on it. It was a new kind of look, but still classical and regal.”
While in the days leading up to the Royal Wedding, many names were rumored to have been tapped as Markle’s possible bridal designer, but Emmanuel says Keller’s name was not mentioned.
“It was always Erdem or Christopher Bailey but I had not her name come up,” the designer remarks. “And I think it’s really nice that it is somebody really nice that not a lot of people outside of fashion know of.”
The designer further praised the dress, commenting on its sharp lines. She told PEOPLE that the gown “will be copied because it was so different.”
“Probably people will [be] thinking about having very long tulle trains as well. It is a very soft net — you can get the crunchy net, which is one sort of look, or this very beautiful, almost like a jersey tulle that falls like a drape and it is very pretty,” Emmanuel adds.
When asked how she thought Markle’s gown compared with Diana and Kate Middleton’s dresses, the designer said that while both Kate and Meghan’s gowns “are very classic,” Diana’s “was of its time.”
“It was very much of the ‘80s and would look unusual if it was out there now. Whereas I think Kate and Meghan’s dresses would look perfect any time,” she explains. “In the ’80s we were all a bit crazy and over-the-top when it came to drama and effect and everything.”
“But those dresses are very classic. It is different times,” she added.
