Painstaking Process Created Princess Charlotte’s Christening Gown

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s youngest, Princess Charlotte, looked angelic during Sunday’s baptism, wearing a christening gown that reflected eight generations of royal history. The gown was remade in 2004 when the original was deemed too fragile to use and took a team of expert craftspeople, including royal dressmaker Angela Kelly, one month to recreate.

Princess Charlotte’s gown was an exact replica of the beautiful garment worn by Queen Victoria's firstborn, Victoria, Princess Royal, in 1841. Ten years ago, Queen Elizabeth II’s assistant and royal dressmaker Angela Kelly, was tasked with replacing the aging the gown, reported Us Weekly.

Kelly reportedly wanted to ensure that the material used for the dress would match the original as closely as possible. The royal dressmaker enlisted London company Joel & Son Fabrics, which traditionally supplies cloth to the queen and her household. Joel & Son Fabrics worked with a company in Italy to create the Honiton lace lined with white satin material.

Kelly and a dressmaking colleague then sat for hours over two to three days, to do the painstaking work of sketching out the designs to match the original. An insider told People that the designers wanted to make as exact a copy as possible. "It was made from scratch, from sketching it out, to embroidering the lace on a special silk-based tulle,” the source said. The source further mentioned that the christening gown was recreated in exactly the same way as the original. “Even though there was modern machinery, they had to go back to doing a lot of it by hand so there was a mix between by hand and machinery," the source said.

Once the tulle was completed, Kelly and her team embroidered the christening gown. The royal garment was hand-cut and hand-finished. Since then, the newer version was worn during royal christenings, including that of Prince George in 2013. According to the Telegraph, Princess Charlotte was the fifth baby to wear the recreated version.

The original christening gown was placed in storage, having been worn by 62 babies between 1841 and 2004.