September 28, 2021
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The First Kate Middleton Knockoff Wedding Gowns and Accessories Hit Stores; Here Are the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Mere minutes after Kate Middleton’s now-famous Sarah Burton for McQueen wedding gown was revealed, wedding dress “designers” scurried to see who could copy be inspired by it the quickest. “Simple” is one of the words that has been used most frequently to describe the gown, and though that hardly applies to the construction of the gown--lace workers washed their hands every 30 minutes and replaced their needles every three hours to ensure that the lace remained pure white--bridal companies and dress makers have nevertheless run with it to knock off the dress and get into the market ASAP. Shala Moradi of Faviana, a bridal label frequently inspired by celebrities’ gowns, told E!, “It’s easier than what I was expecting, and we’re going to do it in a few days.” We’re sure Sarah Burton and her team of artisans would take some exception to that statement. Moradi told E! that a bride called before the royal wedding saying that no matter what the dress looked like, she wanted a copy. Everyone from David's Bridal to Nordstrom is planning to carry the look-alike gowns, and stores started placing orders the day of the wedding. Click through our biggest Adventures in Copyright to date to check out the items inspired by the royal wedding---from The Dress, to accessories, to Pippa’s gown.
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Mere minutes after Kate Middleton’s now-famous

ABS by Allen Schwartz is well known for its copycat ways; the label churns out gowns inspired by Oscar winners and beyond. Schwartz whipped up a gown the day of the royal wedding which is being auctioned on

The Muyi Wedding Dress Company, located in Suzhou, China, made this dress, which sells for about $320. Suzhou is known as “Wedding Dress City” because it boasts more than 1,200 wedding gown factories. We’ll warrant every single one of them was working overtime this past weekend. The bride pictured at left was married in it 36 hours after the royal wedding took place.

Those kooks over at the

Angel Le, a bridal designer in Alexandria, VA, had this dress in her shop window 26 hours after the wedding. It retails for $1,500 and is made with “Italian satin.”

Priscilla of Boston already had this one (left) in their lineup, and were quick to let everyone know about it. The Oleg Cassini (below) at David's Bridal was also a pre-existing dress and a pretty good approximation of

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Mere hours after the big dress reveal, some shops got resourceful and offered lace boleros to get the look of Kate’s gown. We have a feeling this is going to be a cheap and easy way for brides to give the vibe without necessarily copying the whole thing. At left, a bolero from David’s Bridal. Below, an offering from White House/Black Market.

For as much attention as Pippa and her assets got in her Sarah Burton bridesmaid gown, we haven’t seen a ton of knockoffs yet. Allen Schwartz said they were working on one, and we’re sure others will, too. In the meantime, Nicole Miller let everyone know that she already had this dress in her lineup.

No one has really gone after the tiara yet, but we’re sure

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