Photo credit: Getty

OMG! The First Lady and Kate Middleton (the Duchess of Cambridge, if we’re using her proper title) were in the same room! Wearing clothes! Now we know why the Rapture was postponed.

Earlier today Michelle Obama chatted with the Duchess at Buckingham Palace in a blue floral Barbara Tfank dress and contrasting pink bolero jackets. The newlywed stuck to her classic high street (British translation: you don’t have to be royalty to afford it) style in a $340 dress from Reiss that’s already sold out online. {Fashionista}

If history repeats itself, Reiss could be on track to sell as many of those dresses as they can get in stock: the white dress Middleton wore in her engagement photos reportedly sold at a rate of one per minute after being identified.

We think Prince William and President Obama were wearing clothes too, but no one has noticed so we can’t be sure.

As we speak, Michelle Obama is enjoying a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, where she and the President will stay for two nights – in the same suite that Prince William and Kate Middleton used after they were married (we’ll let you draw your own connections there). There aren’t pictures available yet, but the First Lady looked positively stunning in a white halter neck gown, and we’re sure Duchess Catherine won’t disappoint either.

Update: the photos are in! View the white Tom Ford gown Michelle Obama wore to the state dinner at Buckingham Palace and the items we found that will let you steal the style.

It’s official! Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen designed the wedding gown fit for a princess.

Well, a duchess for now, as Kate Middleton and Prince William won’t take the titles of prince and princess until Prince Charles becomes king. The official Royal Wedding website puts to rest months of speculation on who would design one of the most visible wedding dresses of the year. Burton was also responsible for the dress of Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister and maid of honor. The v-neck is something of a signature for the future princess, but we also saw similarities to the wedding dress of Princess Grace of Monaco. In other words, bravo! to Sarah Burton for a gown that’s unique to the bride, but timeless enough to have its place in history, and pay tribute to Alexander McQueen’s legacy in a way the late designer likely never imagined.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (that’s Prince William and Kate Middleton if you missed it), Sarah Burton and one of the late, great kings of fashion.

From the website:

The Wedding Dress

Miss Catherine Middletonâ€s Wedding Dress has been designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing.  Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueenâ€s work.  Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress.

The dress epitomises timeless British craftsmanship by drawing together talented and skilled workmanship from across the United Kingdom.  The dress design pays tribute to the Arts and Crafts tradition, which advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often Romantic styles of decoration.  Ms Burtonâ€s design draws on this heritage, additionally giving the cut and the intricate embellishment a distinctive, contemporary and feminine character.

The design

The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace.  The lace design was hand-engineered (appliquéd) using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s.  Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock.

Hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace has been used throughout the bodice and skirt, and has been used for the underskirt trim.  With laces coming from different sources, much care was taken to ensure that each flower was the same colour.  The whole process was overseen and put together by hand by Ms Burton and her team.

The dress is made with ivory and white satin gazar.  The skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats.  The train measures two metres 70 centimetres.  The ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a hallmark of Alexander McQueenâ€s designs.  The back is finished with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops.  The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.

The Fabrics

French Chantilly lace was combined with English Cluny lace to be hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition.

All other fabrics used in the creation of the dress were sourced from and supplied by British companies.  The choice of fabrics followed extensive research by Sarah Burton and her team.

The Royal School of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN), based at Hampton Court Palace, assisted the Alexander McQueen team in accurately cutting out the delicate motifs from the lace fabrics and positioning the lace motifs with precision into the new design.  The lace motifs were pinned, ‘framed up†and applied with stab stitching every two to three millimetres around each lace motif.  The workers washed their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean.

The RSN workers included existing staff, former staff, tutors, graduates and students, with the youngest aged 19.

The RSNâ€s work was used primarily for the train and skirt of the Brideâ€s dress, the bodice and sleeves, the Brideâ€s shoes and the Brideâ€s veil.

Veil and Jewellery

The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, which was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.  The veil is held in place by a Cartier ‘halo†tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen.  The ‘halo†tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by The Duke of York (later King George VI) for his Duchess (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King.  The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday.

The Brideâ€s earrings, by Robinson Pelham, are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre.  Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family’s new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves.  The earrings were made to echo the tiara.  The earrings were a personal gift to the Bride from her parents for her Wedding Day.

Robinson Pelham have also designed and made a pair of diamond earrings for Miss Philippa Middleton.  These earrings are more floral in nature to compliment the headpiece worn by Miss Philippa Middleton during the Service.

A tourmaline and diamond pendant and matching earrings have been designed and made for Mrs. Carole Middleton.  Two gold stick pins, one with a single gold acorn at the head and the other with an oak leaf, are also worn respectively by the Father of the Bride, Mr. Michael Middleton, and the Bride’s brother, Mr. James Middleton.

Wedding Shoes

The wedding shoes have made hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.

Screenshot of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress via the Huffington Post

Seriously.

“As expected, the royal wedding has really captured the U.K.â€s imagination and it was no surprise that a William and Kate commemorative fridge was a popular choice,” said David Garden, Commercial Director for GE at GDHA. “It certainly wipes the floor with your usual commemorative tea towels and mugs and is most definitely one of the most novel royal wedding products we have seen.” {Today Show via Jezebel}

Garden hopes that “die-hard fans” or the father of the groom will decide it’s a good wedding gift. We like the idea of charitable donations as royal wedding gifts a lot more, but we do have a few questions.

1. What’s Tina Fey’s involvement with this? We refuse to believe the jokes on 30 Rock write themselves, but this refrigerator is making us rethink that.

2. Do you really want a picture of anyone staring back at you when you go for a midnight snack? Much less, royals. How can you feel comfortable drinking orange juice straight from the carton with a prince and princess staring back at you? It could only be more awkward if it were a picture of your mom.

3. We’re almost sure there will be commemorative magnets, but would that be too much royal memorabilia for one refrigerator or a necessary accessory.

4. Before this, the strangest memorabilia we knew about was a royal wedding condom. We never would have put this on the list of possibilities, but now that it is, what completely random royal wedding commemorative item will strip the refrigerator of it’s leading position in the “why?” category?

The royal wedding gift that keeps giving

What do you get the couple who has everything? You could always dip something in gold and add a few diamonds, but fortunately Prince William and Kate Middleton are going even classier than that.

In lieu of the cockatoos and barbecue set requested by William’s parents, the couple is exclusively requesting charitable donations to a variety of causes. {Huffington Post via Styleite}

While an anonymous spokesperson for Prince William said that he was “shocked and saddened” by the numerous catastrophes that have recenlty struck Japan, there aren’t any Japanese relief organizations on the list because it was finalized in advance of recent events and focused on countries he has visited.

Given the quality of memorabilia surrounding the Royal Wedding that’s emerged so far, we have to say a donation will not only make you feel better but will probably be something you don’t regret buying in a few years. Should you decide to forgo the cheesy coins and odd looking plates and cups, you’ll have a choice of 26 charities across five categories.

Organizations targeted by the Royal Wedding Charity Fund include charities focused on providing services in the arts and sport, animal and environmental conservation, military personnel charities (including one that would benefit volunteers helping to rebuild after the recent New Zealand earthquake), children’s charities and a myriad of smaller British charities.

All of the donations will be handled through the existing Prince William and Prince Harry Foundation.

One photo shows the couple warmly embracing each other, while another includes a more stately pose with portraits and other decorations from St. James’s Palace more clearly displayed in the background.

The Cut has identified Kate’s dress in the second photo as a year-old design from Reiss, a British retailer that sells moderately priced clothes, and the embroidered blouse in the close-up photo as one from UK retailer Whistles. Imagine the excitement everyone had when Michelle Obama started appearing in J.Crew as well as more established (and higher priced) labels, put a posh accent on it, and you basically understand the enthusiasm over the latest photos.

No word on what the retail response has been thus far, but the $500 dark blue Issa dress that the future princess wore to the engagement press conference sold out not long after Middleton wore it, and her engagement ring (which was once Princess Diana’s) has driven a resurgence in knockoffs as well.

There hasn’t been any confirmation on who will design her wedding dress, but gamblers in the UK are betting on Bruce Oldfield. {the Cut} We’re betting that an “inspired by gown” will make its way into stores not long after.