Kate middleton wedding dress

Will the dress be by Alexander McQueen or Alice Temperley or Bruce Oldfield? Groomed in the art of dressing by the likes of Trinny and Susannah, and Gok Wan, we are now all au fait with what our clothes "say" about us and what the choice of a designer will say about the kind of princess Kate Middleton intends to be.

Since the last royal wedding of note, that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the British fashion industry has changed beyond recognition. It has risen to the top of the news agenda to become a topic of national importance.

This level of fashion literacy simply didn't exist even five years ago.

In 1981 there was no secrecy about the designer of Lady Diana Spencer's wedding dress. Everyone knew it was going to be made by Elizabeth and David Emanuel. But even if the name had been kept under wraps it is unlikely that we would have cared so much. Back then, pushed to name a fashion designer, most people would have struggled (the Emanuels became household names only after the royal wedding). In 2011 the names of fashion houses, brands and designers trip easily off the tongue.