£100,000: Astonishing value of the dress that won a Prince's heart (and has hung in a wardrobe for eight years)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Iconic: Former designer Charlotte Todd with the sheer dress that Kate Middleton wore when Prince William fell for her has been valued at £100,000


It cost a mere £30 to cobble together. But the see-through black slip credited with helping Kate Middleton catch the eye of a prince could one day be worth £100,000.

William was mesmerised by his fellow student as she sashayed down the catwalk in the outfit at a university fashion show eight years ago.

Designer Charlotte Todd, who admitted the dress has been languishing at the back of her wardrobe ever since, has been told its value has rocketed to £10,000 since the couple announced their engagement.


Style queen: Kate, aged 19, wore the dress for a charity fashion show at St Andrews University


And according to one auction house, that could increase ten-fold when Kate becomes Queen.

Yesterday Miss Todd, 31, said there was little chance of her parting with it. ‘The dress is a part of fashion history – the moment William could first have fallen in love with Kate – and that makes me really proud,’ she said.

‘If it hadn’t been see-through, William might not have noticed her. I definitely think it has a played a part in the royal love story.

‘She looked fabulous and I think she could become a style icon like Princess Diana.
The only person I’d probably give it to is her – maybe in exchange for a wedding invitation. Of course I would love to design her wedding dress too.’

Miss Todd made the black and gold dress while studying fashion and textiles at the University of the West of England in 2000.

It took a week to knit together the silk fabrics and add a blue ribbon trim for a project appropriately called ‘the art of seduction’.


Enchanted: Prince William was clearly mesmerised when he saw Kate Middleton walk down the catwalk at the St Andrews University fashion show


Two years later St Andrew’s University, where William and Kate were both studying, asked to borrow it for a fundraising fashion show.

Kate was friends with William, then 19, but is thought to have been dating her first university boyfriend Rupert Finch at the time.

But that didn’t stop William admiring her. The second in line to the throne was pictured craning his neck to see the stunning brunette. After the show the dress was returned to Miss Todd, who packed it away in her mother’s wardrobe where it has remained ever since.

Miss Todd, from Bedminster, Bristol, said: ‘Kate was a great clothes horse to show off my design. Her body was the exact right shape to pull it off.’

Christine Satchett, from South London auctioneer Greasbys, said: ‘With important Royal items like this, if someone has got the money they will just keep on bidding.

‘I imagine she could get someone to pay £10,000 for it now.

‘But in years to come if Kate was on the throne it could reach up to £100,000. It was the same with Princess Diana’s clothes.’


Work of art: The piece took a week to make and was originally a skirt but Kate opted to wear it as an eye-catching dress instead



Royal affair: The couple are due to marry in April after an eight-year relationship




source: dailymail