Royal Christening Style, Beth Ditto Wedding Dress and More

His Highness Baby George will be wearing the classic long lace gown – but what should his mum wear for the christening?

The etiquette surrounding royal christenings is mostly to do with gifts and thank-you notes, but it is apparently required that everybody wear a hat.  Well, of course.

We love Brit milliner Philip Treacy‘s latest collection – the Ivory Buntal Beret, pictured, is beautifully light and celebratory, while also sitting high enough that tiny kings-to-be can’t grab and pull it off.

Or if she wants something more avant-garde, she should go for Stephen Jones‘s couture hats, worn by everybody from Grace Jones to royals at Ascot.  His Model Millinery collection includes a hat inspired by ‘squalls’, with large feathers teetering on top of one another – a good representation of being a sleepless new mother.

Lace is very in this season, and we predict the Duchess will go for something elegant and light-coloured (noted to be very good for clearing off baby sick).

Perhaps the pastel pink short-sleeved number (pictured) from this season’s Valentino?  Or she could go for the best of both worlds with a pink-and-blue lace Erdem, whose dresses she loved in pregnancy.

Florals are also good for christenings – bright, cheerful and hide stains – and our current fave is Collette by Collette Dinnigan‘s Beautiful Dreamer dress, in teeny Victoriana florals.

However, Kate will probably favour a Brit designer, like Jenny Packham or Stella McCartney (though her current florals are bright neon – enough to make the Queen raise an eyebrow).

She wore Packham out of the hospital for the very first polka-dotted reveal, and fashion insiders are sure that she intended to give homage to Diana, who also wore polka dots when she appeared on the steps with Prince William.

And Diana, very importantly, also wore florals to the christening of that particular royal bub – with a very natty 80s straw hat.

And then there’s the coat.  (Of course she has to wear a coat – that’s her style.)

A Valentino sweet pink silk coat would be lovely, but a Dolce & Gabanna floral print trench would make everybody sit up.  However, we predict something like Stella McCartney’s latest range – blocky, simple, chic.

And, of course, nude pumps.  A gal’s got to have her staples.

What do you think Kate will wear for the Royal Christening?

Image: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Baby George Cambridge.

Designers Produce Exclusive Sketches Of Royal Baby Gifts

Women’s Wear Daily asked some of the world’s top designers to sketch out gift ideas for the new future King.

And the results are both adorable and wacky.

Christian Dior sent in the idea of a papoose, presumably made of real fur and sheepskin, for young HRH to be carried everywhere in decadent comfort against the British winters.

And Karl Lagerfeld designed a pacifier in the shape of a crown, so that the bub can quiet itself by chewing on a rubber image of what it’s going to have to wear on its head.

Vera Wang, of course, went classic, with ideas for engraved silver (unsurprising, since she specialises in wedding designs for gifts as well as dresses).  Sterling silver rattle, anybody?

However, the prize for the most over-the-top goes to rebel designers DSquared2, who decked out their imaginary royal baby in a mohawk and a Sex Pistols T-shirt with ‘God Save Granny’ written on it.

The most practical options?  Lacroix and Schiaparelli‘s onesies.  One’s in trademark multicoloured harlequin, the other covered in fanciful doodles of London gents in monocles and top hats.

One thing new babies always need?  New clothes for every change.

However, Kate and William have to respectfully return every gift that’s sent by non-family members, and ask for a donation to charity instead – so don’t get up your hopes of wrangling your way onto the Christmas card list with a diamond rattle.

And she did it in the designer who’s embraced her quirky style on his own catwalk.

Ditto walked down the aisle to wed her longtime girlfriend Kristin Ogata in Hawaii, and wore a custom-made Jean Paul Gaultier 50s-style gown.

It was strapless, many-layered and embraced the singer’s love for over-the-top style with huge swathes of tulle skirts straight out of rockabilly style.

And Ogata?  She wore a white shorts suit (very in for both ladies and men this season) with plain white shoes and no tie.

Ditto has been one of Gaultier’s inspirations for years, and walked the catwalk in his 2011 show.  She called his creation ‘my dream-come-true dress’.

And he joined in the celebrations, Tweeting ‘Congratulations to the newlyweds!’

One thing’s for certain – he didn’t design any footwear for Ditto, who fronts the band Gossip.  She went full Hawaiian style and got married barefoot.