whoever gown likely was chosen by committee

When Kate Middleton walks down the section later this month to get married to King William, the would-be brides watching out there will definitely home in on her dress.

Wedding planning industry insiders expect her gown to be duplicated many times over as soon as the public gets its first view.

Some wedding dresses leave a legacy beyond the next-day knockoffs: Princess Diana's grand gown, Elegance Kelly's gorgeous one, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's simple container — and especially Queen Victoria's white ball gown — changed the way brides dressed for years into the future.

Middleton's is likely to fall into that category.

"Kate's dress will be an important dress, one which will be talked about for the rest of time, inch says Millie Martini Bratten, editor-in-chief of Brides journal.

Diana's dress helped define the brilliance of fashion in the early 1980s, Martini Bratten says, but Middleton's might be even more influential because women relate to her as a 29-year-old with a developed sense of style, compared with the 19-year-old Diana, whoever gown likely was chosen by committee.

Also, pictures of Middleton's gown will immediately be posted online for discussion and review, notes Darcy Callier, publisher in chief of Martha Stewart Weddings. "It's amazing how much brides are influenced in what other people wear, especially royalty, celebrities, presidents' children. Before Chelsea Clinton's wedding was over, every bride saw that Notara Wang dress and wanted some version of computer, inch Callier says.

Celebrity red-carpet looks are modified for the section, says Marchesa co-founder and designer Georgina Chapman, but many women have been thinking about their fantasy robes for a long time , nor turn on a dime. "Wedding robes are unlike any other dresses, inch she says, because brides' decisions "are often less trend-driven, and more personally focused on how they want to look and feel on their big day.

Still, a princess holds particular sway because of the fairy-tale area of weddings.

"A regal element makes it more dreamlike, and a big day is your time to look like a princess, inch says Kimberly Lee Minor, chief fashion strategist of the wedding planning label Priscilla of Celtics, which made robes for the children of Presidents Johnson and Nixon.