Alone is exactly where any girl wearing it will stand, since this dress - and in fact every dress in the Ralph & Russo collection - will only be created once for each given country. Brides, even princesses, have to be first to order in their territory, before the gruelling process of creation begins - sometimes taking as long as a year, depending on the embroidery involved. This particular dress - "with a traditional feeling, but using modern techniques," Ralph explained - required 3,900 hours of hand embroidery (162 days if you worked round the clock); 40 different types of bead; and 25 different types of Swarovski crystal. The underlayers are tulle, hand-printed with a metallic Chantilly-lace effect, to give depth without weight - drawing on the grandeur yet airiness of Listri's work.