December 2014 - WEDDING FLOWERS
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Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year 2014

Just a little video that captures the whole year in 30 seconds. 

Her unusual brooch choice as well as her Christmas broadcast have both been covered at the Jewel Vault, as always.
Princess Anne led the charge, as it should be, but she and her mother were alone in their colorful coats. We needed those shots of color, really, because most of the rest of the family defaulted to their favorite neutrals.
Princess Beatrice sported a RED Valentino coat, previously worn to Ascot, and some serious shoes that leave me applauding her shoe spirit if nothing else. (Let me update this to add: RED Valentino is a brand, an offshoot of Valentino, and not a reference to the color of her clearly un-red coat, for those of you that think I've gone color blind.)
The Duchess of Cambridge looked nice and cozy in a long Moloh coat, but I have to admit I preferred Autumn Phillips' touch of fur when it came to added winter warmth.
She and Princess Eugenie, with a welcome dose of pink in her hat, took my best dressed prize (apart from QEII, who as always is on her own level), but it was a pretty average showing on the sartorial front. To be expected, really. But the Countess of Wessex was determined to make up for it with her showing at church the Sunday after...
I mean, Sandringham is a hunting estate. Maybe she took this bad boy down herself.

That's all for now, folks. We're heading back into our semi-hiatus and will return at the end of the week for the year's first tiara events, the sparkling New Year's Courts!
Programming Note: Holiday Hiatus!

Programming Note: Holiday Hiatus!

We'll be on semi-hiatus for about a week, but we will have Christmas gatherings to discuss, so tune back in this weekend for that.

In the mean time: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a soon-to-be Happy New Year to you all! I wish you all the sparkly presents your heart desires.

Year in Review: 2014's Honorable Mentions

We've reached the end of our year in review series! We've covered the events, the tiaras, and the best outfits from each of our most frequently featured royal women. But our regular players aren't the only ones churning out great appearances, of course, and so today belongs to the other outfits worn this year that you just can't forget. A few of my favorite 2014 things...

Charlotte Casiraghi
Charlotte Casiraghi's partnership with Gucci is paying off in the sartorial stakes. This Gucci dress was sleek in all the right ways, with just a hint of metallic to set things off.

I'm a sucker for a good windowpane print and this Dior hits the spot. Add in a full skirt, and I'm well and truly done for - yes, the couture queen (couture sheikha) struck again this year.

Princess Beatrice
This one has all my favorites: bringing another designer into the royal mix (Nicholas Oakwell), a little full skirt, white, and colorful accessories (purple shoes, hello!). A winner all around for Beatrice.

Princess Haya
Someone has to bring the Eliza Doolittle flavor to Ascot each year. I'm pretty sure it's written right in the rules. And Haya did so in major fashion this year, instantly winning a spot on my best of the year list.

Hey, I did warn you about my love affair with the color white. I could go on, but we'll cap it there and turn it over to you:

What other sartorial moments will you remember from 2014?

Photos:  Richard Bord/Wire Image, Stuart C. Wilson, and Chris Jackson via Getty Images; Qatar News Agency/Style.com
Year in Review: Máxima and Victoria's 2014 Bests

Year in Review: Máxima and Victoria's 2014 Bests

I hear some people like to see things they find relatable when it comes to their royal fashion watching. Something applicable to their own daily lives. Not me, man. Give me the stuff I can only dream about, any day. And it just so happens that both of the bests we have today are the stuff of princess dreams.

Queen Máxima
Once again forcing me - forcing me - to break my current policy to try and stick with official events, Máxima's amazing Jan Taminiau ensemble for her brother's wedding just can't be ignored. It's so dreamy!
The bigger the gown, the better her sartorial work. (My runner up for her best of the year: the slight redo of her butterscotch Jan Taminiau gown worn when Sweden came calling). We can still count on that one fact, despite a multitude of contenders for her worst of the year (my vote would have to go to that ill-advised jumpsuit).

Crown Princess Victoria
It's funny, I think, that both of these over the top bests belong to women that fall into that same sartorial category of extreme highs coupled with extreme lows (when they were good, they were very very good...but when they were bad, they were horrid). I had a few candidates for Victoria's worst of the year (never forget the Duct Tape Disco Incident) and not nearly enough candidates for her best (runner up: that colorful Preen dress). She gave us more repeats of one dress than I think we've ever seen before in a year, wearing the same H&M dress in two different colors for multiple occasions. But just when we'd lost all hope for variety, she pulls out a Nobel dress of epic proportions.
I mean...
Come on! My inner 6 year old wouldn't have it any other way.

Your turn:

What are you naming the Best of 2014 for Victoria and Máxima?

Photos: Getty Images; Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Sunday Tidbits for December 21: Christmas Time Is Here...

...and the tidbits this week are jam-packed with holiday treats guaranteed to give you a warm fuzzy feeling. Cute kids! Uniforms! Miniature horses! Scandinavian interiors! We've got something for everyone:

--The Swedish royal court announced that Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill are expecting their second baby, due in Summer 2015. Congrats! [Kungahuset]

--It's not Christmas until the Norwegian royal family does their annual photoshoot around the Christmas tree. You know how I love it when they break out the traditional dress. [TV2, Hello]

--And it's also not Christmas until we get an adorable little video greeting from Haga Palace and Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, and Princess Estelle:
Cuteness and another look at Haga's interiors, which I find to be the perfect mix of palace chic and modern comfort.[Kungahuset YouTube]

--They also released a few new Estelle pictures. She's wearing a Ralph Lauren dress and Livly shoes, I know you needed to know that. [Svenskdam]
Kate Gabor/kungahuset.se

--And in even more Estelle news, she joined her mom to accept the Christmas trees for their home this week. [Kungahuset]
kungahuset.se

--Hey, Sweden's not the only country with cute royal kids! Belgium's in the game too. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde brought the whole family along for the annual palace Christmas concert. [Belgian Monarchy, Le Soir]

--I know how much some of you love King Felipe with his beard, and apparently so does the Spanish court - they've provided an early holiday present in the form of new official pics in uniform. (The portraits with Letizia and in a suit are older.) [Patrimonio Nacional]

--Prince Harry doing good works while in the presence of adorable kids in Lesotho, what more could you ask for? [Go Fug Yourself]

--The Swedish royal family (they've had a busy week, man) were out in force for the Swedish Academy's formal gathering, another one of those white tie/no tiara events. I am intrigued by Victoria's jacket/skirt combo. [Expressen]

--The Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra teamed up for a reception for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Have to love an Alexandra sighting. [Clarence House Twitter]

--Here's a short clip of an interview with Queen Margrethe, card-carrying member of the Mutual Admiration Society for Queens Regnant (which I just made up but should be an actual thing), talking about the summer she met Princess Beatrix and her love for her old friend. (Starts at 3:48.) [NPO]

--And finally, the Duchess of Cornwall hung out with a miniature horse and Mother Goose this week, as you do. [Daily Mail]

Stay tuned next week for more year end fabulousness!
 

Year in Review: Mathilde, Letizia, and Mary's 2014 Bests

Our first batch of year end bests was hard to choose, but our second batch was eeeaassyyyyyy.

Queen Mathilde
Mathilde's luscious velvet number, worn to a dinner for the visiting Governor-General of Canada, is easily one of the most agreed upon dresses we've featured here and an easy pick for my favorite Mathilde outfit all year long. So much a favorite, actually, I'm having trouble even remembering anything else.

Queen Letizia
Her sublime white proclamation ensemble was instantly memorable and historical and all that jazz, but in the end, this Carolina Herrera gown with a perfect tiara pairing worn to the first state banquet of Felipe's reign easily surpassed it in my book (and maybe only in my book; opinions were pretty well split on this initial outing). If my patience ran low with the multitude of other lace ensembles we've seen in the past weeks, it's because my heart already belonged to this one. This was the year that Letizia got to know Carolina Herrera's designs, and I'm hoping for more of that (and less drawstring casual pants - easily my vote for her worst of the year) in 2015.

Crown Princess Mary
Another one so great I don't even have a runner up. (I do have a worst though, because I'm still puzzled by her strangely enormous shirt dress for the family summer photocall.) This sparkly navy Jesper Høvring gown worn to the BAMBI Awards was a moment of splendor to be sure. Perfection.

Your turn: Favorites for these three this year?


Photos:  @GGDavidJohnston, Pool and Matthias Mareyek via Getty Images, Carolina Herrera

Pincushion Proteas

Spring and early summer are so busy here!  Every year I lament the fact that Christmas falls in our busy season in the Southern Hemisphere.  How nice it must be to have Christmas in the quieter months!  There are definitely some benefits of a summer Christmas though - fresh berries and stone fruit and summery tropical fruits - pavlova drenched with summer berries, long days (with daylight savings) and the long relaxing twilight, trips the beach …. ok, I take it back.  I love Christmas in summer!  But it sure is a busy time of year.  


 I can't imagine Christmas time without flowers either.  Leucospermums, commonly called Pincushions are in full bloom here in late spring and into summer.  They have become synonymous with summer for me.  I am picking trailer-loads of them at the moment and so I thought I'd show off a few. 


   Leucospermums are from the Protea family.  They are a South African plant, as many proteas are, but are closely related to many Australian native plants.  The variety above is a hybrid called Mardi Gras.  The buds are silvery and hairy and are actually a composite of many tiny flowers seeming to create a single flower head.

L. Mardi Gras
As they open the colour is revealed.

L. Mardi Gras
The "pins" from which they get their common name, "pincushion",  are yellow in the Mardi Gras variety.  They emerge from the the special petal called a tepal.  When the style pops out the tepal curls inward revealing another colour, in this case bright red.  The pins begin to emerge from the outer edge of the bloom first and work their way in to the centre until all the pins are sitting out.


Pincushions flower over a relatively short period, but it is quite intense, with the bushes being covered with flowers.  


Fully grown Mardi Gras bushes are laden with flowers in early December.  


The Mardi Gras are usually the first variety to flower at Swallows Nest Farm.  They are closely followed by these gorgeous red Pincushions called Scarlet Ribbons.  I love the colouring of these flowers.


When they first begin to open, the pins are a salmon pink and the hairy tepals give a purplish tinge to the overall look of the flower.  


But as they open more, it becomes obvious why the variety was named "Scarlet Ribbons" as the inside of the tepals is a rich scarlet red.  

Fresh Wreath by Swalllows Nest Farm with Scarlet Ribbons Pincushions
Of course, this is great for Christmas time!  Leucaspermums are great in fresh wreaths.

Mixed Pincusion bunches for Christmas
Christmas bunches often look like this!  Bright summery colours.  
The next Pincushion to flower here is the orange Leucospermum Cordifolium,  with bright orange flowers and long slender stems.  

Leucospermum Cordifolium
This variety tend to flower over a more extended period of time so we get to enjoy them for longer.  I love the little yellow stigma on the end of each style, glowing like little lights.  

The Cordifolium isn't hairy like the other varieties I've mentioned, and the overall shape is more rounded.  You can see from the photo above how the Leucospermum is clearly related to some of our Australian plants from the protea family.  Grevilleas flower in much the same way, with bundles of small "flowers" arranged to create what we call the flowerhead.  And the styles and tepals are similar too.  

Grevillea


Cordifoliums are such a happy flower! Those bright yellow stigma at the end of the pins really glow don't they!

Fresh Christmas Wreath with Cordifolium, Wax Flower, Gum Nuts and Leucodendrons
I love the citrusy colour combinations that you can create with Pincushions - so fresh and summery.

Leucospermum Fountain

Our last variety to flower, beginning towards the end of December and continuing into January, is the gorgeous Leucospermum Fountain.  It's a different shape to the others, being more flattened and open.  It has a softer, subtle orange colouring but with the purplish tinge to the tepals, like the Scarlet Ribbon variety. 

Leucospermum Fountain


You can see the difference in colouring here, between the Fountain on the left, and the Cordifolium on the right (theres a Mardi Gras in the middle there too).  The softer apricot of the Fountain is really appealing and great to mix with purples, pinks and soft blue green eucalyptus foliage.  


The colour of Fountain gets richer as they age.  


Fountain can continue to flower even into February here.  I used it in a February wedding this year.  The bridesmaids were wearing apricot and the Fountains really looked great!


Pincushions, or Leucospermums are a great summer flower, and really create a summery Christmas feel.  Enjoy them when they're available!




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