WEDDING FLOWERS: Gray
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Showing posts with label Gray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gray. Show all posts

Prince Carl Philip & Sofia's Wedding: Royal Guests, Part 2

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This is Part 2: Return of the Royal Fashion Awards, covering the royal guests at the Swedish royal wedding. (Here's Part 1.)

Spoiler Alert: This one includes my favorites. So much goodness, I needed TWO bests of the best. 

Miss Congeniality
Princess Hisako of Takamado
Things we learn while watching the wedding broadcast: Our Japanese representative is apparently an utter delight. So chatty, so smiley! I think she and Sophie Wessex are royal BFFs now.
Princess Hisako is wearing a different tiara than the one she wore to Princess Madeleine's wedding, the jeweled bird on her shoulder is a work of art, and her skirt comes with its own cape. Can she come to everything, please?!

Best in Gifts
The Countess of Wessex
Sophie's very flattering dress is by Taťána Kovaříková, and it was an official gift to her during a recent trip to Prague (per the Countess of Wessex Blog). Which, uh, is MUCH better than all the engraved toilet seats and ceremonial croquet mallets and whatnot they usually collect on those jaunts. Other cities need to get on Prague's level.
Sophie gave us another look at the aquamarine and diamond tiara she wears from Collins & Sons jewelers, which I appreciate - we haven't covered this one in depth, and we need to. Understated and elegant all around, this appearance.

Best in Elegant
Queen Mathilde of Belgium
Speaking of understated and elegant, I think Mathilde owns some version of this silhouette in all her favorite colors, and I can see why. This edition is lightly beaded and boosted by some serious diamond power, including the bandeau of the Nine Provinces Tiara and Queen Fabiola's diamond fringe brooch.
Look at that updo. Someone get me a cinnamon roll, I'm having a craving. 

Best of the Best #1
Princess Tatiana of Greece
I'm pleased to report that Tatiana's streak of fabulousness at Scandinavian royal weddings remains unbroken. She's been wearing Greek designer Celia Kritharioti lately, and this couture dream is just another reason she should make that a permanent relationship. I'm swooning over here!
 
Plus, Tatiana gave us another NEW TIARA ALERT! This one's a mystery; we don't know if she borrowed it for the event, or if she owns it. And though it be but little, its sparkle is fierce.

Best of the Best #2
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
Hey hey! Not a culotte in sight! *praise hands emoji* This Jan Taminiau gown, worn the evening of Wax's inauguration, gives me chills. CHILLS, I say. And I can't object to a smattering of rubies, here in the form of the Mellerio Ruby Parure.
Now that we know that she intends to reuse the inauguration gowns, is it possible to require that they be used at least once a month? Asking for a friend.

And with those two mic drops, the Royal Fashion Awards for the guests are complete. See you tomorrow for some Tidbits fun (with some wedding moments we haven't yet discussed, because this is the last tiarafest wedding for a long time, probably, so it is imperative that we soak it up, people).

Who do you crown the Best Dressed Wedding Guest?

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, SVT video, Jan Taminiau

Prince Carl Philip & Sofia’s Wedding: The Pre-Wedding Dinner

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The party is starting! Ready your jumpy claps!

This evening, wedding guests gathered for a short boat ride on the way to the venue for the pre-wedding dinner. Only a couple of the international royal guests were present, but the headline family members certainly did give us some things to discuss...

Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist
I wondered if Sofia would continue the trend of wearing Elie Saab for her pre-wedding event, as her soon-to-be-sisters-in-law both did. And I was close: she wore Zuhair Murad, a.k.a. almost Elie Saab! (Also the groom was present. He wore a tux.)
Many of us have been hoping we’d see more of Zuhair Murad on the royal red carpet, and I think this couture dress certainly delivers. Just enough sparkle, and with a train (which looked like it was detachable) added to the back to give it a little extra royal oomph.
And the blue is divine on her, no? I love it. What a great start to the event!

The King and Queen
{SCREECH} Well, that escalated quickly. Let’s just say that something had to come in third place on the list of Silvia's best mother of the bride and/or groom pre-wedding outfits (it's a very specific list)...call it the sacrificial lamb?

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel
Okay, this is better! Victoria’s sparkly, slinky number is perfect for this and also for her next Great Gatsby-themed party (I figure there’s no point to living in a palace if you’re not going to throw the occasional Gatsby party, right?).
Crown Princess Victoria wore Jenny Packham, the original model from a bridal collection (the Packham bridal collections always have dresses that are great more uses than bridal, though). She also had a brooch in back in her updo, and you know I luv her for that.

Victoria, Daniel, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
With many royal guests arriving tomorrow, it was a lovely surprise to see Victoria and Daniel bring part of the Norwegian contingent: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Märtha Louise, and Ari Behn. Crown Prince Haakon joined the party by car a bit later. Mette-Marit repeated the Giambattista Valli dress she wore to Queen Margrethe’s birthday dinner earlier this year.

Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn
Apparently seeing that his wife was intent on a tasteful beige dress, Ari Behn decided someone had to shake things up and tossed a sash around his waist. Sure, man, why not?

Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill
Also skipping the boat ride in favor of arriving by car, Princess Madeleine breezed by in a basic but sort of ethereal maternity dress.

Lastly, a couple aunts and an extra international royal couple, just for good measure:

Princess Birgitta, doing her Birgitta thing.

Princess Margaretha, doing her Margaretha thing. (What more can you say?)

Prince Leopold and Princess Ursula of Bavaria...doing their thing. A very sequin-y floral thing, which is a curious combo.

All in all, not a bad start to a wedding weekend. This entry may be updated later on, and feel free to add more in the comments!

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, Expressen video
Royal Events of the Day: June 9

Royal Events of the Day: June 9

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After their mixed bag evening concert appearance marking the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Constitution and women's suffrage, the Danish royal family united themselves in millinery and tried again on Friday. A more universally successful outing this time, I think:

Queen Margrethe turned up in her birthday suit, and I mean that literally, as this is the suit she wore for her big birthday celebrations this year. It's been put in her regular wardrobe rounds, which is great because a) she looks fab and b) I get to keep calling it her birthday suit.

Crown Princess Mary showed off the versatility of her wardrobe, as she is prone to do, by taking reused pieces and remixing them into a new ensemble. I find myself wishing that the white coat was a color other than bright white, but that's a piddly complaint for a great look.

And though she plonked her hat on her head at a most unfortunate angle, Princess Marie was also standard but nicely put together on the whole. Rounding out the royal crew was Princess Benedikte, elegant in pink, and her look can be seen in this gallery. Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim were there as well. They wore suits.

While we're in Denmark, one other big event happened this weekend: Princess Isabella baptized a ferry which was renamed in her honor on the island of Samsø. It's the first time she's taken the lead on her own official engagement. Naturally, she brought along a lady-in-waiting for some support:
Very handy when your lady-in-waiting doubles as your mum, I would think. And like her mum, she's clearly already received her membership to Team Updo. Fancy bow and all!
Isabella even received a gift of jewelry for her troubles, a mother of pearl bracelet and necklace with multiple pendants. It's no Festoon Tiara, but it's a nice gift for a young princess.

The mother/daughter team was dressed a little more casually for the event than we usually see when royals christen ships (hats, that sort of thing).
But then again, most royal ship christenings are not directly followed by fishing, strawberry picking, and hanging out with a variety of wild animals. When in Rome, etc.

Photos: Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images

Royal Style Twins of the Day: April 24

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Today, we're flashing back...way back...to a week ago, in Copenhagen, where the reception for Queen Margrethe's birthday at City Hall featured some style twin moments worthy of a closer look.

First up: Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Princess Victoria and their twin appearances with, uh, themselves.
Above, in Copenhagen in 2010 for Margrethe's 70th birthday, and below, also in Copenhagen for Margrethe's birthday, five years on. Mette-Marit's even wearing the same gold headband, which (as the Royal Hats Blog points out) she's worn in several different ways.
"So, whaddya think...same thing this time, except different?" "AGREED."

For the same same thing, you need look no further than the Mexican state visit to the United Kingdom a month earlier.
Mexico's first lady, Angélica Rivera de Peña, sported Mette-Marit's Alexander McQueen coat first. It's an A-line crepe coat in ivory with a double lapel detail, and the only surprising thing about this is that one of the British royal McQueen fans didn't beat both ladies to it. (Perhaps they will join the party later on. I'd love to see this one belted, just to shake it up.) Unusually for one who loves the colorful accessories, I prefer the First Lady's black touches to the Crown Princess' gold/red/nude mix in this Who wore it best? battle.

Our other twin - nay, triplet! - moment from the City Hall event comes from Crown Princess Mary and the gray hat she paired with her Oscar de la Renta coat dress.
As soon as she emerged with this chapeau, I thought it looked familiar - Kate-esque, I said - and indeed it was. From favored royal milliner Jane Taylor, this is a hat we should know well by now.
Zara Phillips sported the same gray version to Cheltenham over a year ago. She paired it with a truly unfortunate outfit that I will pretend I did not see since baby Mia was just a few weeks old at the time. But the original royal example comes from the Countess of Wessex, who wore a version in a different color and material to Ascot in 2013, paired with an Emilia Wickstead outfit in gorgeous vibrant teal. (An outfit that would get a lookalike of its own when the Duchess of Cambridge wore a similar number in New Zealand last year. It's just a chain that never ends.)
Mary's got the lock on sophistication in accessory pairing, but Sophie's version is a welcome shot of color. I'll call this one a tie and I'll take both for myself, outfits and all, thanks very much.

Your turn: Which versions of these twin appearances are your faves?

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, Net-a-Porter, ITN video

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