WEDDING FLOWERS: Par Engsheden
News Update
Loading...
Showing posts with label Par Engsheden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Par Engsheden. Show all posts

Royal Flashback of the Day: March 9

Hi, hello, it's time for another flashback to Queen Margrethe's last big birthday bash, in 2010:
Crown Prince Frederik wasn't the only one with double the dates for the concert event; Crown Princess Victoria arrived with both her brother, Prince Carl Philip, and her then-fiancé Daniel Westling in tow.
Victoria's dress, from Pär Engsheden, is made from layers of ruffly stripes in the palest of pastels and grays, exploding into a tail feather train just waiting for a shake. It was a repeat, also worn for the King's Dinner during the Nobel festivities in 2008:
So apparently, this dress was assigned light blue sash with pearls and diamonds duty. That's the Danish Order of the Elephant in the 2010 photos and the Swedish Order of the Seraphim above, nearly identical except for which shoulder they are worn over; Prince Carl Philip is wearing the Seraphim sash, if you were wondering why his and Victoria's are going in opposite directions. And for tiaras, we have the Diamond Bandeau in 2008 and the Four Button Tiara in 2010.
I think it works pretty well in that capacity, but the train does give me pause. The pale color scheme gives it less of a showgirl flair than, say, Princess Marie's similar train in hot pink, but it's still a downright hazardous design. And I mean that literally, as you can see at about the 3:27 mark in the video below, when it appears Carl Philip steps on her tail on the way up the steps and nearly brings the house down. Brothers, you just can't teach them anything.
She recovers with a laugh, but maybe the dress didn't. I don't think we've seen it since.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated

Royal Flashback of the Day: February 25

My Twitter feed reminded me that yesterday was the anniversary of one special event: the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling on February 24, 2009! The couple met in 2001 when Victoria was a personal training client of Daniel's at the gyms he owned in Stockholm, and by 2002 their relationship was known to the Swedish press. They tied the knot in June 2010. This was a long engagement, by royal standards, leaving plenty of time for Daniel to recover from the kidney transplant he underwent shortly after the engagement.
Anyway, this means we should talk about the engagement day outfit, no? (Hers, that is. Daniel wore a suit.) Victoria's dress for their meeting with the press has always held a special place in my heart. Because purple, that's why.
It's not just purple, it also has a very special accessory which I adore: a petite diamond flower brooch given to Victoria by Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian, which was a sweet way to connect her big day to beloved family members. And it was a lovely match to her classic diamond engagement ring (which we discussed in our engagement ring series), too.

Video: The press conference
As it turns out, the dress was actually quite a tip off to what her wedding dress would ultimately look like. The open neckline and the wide waistband would both feature prominently in her wedding gown, and the purple dress was made by Pär Engsheden, which ended up being an early hint at the wedding gown designer. No surprise I enjoyed her selection, then, since the wedding dress (and the wedding itself) are personal favorites.

Photos: Pool via Getty Images
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

Royal Fashion Awards: The Nobel Prizes, 2014 (UPDATED)

Phew. There’s a lot going on right now. We’ll check in with Monaco’s big news tomorrow, but for now, we have tiaras to deal with. The Nobel Prize ceremonies happened yesterday in Oslo and Stockholm and the Norwegian and Swedish royal families were out in force. Obviously these events are about the Nobel laureates and not the royals, but as usual, I'll stay in my wheelhouse. (With one exception: I will share this article about the gown worn by laureate May-Britt Moser and its special significance, which I think is pretty cool.) Now, to the awards – and this is a long one, so settle in…

Best in Standards: Non-Tiara Division
The Norwegian Royal Family
The Oslo ceremony is for the Nobel Peace Prize and understandably omits the fancy tiara-wearing dress code (it’s also held earlier in the day), and we usually get a pretty standard showing from King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Mette-Marit wore the same headpiece (we won’t call it a hat) with a white outfit just a couple years ago, but it’s one of her standards that suits her particularly well. She also stuck to her standards by wearing one of her floral prairie dresses for the evening dinner (click here to see), but somehow I don't mind this one as much as I usually mind her covered wagon business. Anyway, a passing grade to all.
A couple screencaps including a look at Mette-Marit's hairdo, and Sonja's velvet jacket from Emilio Pucci. Mette-Marit's coat is from Valentino.

Over in Sweden, the rest of the prizes are given out in one of the most formal events of the year and the Swedish royal family was up to the task, turning out in force.
So many family members were present (the King, Queen, all three children with their respective significant others, plus Princess Christina and her husband) that only four members were on stage and everyone else had to join Christina in her usual spot in the front row.

Best in Standards: Tiara Division
Queen Silvia and Princess Christina
Queen Silvia has worn a variety of tiaras for the Nobel ceremony, but her two most frequent choices are the Leuchtenberg Sapphires and the Nine Prong Tiara. She picked the sapphires this year for the main event and I am ever so thankful for that. Princess Christina also went with her usual, the Six Button Tiara. And as I always say, if someone has to wear ye olde buttons, let it be Christina, since she makes the most of them.
A very shiny and embellished dress for Silvia, also a standard (for better or for worse).

Best in Nobel Spirit
Crown Princess Victoria
Queen Silvia has toned down her Nobel looks as time goes on, and it’s nice to know that someone is picking up the slack. Hello, Victoria! This is a proper ball gown if there ever was one. You know I love it and all its OTT splendor, including the fact that she had trouble moving around in it. (Dedication to the splendor cause, man!) It was designed by Pär Engsheden, her wedding dress designer.
She also delivered on the jewel front, finally bringing back the Baden Fringe Tiara and continuing her recent streak of debuting something new to her for each Nobel season. This year, it was the large diamond cross from the family collection, worn by Victoria for the first time. She also sported a large diamond bracelet, ruby brooch on her front, small brooch on her back, diamond earrings, and diamond lozenge brooch in her hair.

Most Curious in Nobel Spirit
Princess Madeleine
I want to like this but I’m finding it so curious. She did go big for the occasion, opting for an embellished dress from Fadi El Khoury (a designer I’ve longed to see the royals wear more often). But the print is almost an animal print, but not quite; the dress is almost a full skirt ball gown, but not quite.
She used most of Queen Josephine’s Amethyst Parure (earrings, brooch, bracelet), but stuck to the Modern Fringe Tiara. Almost, but not quite.

Best Tiara Potential
Sofia Hellqvist
Let’s get this out of the way: the dress (by Ida Sjostedt), it’s not great. In these photos, I think it looks quite fine actually. But on television, under the lights, it suffered from a serious case of S.O.S. Yes, Sequin Overload Syndrome. And I say this as someone who would like nothing more than to see her show up looking classy as can be and blow all her haters out of the water.* But luckily, something else did catch my eye: that hair!
She hasn’t been issued anything from the family vault yet (that brooch, whatever it’s made of, is certainly not part of the historic pink topaz set, as some originally guessed) but she’s all ready to go, hair brooch and all. I’m looking forward to next year already!

For more Nobel fun:

The tiara fest in Sweden isn’t over just yet – this evening is the King’s Dinner for the laureates at the palace. Stay tuned. The Norwegians still have the Nobel concert to go. Until then…

Who was your best dressed for Nobel 2014?


*Since posts including Sofia tend to end up with comments that dip into personal feelings about her background, let me just issue a friendly preemptive note for my lovely commenters: Let’s not go there.


UPDATE: Night #2 of Nobel festivities!
In Sweden, the traditional King’s Dinner for the Nobel laureates was held at the palace. You can click here for a gallery.
Queen Silvia came down with a case of ADLD (Another Dang Lace Dress, it’s been going around. Like the flu, but prettier) and matched it with the Connaught Tiara. Sofia Hellqvist toned down her sequin dress for a grade of Most Improved and she wore another brooch in her hair – but like last night, the palace stated that she wore private jewels. (You can see her hair embellishment here.)
Both Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine repeated last night’s tiaras, as did Princess Christina (I FROWN IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION, LADIES) (THOUGH I AM ALSO GLAD TO SEE THESE AGAIN INSTEAD OF THE FOUR BUTTON OR THE CUT STEEL BANDEAU, SO MAYBE I’M NOT THAT UPSET). Madeleine gave us déjà vu to a dress recently worn by her sister, and Victoria stuck a bow on it.
How you wear that dress without feeling like the angel in the Christmas play, I don’t know (maybe that is what you feel like and maybe that’s the point), but I applaud her bringing back the corsage necklace used by Princess Lilian, even if it’s not the best with this neckline.

And over in Norway, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and their children attended the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. And Mette-Marit wore a dress adorned with frolicking magical creatures, because of course she did.
UNICORNS AND CHERUBS, people. And let me tell you something: I AM ALL FOR IT. (This busy royal week has driven me to caps lock mania. It’s not my fault.) This dress comes from British brand Mother of Pearl (via Minmote). Victoria went for a fairytale vibe with last night’s mega ball gown and now Mette-Marit’s going for a more literal interpretation. And I’m not kidding - I really am totally charmed by a dress covered in unicorns. The world needs more unicorn prints.


Photos: Getty Images as indicated, SVT video, Lyst, Kungahuset.se, Moda Operandi

wedding

[australian native wedding][recentbylabel2]

Featured

[Featured][recentbylabel2]
Notification
Wondering what style of flower bouquets you'll choose for your big day?
Done