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

Sunday Tidbits for June 28: Sparkly Follow Ups and More

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Last week was one for the sparkle record books, and today's tidbits begin by wrapping up a couple of those glittering occasions:

--I wrapped up the British state visit to Germany over at the Vault with some favorite moments. [Jewel Vault]

--Sometimes we don't even get pictures out the National Day gala in Luxembourg, and sometimes you just have to wait for the real treats. They posed for a family photo, and Luxarazzi also zeroed in on the tiaras in the reception line. Princess Claire is indeed wearing a new parure of red stones and diamonds, and I'm guessing the small bandeau tiara is a bracelet on a frame. Whether it belongs to her or came from the family stash, we don't know, but HUZZAH for new stuff! [Luxarazzi]
Photo: Grand Ducal Court/Christian Aschman

--Days of celebration for the coronation of Tonga's King Tupou VI have begun. [ABC]

--Infanta Elena got all fancied up to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Spanish Riding School in Austria. (This is an Oscar de la Renta dress, and a look repeated from 2010.) [Style.com, Hola]

--Here's a piece on the new film Fabergé: A Life of Its Own, which is in limited theaters beginning tomorrow (June 29). The trailer is below. [Maclean's]

--The Japanese imperial family gathered for a concert celebrating Empress Michiko's 80th birthday, which was in October. [Imperial Family of Japan Blog]

--And finally, a little bit of cute: The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, as Chaz and Cams are known when in Scotland, went on a four day visit to, well, Scotland. They brought Cams' two rescue dogs to the Dumfries Dog Show, and you know how events pairing royals and dogs always end up. (Delightful, in other words.) [People, Scotsman Picture Desk]

Next up: Traveling to China with Queen Mathilde and her plus one, a Spanish state visit, and more...

Tiara Thursday: Queen Victoria's Orange Blossom Wreath

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Queen Elizabeth II is on a state visit to Germany - which is being covered in full at the Vault - and she's really working the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha angle with jewels courtesy of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria (including a particularly spectacular turn at the state banquet last night). Today's feature, however, is one Victoria and Albert jewel that she won't be wearing.

Sentimentality ran high in Victorian era jewelry, including in the collection of the monarch that gave the era its name. Queen Victoria placed special significance on the all the jewelry that her husband, Prince Albert, gave her and designed for her. This was a great portion of her jewel collection, as Albert's eye for design took charge of the royal gems during his life. We've admired several of the tiaras to which his name was attached - Queen Victoria's Sapphire Coronet, her Emerald and Diamond Tiara, and her Oriental Circlet, for example - but none of those headpieces were quite as personal as her Orange Blossom Wreath.
Queen Victoria's Orange Blossom Parure (headdress, two brooches, and earrings)
As a present for their sixth wedding anniversary in February 1846, Albert gave Victoria a wreath of white porcelain orange blossoms with gold leaves on a braided black velvet band with a silk ribbon tie at the back. The wreath includes four oranges made from green enamel to represent the four children they had at that time, but that wasn't the only meaningful touch.
The selection of orange blossom was filled with significance for the couple. The flower represented chastity in the language of flowers; it was also associated with betrothal, as emphasized when Albert sent Victoria a brooch designed as a white porcelain and gold sprig of orange blossom after their engagement. Victoria wore fresh orange blossoms on their wedding day, and just as her gown created a trend for white wedding dresses, she started a trend for orange blossom jewelry. Albert turned his engagement gift into a parure (matched set) by giving her another brooch and a pair of matching earrings in December 1845. The wreath, given a couple months later, was the last piece of the parure.
Victoria and Albert, 1854. She may be wearing this wreath.
Queen Victoria loved the gift, writing in her diary that "it is such a lovely wreath & such a dear kind thought of Albert's." She wore pieces of the parure for all of their wedding anniversaries until Albert's death in 1861. After he died, she had the set placed on display in the room where he died at Windsor Castle. The orange blossom parure was not meant to be worn by anyone else, and so the pieces have not been; they are in the Royal Collection and are solely for display.

You can see the parure on display right now, as a matter of fact: Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden at The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace includes the orange blossom jewels and runs through October of this year. (Thank you to All That Glitters for the heads up!)

Photos: Royal Collection/Queen Elizabeth II / Wikimedia Commons
Big Royal Hats of the Week: June 23

Big Royal Hats of the Week: June 23

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Ascot doesn't have a monopoly on the big hats, you know.

The Duchess of Cornwall took time out from Ascot to toss a mop on her head and head out with the Prince of Wales to continue the work they started in Belgium, leading the royal party at a St. Paul's Cathedral service to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo. (Cams is wearing her Four Strand Pearl Choker with Small Diamond Clasp and a badge from the Rifles, by the way.)

A big group of royals and other dignitaries gathered in Belgium to do the same, including the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the King and Queen of the Belgians, the King and Queen of the Netherlands, and the Duke of Kent.
'Twas a standard appearance for two of the Ms - Maria Teresa and Máxima, though I am a little concerned that Máx had an altercation with a road line painter on the way to Belgium - and a gorgeous appearance for their royal hostess.
This is the second time in a week I've looked at Mathilde and thought nothing more than she looks goooood. So let's keep that up.

I like to imagine that Queen Máxima realized she missed an opportunity for a big hat there, because she returned home and promptly donned this monster, to open the Design Derby Netherlands:
It takes a lot to overshadow a chapeau like this, but my attention was diverted by what I genuinely thought might be a lobster slung 'round her neck. (She would wear one too, you know she would.)
Honestly, I'm a little disappointed to find out that wasn't the case.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated
Royal Fashion Awards: Royal Ascot 2015, Days 4 & 5

Royal Fashion Awards: Royal Ascot 2015, Days 4 & 5

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The last two days of Royal Ascot did taper off in terms of royal attendance, but they also gave us the most Ascot-y of our royal Ascot hats this year, so it's a trade off. Let's finish this party up: 

Best in Coordination
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh (Day 5)
Check that tie-to-outfit coordination. Not too matchy-matchy, just right. Awww. (You can of course see Her Maj on Day 4 as well as all brooch info at the Vault.)

Best Comeback
Zara Phillips (Day 4)
Bouncing right back from a yellow number that made people ask all the wrong questions earlier in the week, this is simple but just the right silhouette for Zara. Lovely. Also, bonus grandmother/granddaughter hang out time:

Worst Step Back
Princess Beatrice (Day 4)
And she was doing so very well on Day 3. Alas, Beatrice - here with her mum and sister - stepped right back in that pile of tooooo muchhhhh that she got stuck in on Day 1, overdoing this skirt (which is already patterned and flared and wrinkled) with a fussy top and ankle straps and koosh ball flowers on her head. Princess Eugenie did it better on Day 3, and is doing it better retro-style here too.

Best Ascot Spirit
Lady Helen Taylor
Let it be known that I do not like bugs on my hats anymore than I like them on my jewelry. But it's Ascot! Someone has to have a little millinery fun. We've seen some big royal hats this year, but I think this is the only one that's really brought the whimsy that one can pull off at the biggest hat parade of the year.

Now that we've reached the end of the Ascot fun, it's time for the final question:

What was your favorite Ascot outfit for 2015?
(Voting for the Yorks on Day 3, myself.)

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated

Royal Fashion Awards: Royal Ascot 2015, Days 2 & 3

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We took a day off from our Ascot coverage, so let's play catch up with a big roundup of royal racegoers:

Best in Gents
The Duke of Edinburgh (Days 2 and 3)
Ascot is my annual time to give the dapper Duke his due. His top hats are "antique", as the Royal Hats Blog explains, which in this case means they're his from fifty years ago. (Princess Anne: "SEE?") For her part, the Queen delighted me with another amazing brooch from Queen Victoria, Prince Albert's Sapphire, and then did an abrupt 180 the next day in a probably modern and hardly as lavish piece, the Shamrock Brooch. I like to think she just wanted us to save up our jumpy claps, knowing that the Duchess of Cornwall was about to pile on pounds of diamonds that evening. Her Maj is gracious like that. (Oh yes, Camilla had a BIG tiara appearance and it is covered at the Vault!)

Best in Comebacks
Princess Beatrice (Day 3) and the Princess Royal (Day 2)
We might as well call this the Triumph of the White Dresses category, because both of these ladies used that simplicity for accessory success after accessory semi-disasters on Day 1. Beatrice continued to play with color - and with handbags - and I adore it. I also adore Anne with a scarf draped gracefully over her shoulders.
Beatrice's dress from Beulah London, hat from Laura Apsit Livens

Biggest Statements in Patterns
Princess Alexandra (Day 2) and The Princess Royal (Day 3)
Alexandra will win you over to her festival of paisley with her cheery smile and her festive hat trim; Anne will simply dare you compare her to a luxury carpet with her steely gaze. But they both come out pretty well in the end.

Biggest Statement in Feathers
Princess Michael (Day 2) and The Countess of Wessex (Day 3)
Positively swashbuckling, these two - in other words, perfect for Ascot. Well done. (The Countess of Wessex Blog explains that Sophie's Jane Taylor hat looks like a slight remix from a previous Ascot appearance, with some extra stuff added. Can't ever get enough extra stuff to stick on your Ascot hat.)

Best in Couture
Princess Haya (Day 2) and Princess Marie-Chantal (Day 3)
Princess Haya continued her couture Ascot run in Chanel Couture with a Philip Treacy hat, and on Ladies' Day, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece joined in the fun also in Chanel Couture and Philip Treacy. I have to say, it's a good combo.
Haya's suit modified from Spring 2015; Marie-Chantal's jacket from Spring 2011

Best in Forehead-Bolters
The Countess of Wessex (Day 2), Autumn Phillips (Day 2), and Princess Eugenie (Day 3)
I was expecting to like this latest batch of Ascot fashions so much. (It is Friday, perhaps I'm feeling generous.) I don't even mind a round of my least favorite sort of hat, the one that doesn't cover much of your head except for maybe parts of your vision because hey who needs that. I like all these three! Sophie's all stripey, Autumn's all springy, and Eugenie's all swingy.
Emilia Wickstead for Sophie; Hobbs for Autumn (h/t Countess of Wessex Blog); Peter Pilotto dress and Helmut Lang blazer for Eugenie
Bonus points to Eugenie for picking just the right shape of blazer to add to that dress. I think this is my favorite Eugenie outfit in a long time, which makes the York sisters my day 2 and 3 faves, which is also something that hasn't happened in a long time. Stranger things have happened at sea...

Who's your Ascot Best Dressed for Days 2 & 3?

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated / Beulah London / Laura Apsit Livens / Style.com / Instagram / ModaOperandi / Hobbs / Saks
Royal Gathering of the Day: June 18

Royal Gathering of the Day: June 18

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Various royals were among the dignitaries gathered in Belgium yesterday for a part of the events marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a day that included a stop to meet with the King and Queen of the Belgians for some of them. The photos from the meeting are titled in part, "King Philippe and Queen Mathilde Receive Warlord Descendants," and you know something, I really think we don't do enough talking about warlords around here.
You can scroll over the photo for the line up of said warlord descendants, but what I'm concerned with is Mathilde's white dress. How excellent is this?! I'll always love a great white dress, but the little splash of embellishment on one side is really doing me in. A daywear highlight for her for the year so far.

Our friends the Hereditary Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were there too.This is not the best angle on Stéphanie's suit, but she's got a little purple going on, and she's trying.
The tall one in this photo is the Prince Napoléon (go figure).

Charles and Camilla traveled to Belgium as well, attending the reopening of Hougoumont Farm. They also visited the site of the battle with the current Duke and Duchess of Wellington (here's a video).
That's Princess Astrid of Belgium, King Philippe's sister, rocking the fedora and colored shoes. Her outfit may have had more personality, but Cams was class personified in - believe it or not - Christian Dior Couture, with a Philip Treacy hat.
She took an official tour of the French atelier when she made a solo working visit to Paris in 2013, and she's popped up in a couple of couture Dior outfits since then. This cream coat was specially made for her trip to the D-Day commemorations last year in France, and it's no mistake that she chose it for a trip to Belgium - Dior designer Raf Simons is Belgian. She paired it with a triple strand of pearls from the Queen Mother and a badge representing the regiment of her late father, a World War II veteran.

A good day for cream outfits all around, I'd say.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated

Royal Fashion Awards: Royal Ascot 2015, Day 1

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Ascot's first day was a day of statement pieces - the occasional successful one, and then some other statement items which...were also present. Let's discuss:

Best in Surprises
The Queen
I was going to tell you all about how much I love Lilibet in this vibrant cerise from Peter Enrione with an Angela Kelly hat, but every time I look at her I get lost in that brooch and can't find my way out again. This is a VERY EXCITING brooch selection, and you can obvs read all about it at the Vault (Ascot post here, full brooch post here).

Worst in FrankenHats
The Duchess of Cornwall and The Princess Royal
I'm pretty sure Camilla's hat is a perfectly plain brimmed number that just sat right down on top of another, more interesting hat, which is now trying desperately to free itself from below. (Maybe this is why the Duchess of Gloucester's hats always grow those weird stems: safety precaution! No hat's gonna risk sitting on that.) Its saving grace - on top of a busy top half to the outfit underneath - is the single color, but I still can't condone this type of hat-on-hat violence. Which is precisely why Princess Anne's hat gets the real worst in show here.
How many hats had to die in a millinery cage match to make this single mishmash of a chapeau? Somebody needs to put down the glue gun and walk away. Kudos to Anne for still fitting into an outfit from 1980 and all, but please try again in the headgear department.

Most Adequate in Black and White
Lady Sarah Chatto, Autumn Phillips, Princess Michael of Kent
Okay, Sarah Chatto's is brown too, but whatever. It matters not. These are all okay. Mostly, I'd just like to know why Princess Michael didn't go all in with a half black/half white eyepatch.

Most in Need of De-Fussing
Princess Beatrice
This is a bold skirt for her, and I love it! I just wish she'd cut back some of the extra fuss on the shoes and the hat so the skirt could shine, instead of being the third piece in the outfit fighting for your attention.
Roksanda Ilincic skirt

Best Runway Omission
Princess Haya
I wouldn't have thought to turn a couture gown into an outfit for the races, but at least she left off the boots, which were thigh high and vinyl and all over the latest Dior couture runway. Princess Haya (daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and wife of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai) usually stops my heart at least once with her Ascot couture parade each year, but we're not quite there yet on Day 1.
Christian Dior Spring 2015 Couture

Best in Statement Pieces
The Countess of Wessex
Yessssss. This is how you do it! Sophie's white Emilia Wickstead dress is simple enough to let the hat take center stage, but isn't boring on its own. Second place to only Her Maj in my eyes.

Best in Gents
Prince Harry and Mike Tindall
On the one hand, the long reign of terror of Prince Harry's infamous yellow waistcoat, worn to all things for all time, is over - or, at least, temporarily interrupted by a dashing new blue number. (It won Zara Phillips' approval, saying hello in cheery yellow from Paul Castelloe.)
On the other hand, Mike Tindall's curtsey game is strong. So I'll call it a tie.

Who takes home your Ascot Best Dressed Crown for Day 1?

Photos: Via Getty Images as indicated, Moda Operandi, Style.com

Royal Fashion Awards: Garter Day, 2015

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Are you sick of tiaras? (Are you ill?) Not to worry, we're moving right along to the fancy hat portion of the month.


Garter Day is our plumed topic for today. The annual service for the Order of the Garter, Britain's oldest order of chivalry, includes all the royal Knights and Ladies of the Garter strutting around in their Hogwarts best. (By "strutting", I mean "slowly processing down a hill", obviously.)

If you're interested in the details and significance of what they wear (a bonnet, mantle, collar, and more) as well as the details on the jewels worn by the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall, you can check out my post on the event at the Jewel Vault, and all the links there.

Just a few awards to hand out today:

Most Unstoppable
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
Photos: Courtesy of gabeyslave on Twitter; 
Corporal Max Bryan (Army Photographer)/MOD/Crown Copyright
Here's your regular reminder that, at 89 and 94 years old, these two could run you into the ground: Saturday was the celebration of the Queen's official birthday (and they also fit in a private birthday celebration with their eldest grandkids at a wine bar), Her Maj was at the polo on Sunday, Monday was this thing with the feathers, and now Royal Ascot will roll on for five days. And then a state visit to Germany, and then a week of engagements in Scotland, and then Princess Charlotte's christening. These two kids, I tell ya.

Best in Plumes
The Ladies of the Order of the Garter
The Princess Royal, with carriage companions Sir Tim Laurence and the Gloucesters.
Photo: Courtesy of gabeyslave
Oh, sure, there were men there too. (And they were wearing suits. Morning suits, covered by the mantle.) But Princess Alexandra and Princess Anne are my annual Garter faves. They're a rare breed, royal ladies that have been given the Garter honor, so I can't help it. No one makes the plumage as imperious as Anne does and no one makes it as elegant as Alexandra does.
Princess Alexandra of Kent with carriage companion the Duke of Kent

Best in Spouse
The Countess of Wessex
Left to right: The Duchess of Cornwall, Countess of Wessex, Duchess of Gloucester
The Duchess of Cornwall knows she can handle a big hat, and this Philip Treacy chapeau is the very definition of major. Paired with an Anna Valentine coat, it's an outfit she's repeating from the Jubilee Thames River Pageant, with the Queen Mum's pearls thrown in for good measure. The Duchess of Gloucester continues to bring out the best of her jewel box, and I'd take those two diamond clips off her lapels real quick like.
Photos: Corporal Max Bryan (Army Photographer)/MOD/Crown Copyright; Suzannah
But I feel like we've had a sad run of blergh ensembles from the royal Garter spouses in the past couple years, and the Countess of Wessex's repeated green Suzannah dress is the refreshment I didn't even know I needed. It's the rare outfit that can actually hold its own against all those feathers and all that velvet, and doesn't need to be ridiculous to make it happen (I'm looking at you, Sophie, thank you for rethinking last year's strategy). A+ work.

Who's your Garter best dressed?

P.S.: Keep your eyes peeled both here and at the Vault for all the Ascot fun!

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

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