WEDDING FLOWERS: Fadi El Khoury
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Showing posts with label Fadi El Khoury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fadi El Khoury. Show all posts
Place Your Designer Bets: Sofia Hellqvist's Wedding Gown

Place Your Designer Bets: Sofia Hellqvist's Wedding Gown

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Last week, we talked tiara guesses for the upcoming wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist, and many of you joined in me in placing your bridal tiara bets on the Connaught Tiara, either by logic or by hope. (Of course, this probably means we won't see it on the bride, because isn't that just the way it goes?)

And now, we move on to the main wedding gown show:

Who do you think will design Sofia Hellqvist's wedding gown?
(And what would you like to see?)

Rumors have mentioned Ida Sjöstedt as the lucky recipient of the royal commission. Sofia wore a Sjöstedt gown for her first appearance at the Nobel Prize ceremony this past December (below) and we've also seen the label on Princess Madeleine.

Many were guessing that she would go with a Swedish designer anyway, which I think would be a smart move. She's also worn gowns from Kay Senchai and By Malina recently. For Princess Madeleine's wedding, she turned to a Swedish label:
Sofia was dressed by Göran Alfredsson of Thalia in Stockholm, both for her lilac sheath at the ceremony (above) and the soft yellow gown she wore for the pre-wedding dinner (below). Fairly simple designs both, but they also struck the right note for one of her first big events as an official guest, even though she did not arrive with the royal party.

I'm personally hoping Fadi El Khoury gets a nod, if not from the bride, then from one of the other royal ladies. I'm still in love with the gown he made for Crown Princess Victoria at Madeleine's wedding (below, which I have raved about time and again and there's no stopping me any time soon), and would love to see what he could do with a royal wedding gown.

A Swedish designer is not a requirement, though. Queen Silvia picked Dior; Princess Madeleine picked Valentino. Which means the possibilities are endless, and she's worn such a variety of designers so far, it's hard to guess her favorite. She won't be too stuck with family traditions such as their heirloom wedding veil (worn by many Swedish brides, but not by Madeleine) And she's worn a lot of different styles, so the guessing is wide open. Have at it!

P.S. This is a two post day! Keep scrolling.

Photos: via Getty Images

Royal Outfit Grab Bag of the Day: March 25

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In today's grab bag: a visit that rolls on, a visit that does not, and also Robocop.

Felipe and Letizia had already headed out for the start of their first outgoing state visit to their neighbors in France when news of the tragic Germanwings plane crash broke.
After landing, they jointly decided with President Hollande to cancel the state visit, and will reschedule in the future. They did spend the day in Paris and visited the crisis center for the crash.
Élysée Palace
It was definitely the right thing to do, and since we won't be focusing on the French state visit as I had planned to do today, we'll proceed with other goings on.

Elsewhere around the globe, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel embarked on day 2 of their visit to South Korea. She obviously had her outfits planned prior to the trip, but I did laugh when I saw that there wasn't any black and any possibility for see-through anywhere among them. Fool me once...etc.
Engagements for the day included paying respects at the Seoul National Cemetery (above) and meeting the President (below). This is the Fadi El Khoury coat she wore to the royal wedding in Luxembourg in 2012, and I guess I'm still waiting for it to be styled in just the right way. Still a bit meh for me, though I can't deny she's looking pretty boss at the head of the dark suit crew there.
She was also sporting a floral headpiece, flower earrings from Kreuger Jewellery, a blouse with a bow and a necklace with stars slung on top, and a repeated By Malene Birger skirt with lace panels. It's a lot going on, despite the similar color palette.
She simplified things a bit for a meeting with the Prime Minister (above), and now we're talking. This is the Dolce & Gabbana dress she wore to Princess Leonore's christening (and which was worn by Princess Marie-Chantal as well), and it gets an A+ from me.
Dolce & Gabbana dress, By Malene Birger skirt (worn under the coat), and Kreuger Jewellery earrings

And finally, we check in with Queen Robocop, who is still hobbling around doing her Mathilde thing (in this case, visiting RTBF studio last week with King Philippe).
This coat is sporting a pastel, patterned, abstract take on houndstooth, and I thought it was pretty cute overall. It even kinda sorta matches her crutches, for heaven's sake. (And the only one who would take more care to match her outfit to her crutches would be our friend Máxima, you know.)
And with an updo, I bid you adieu.

Photos: via Getty Images and Élysée as indicated; Net-a-porter, By Malene Birger, Kreuger Jewellery

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

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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

Royal Closet Raid of the Day: September 26

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We haven't played fictional dress up in the closet of our favorite Swedish crown princess yet! I didn't know that the Duct Tape Disco Incident was going to occur, but frankly I'm glad I saved this particular closet raid, because now I really need a dose of Victoria at her best.

If I could grab just one thing from Victoria's closet for myself, it would not be one of her Elie Saab gowns.
It would be one that is Saab-esque! Unpredictable, that's me. This is from Fadi El Khoury, a Swedish couturier who was pretty new to the Swedish couture game (after working for Lanvin and Dior) when Victoria chose to give him her support.
This masterpiece was described as “a greige rosé dress with aubergine accents. The dress is made from hand-dyed double-sided silk organza with layers of hand-dyed tulle in three shades, silk threads, Lurex threads, pearls and Swarovski crystals in amethyst and pale grey opal.” Victoria's bespoke gown featured an altered bodice, sleeves included.
I know some of you weren't as moved by this one as I was, but that's okay - more for me. Victoria has a whole closet of gowns and other delicious tidbits for your daydreaming pleasure. As for me, wrap this one up, and I'll wear it to the grocery store. Yup. Don't even care.

If you could have one thing from Victoria's wardrobe, what would it be?

Photos: Vittorio Zunino Celotto via Getty Images, Fadi El Khoury, Frankie Fouganthin/Wikimedia Commons

Year in Review: 2013's Bests From Our Regulars

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We have a handful of leading ladies around here that we follow regularly, and now it's time to reminisce about the best they looked this whole year - one of my favorite things to do. So! Much! Pretty!

I always enjoy going back through the year as a refresher, but in truth, I'm looking for the outfits that made such an impression they require absolutely no refresher. We're talking about the best of the whole year, after all. And you guessed it, those often come from those extra special events. These are my personal favorites, one for each lady...

Queen Máxima
Look at that, I'm sneaking two in right away: I think the glory that was Queen Máxima on inauguration day deserves a second best, which is excellent because I've recently decided that I am just as enchanted by the lace gown she wore during the evening celebrations as I was by the caped wonder she sported for the inauguration ceremony. (Both by Jan Taminiau, of course.) We know now that she has dipped back to her old ways in the months since, but never mind. We'll always have April 30th.

Queen Mathilde
Mathilde took a much lower key approach to her outfit the day her husband became king, but the official portrait they released included all the regal fierceness you could want: a simple Natan gown done in a strong color which played beautifully off of the purple of her Order of Leopold, a mega diamond brooch, and a new-to-her tiara development in the form of the bandeau from the Nine Provinces Tiara. A queen indeed!

Crown Princess Victoria
This one is easy. Soooo easy. Victoria's stunning Fadi El Khoury gown at her sister's wedding has certainly earned a spot on my list of all-time royal faves, right up there with Máxima's double best. Plus, everyone knows that WEE ESTELLE and a purse- and pacifier-toting Prince Daniel are the ultimate accessories. We got some jewel news out of it, too: this was a first appearance for Victoria in Lilian's Laurel Wreath Tiara and in the necklace Lilian so loved to wear.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit
Another number from Madeleine's wedding, Mette-Marit and her Emilio Pucci gown paired with her amethyst tiara. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: all this one has to do is bust out a train in pastel and there's a 95% chance I'll be sold.

Crown Princess Mary
Mary's Birgit Hallstein gown for the pre-inauguration dinner in the Netherlands took my breath away when she wore it, and it still does. Just so darn elegant. Add this to the list of all-time faves.

Princess Letizia
I'm surprising myself here, but the heart wants what it wants. This is the lone best of the year that came from a regular event (an audience) and not a big fancy special occasion. And yet there's something about her Felipe Varela combo that just sticks - it's classic, but the animal print makes sure it still has that Letizia stamp on it.

The Duchess of Cambridge
As much as I would like to put her second-ever tiara appearance here, we don't know much about what that dress looked like! I'm going with wee George's christening instead, in custom cream Alexander McQueen.

Yes, we will have a look at some bests from other ladies (and also some worsts...), so stay tuned for those. Until then:

Which outfits make your list of personal bests for our leading ladies this year?

Photos: Getty Images/Jan Taminiau/Belgian Monarchy/Fadi El Khoury/Felipe Varela/PA

Wedding Wednesday: Victoria at Royal Weddings

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Since we're inching closer to the sparklefest of the Nobel Prizes in Sweden in December, and since I'm still thinking about Crown Princess Victoria's appearance at her sister's wedding earlier this year, I decided to dig up Victoria's royal wedding appearances over the years: the bold, the beautiful, and the bland. She's been attending royal weddings for a long time and she goes to, well, pretty much all of them, so there's no shortage here to discuss - in fact, there's too much, and this is not comprehensive.

And we're off! To a very bland start, I'm afraid. With the exception of the amethysts in Norway in 2002, these are a primarily forgettable bunch - style still under construction.

Something about Spain in 2004 brought out her experimental side, because yes, that is a jumpsuit with an attached cape there in the blue. The orange for the day wedding with barely a fascinator in place was quite a departure too. We also have here a wedding repeat (2008 and 2010), and a tiara repeat (poor Denmark, always with the Four Button).

Victoria's style has much improved, but it's still a bit of a mixed bag - the day weddings are greatly enhanced by the evening appearances, and forever saved by that dreamy creation from Madeleine's wedding. Certainly on my list of favorites for the year, and absolutely, without competition, my favorite here.

Which one's your favorite?

Photos: Getty Images/Rex/Polfoto/Scanpix/IBL/WireImage

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