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

Tiara Watch of the Day: March 4

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State Visit Month, I love you. Yesterday gave us two more state banquets to drool over: the state visit from Mexico to the United Kingdom (which has been covered in full over at the Jewel Vault, so please head thataway for discussion) and this one we're about to talk about right now.
Kungahuset.se
Sweden's own King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia headed out for a state visit party at the neighbors' place, a.k.a. Finland. They were received by the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, and his wife, the always well-turned-out Jenni Haukio (above). Liked the color of Silvia's suit, liked CG in uniform, everybody looks swell, etc. Let's get to the tiaras. (Okay, just tiara. Not plural, because we can't have everything I guess.)
Let's hear it for the Leuchtenberg! The Leuchtenberg Sapphire Tiara with accompanying necklace and earrings, that is. Any time Silvia brings out her blue big gun, it's cause for celebration.
However...(you knew this was coming...) I'm mad at this dress. I don't mind that Sil is doing a little color combining - I like that a lot, actually, because why wait for a blue dress to bust out these baubles? - but the spangles on this most figure skater-y of dresses combined with the collar* are seriously inhibiting my love of the Leuchtenberg necklace. That's too much going on up top. For shame, red dress, for shame.

*Your Order Report: The King and Queen are both wearing the collar of Finland's Order of the White Rose. The President has on the collar from Sweden's Order of the Seraphim, while his wife has the sash of the Order of the Polar Star, a lower Swedish order also often given to members of fellow royal families that aren't either a monarch/consort or an heir. These are the primary ones on display; each is also wearing home order(s) as is typical.

Photos: Kungahuset.se and via Getty Images as indicated
Tiara Watch of the Day: March 3

Tiara Watch of the Day: March 3

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On Sunday, the King and Queen of Spain welcomed the President of Colombia and his wife for their state visit to Spain.
For the welcome ceremony, Letizia wore a repeated dress from Spanish label Oky^Coky which has the look of separates (but isn't) with a Felipe Varela black coat and Magrit beige heels. I do like the mix of textures here and the softness added by the blouse portion, but this is a state visit, and this isn't what we're here for.
There we go! Monday night gave us what we needed, a gala dinner complete with tiara (the Spanish Floral Tiara, worn with her wedding earrings which were a gift from King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, her fleur de lys brooch, and the riband and star from Colombia's Order of Boyaca). Queen Letizia's Varela dress is another repeat, originally worn for the Dutch inauguration in 2013:
I was definitely a fan of this ensemble at its original appearance, with a jaunty hat (so many of you couldn't handle the angle, but I liked it) and the color worked quite nicely with the light blue of her Spanish sash. The dress is still lovely as ever and she looks fantastic - but I can't help but note that I am starting to see a pattern emerge from her recent tiara appearances.
Take a look at the 2014 Mexican state visit, or her Carolina Herrera black gown from last October's state visit (which I loved, but still). You take a sheer neckline, a slim silhouette, add in some lace or other doodads, throw the Spanish Floral Tiara on top, and VOILA! You've got yourself a Letizia tiara appearance. Anyone else feeling my déjà vu here?
But there is a positive side to all these similar appearances: Letizia has apparently switched her favorite tiara from the Prussian Diamond Tiara (worn for her wedding, and for the majority of her subsequent tiara appearances) to the floral tiara, and that's a change I can get behind. She can wear that bauble all she likes, right up until she decides she should give it to me instead, ahem.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated
Royal Flashback of the Day: March 2

Royal Flashback of the Day: March 2

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As noted yesterday, this month should bring us some treats to discuss (we'll be checking in with the Spanish state visit tomorrow). Typical me, though, I'm already looking forward to some of this year's big royal events, primarily Queen Margrethe's 75th birthday celebrations in April and the Swedish royal wedding in June. I predict that my excitement will lead to random outfit flashbacks involving previous similar events in the weeks to come, so you've been warned. Starting...now!

For Queen Margrethe's 70th birthday celebrations, a gala concert was held on the first night of the big royal gathering. Today's flashback features two of the gowns from that night on two of our lovely crown princesses:
Unfortunately, a volcano in Iceland decided to erupt just as the celebrations were getting underway, wreaking havoc on the travel plans of many of the scheduled royal guests. Crown Prince Haakon was among those delayed (he was coming off a solo visit to the Middle East), but Mette-Marit made it in time and Crown Prince Frederik pulled double date duty to escort M-M and Mary.
Mette-Marit's dress hits everything she typically goes for, no? A little bit of ruffle, a little bit of floral. A thoroughly standard appearance with one exception: we got to see the Amethyst Necklace Tiara instead of her standard Diamond Daisy Tiara! Only because the Diamond Daisy would make a later appearance and not because she actually chose this one first, but still.
Mary brought out her big gun, the Danish Ruby Parure, and this was its first public appearance after she had the shape modified to her tastes. She wore the ruby earrings with pearl pendants, the brooch, and the ruby bracelet as well. All of which served as a perfect complement to her sleek white Jesper Høvring gown, with the shoulder strategically placed to accommodate her Order of the Elephant riband. This was a winner for me, and I think it's time we see this gown again. Please?

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated
Royal Outfit of the Day: January 6

Royal Outfit of the Day: January 6

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Many of you were just as enchanted as I was with Crown Princess Mary's evening cloak from the other night (and many of you were not, fair enough, more cloaks for me), which brought up some of the cloak's previous wearings. The concert for Queen Margrethe's jubilee in 2012 is one example; another is the same New Year's Court event from 2008:
Which reminds me, we should talk about this purple dress. It's an interesting one, that's for sure. Not necessarily in keeping with Mary's current style, but that's because it dates from the days before her style was fully defined.
The gown was first worn in 2004 during a state visit from Romania, shortly before Mary and Frederik were married (hence her lack of orders above), and was made by Henrik Hviid from fabric purchased by Mary at a market in her hometown in Tasmania. You can actually see her buy the fabric in a documentary filmed after the couple's engagement (video link).
Based on the dress alone, you might guess it came from the closet of then-Princess Alexandra, now Countess of Frederiksborg, Prince Joachim's first wife. And with good reason: Hviid was one of her favorite designers. But despite my love for Alexandra's over the top early princess style, and despite my love for a purple gown, this one has never been a favorite. I think it mainly leaves me glad Mary went on to develop a style of her own, if you know what I mean. What's your verdict?

(By the way, there was also quite a bit of discussion about what color that evening cloak is, exactly. It's dark velvet, so that's naturally going to take on a few different shades. Given that Mary paired it with a purple purse this year, purple earrings in 2012, and a purple dress in 2008, I'm going to guess it's more purple in person.)

(And also by the way, the daytime New Year's Courts are happening in Denmark, and we'll check back in later this week to discuss.)

Photos: Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images

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