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

Royal Fashion Awards: Queen Margrethe’s Christiansborg Birthday Dinner

Queen Margrethe and the Danish royal family were joined for an official dinner for her 75th birthday by fellow European sovereigns, and: YAY. That's all I have to say. Well, I have quite a lot more to say, as you will see from this lengthy and picture-laden entry, but that's the gist of it.

A couple notes: If we’ve covered these jewels in the past (and we usually have!), there will be a link. Most of these people are wearing the light blue Order of the Elephant from Denmark, which is usually given to sovereigns and their spouses, plus those in the Danish family. If foreign royals are wearing a different sash, it’s because they haven’t had a chance to receive the Order of the Elephant yet (they’re usually given at state visits, and occasionally at other times; here's my explainer post on that).

Now, to the awards:

Best in Coincidences
Queen Margrethe
Tuesday’s post featured a flashback to an epic Margrethe outfit using the Floral Aigrette Tiara and pieces of the ruby, diamond, and pearl set from the crown jewels – and that’s precisely what she gave us again! And in a flowing red dress, because why not? She is the birthday girl, after all. (And she flew solo, because Henrik is out with the flu.)


Best in Repeats
Crown Princess Mary
You saw me die over this Birgit Hallstein gown when Mary wore it previously. And then you saw me die over it in another format when Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt wore something similar to the New Year’s Court in 2014. And here we go again! Mary paired it this time with the tiara, small earrings, bracelet, and hair clips from the Danish Ruby Parure. This is both stunning and understated – in other words, the perfect choice. And in an inadvertent twin episode, PM Helle wore her version again, too!
Helle Thorning-Schmidt on the right

Best in Old Favorites, Part 1
Princess Marie
Marie loves a good peplum gown and she loves her Diamond Floral Tiara (which is her only solid option for an event like this, having just one other tiara at her disposal which is much more informal), so this navy lace peplum and tiara combo was entirely expected. But it’s also entirely lovely! She's also wearing a brooch from Queen Alexandrine as a pendant, so she's fully loaded with her family heirlooms.

Best in Old Favorites, Part 2
Queen Anne-Marie
I almost did another flashback to the birthday celebrations in 2010 today, which would have featured this exact same gown and Greek Emerald Parure pairing on Anne-Marie. She wears the heck out of her gowns and she wears the heck out of those emeralds, and I can’t say I blame her on either count.

Best in Beach Cover-Up Gravitas
Princess Benedikte
On anyone else, this floaty top layer would be a swimsuit cover-up, tossed on as they flew in from a day at the beach. But Princess B. can carry anything off, and now it's magically part of a gala gown (mind you, the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Fringe Tiara and a solid smattering of diamonds doesn't hurt, either!).

Best in Extended Tiaras
Countess Sussie and Princess Elisabeth
Married to Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, cousin to the Queen, Countess Sussie (on the left) usually brings us a sighting of Queen Alexandrine’s Fringe Tiara, and so it is here. Also a cousin of Queen Margrethe, Princess Elisabeth (on the right) usually brings us a sighting of Princess Thyra’s Sapphire Tiara, and so it was yet again. File both these tiaras under "not a fave, but lovely to see."

Best in Solo Gentlemen
King Harald and Grand Duke Henri
I make no excuses for paying more attention to the ladies around here, but a little love for the gents in attendance without their better halves: Harald and Henri! Dashing in their uniforms all on their own (and I love Harald completing the Scandinavian Sovereign Trio there, which should be the name of their a cappella group). An engagement in New York is occupying Queen Sonja, and I'm not sure what happened to Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

Best in Splendor Dedication
Queen Silvia
Silvia injured her shoulder a while back, and it appeared she had some sort of support fashioned out of her dress material for her bad arm, not for one second risking her sartorial splendor for some random injury. THIS IS TRUE DEDICATION, PEOPLE. All the applause to you, Queen Sil. (And to your fabulous Leuchtenberg Sapphires too!)

Best in Big Guns
Queen Mathilde
Together with her almost unbearably shiny repeated Armani Privé gown, Mathilde gave us a tiara debut: the full version of the Nine Provinces Tiara! She's worn the bandeau, but this was the first time she's added the top arches in. I think this might be the first time I've actually liked this pointy wall of diamonds, so credit to Mathilde for making that happen.

Most Meh in Understated
Queen Máxima
Well, she can’t bear full responsibility for bringing the jumpy claps every single time, I suppose. And leave it to Máxima to wear a tiki hut skirt and still make my understated list, eh? She went standard with the Diamond Bandeau Tiara, her favorite, but she did pin the brooch from the Stuart Tiara parure to her waist. She's just teasing us, at this point, keeping us waiting for an appearance of the elusive beast itself.

Best in NEW TIARAS!
Queen Letizia
Never mind that Máx went standard, Letizia picked up the slack with an elusive tiara of her own! Made by Ansorena and reportedly a gift from Felipe, we've been waiting years to see this one in action. The center brooch has been seen, but not the tiara. It was nearing apocryphal status, for heaven’s sake, but a foreign tiara engagement proved the perfect place to finally bring it out of hiding.
We will have to give this one the full Tiara Thursday treatment later on (a couple Spanish articles about the tiara: one, two).
I'm reserving judgement until then. But for now, for simply showing us something I had completely given up on, she wins all the jumpy claps!

Stay tuned...the festivities continue with a full day of events tomorrow and another dinner tomorrow. For now:

Who was your best dressed at this dinner?

Photos: Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images, DR1 video, Ansorena

Royal Outfit of the Day: April 14

This being her birthday week and all, I think we need one more flashback to a Queen Margrethe classic. And if anything screams Daisy Style, this is it: big fabric, big sleeves, big skirt, big look.
The outfit comes from the late Jørgen Bender, her favorite couturier. Bender was the go-to designer for Danish royal wedding dresses for many years, making Queen Margrethe's own wedding gown and those of her sisters, Queen Anne-Marie and Princess Benedikte, plus the gowns for Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Alexandra Manley (Prince Joachim's first wife, now the Countess of Frederiksborg, who also wore many of his clothes during her marriage). He was a favorite of Queen Ingrid's before becoming a favorite of Queen Margrethe, and thanks to Ingrid's guidance, he also dressed Queen Silvia of Sweden frequently. This was a designer that knew how to dress a queen, and today's outfit is the perfect example.
This dress and jacket combo made its debut at one of the aforementioned weddings, that of Prince Joachim and Alexandra Manley in 1995. It was an evening winter event, so extravagant fabrics and fur were just right. (See it in action here, starting around 1:30. Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible if that link sends you down the royal wedding rabbit hole. That's on you.)
I often joke that certain dresses look like sofas or drapes, but this is the rare case where that's actually true: Rubelli made the fabric, a company known for its high-end furnishing fabrics, and it's also used in the interior design of one of the palaces. The dress has a sweetheart neckline with full-length sleeves and a sweeping train at the back. The jacket has a slim-fit front, a cape-style back with wide sleeves at three-quarter length, and fur trim around the bottom and the neck. Obviously there are also shoes and a handbag made to match in the same fabric, because it wouldn't be a signature Margrethe look without them.
For the wedding, she wore the Floral Aigrette Tiara and the set of rubies, diamonds, and pearls that belongs to the Danish crown jewels. Using the dress and jacket again for later official portraits, she used the Pearl Poire Tiara and the pearl and diamond jewels that are often worn with it (and I do prefer the pearl tiara with this, despite my deep love for her flexible floral diadem).
The whole effect is intended to be rather Holbein-like, and fittingly, she also wore this for a very imperious portrait by Thomas Kluge (you may know him from a slightly more infamous portrait of the royals). The whole look borders on overwhelming, but it's such a good match to its wearer, I can't help but love it. The Queen mentions in Dronningens Kjoler by Katia Johansen that this dress could someday replace the blue court dress with fur trim she's been using for the daytime New Year's Courts for so many years, and I, for one, can't wait for that day to arrive.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, DR video, Rigmor Mydskov/Kongehuset.dk

Royal Flashback of the Day: March 27

This week, Queen Margrethe opened a new exhibition of her dresses, put on in honor of her 75th birthday (coming up in April, have I reminded you of that often enough?).
You can see a few of the outfits on display in this gallery, including her wedding gown (minus the front lace panel and the daisy brooch), the gorgeous floral print gown she wore under a pink coat for Fred and Mary's wedding, and that floral rain coat she so cheerily and so memorably wears. (The fact that a rain reign coat makes the cut for an exhibit alongside couture gowns is everything I love about Queen Margrethe in a nutshell, by the way.)

No time like the present, then, to get back to our flashbacks to her 2010 birthday celebrations and cover one of my favorite gowns from her current rotation:
This apple green dress was created for the gala performance on the first night of those 2010 celebrations. I've been working my way through Dronningens Kjoler by Katia Johansen, which is all about her fabulous clothes and includes the Queen's own thoughts on some of the creations she's worn throughout her years; according to the book, this color was selected specifically because it would pop against the red and gold inside the theater. (And that it did, you can see video of her arrival and seating here).
Created by Birgitte Thaulow, Margrethe's current favorite designer, the gown is made from heavy silk zibeline bought by the Queen in London. It features a square neckline, elbow-length sleeves, and a shape created by an interesting gathering of pleats to a central sash. For the birthday celebrations, she played off the green and wore the tiara, necklace, brooch, and earrings from the Danish Emerald Parure, part of the crown jewels. The silhouette is theatrical enough to suit this drama queen, but the color gives it a new glow. And it has enough interest to stand on its own while still being plain enough to work with all sorts of orders and jewels.
Margrethe's big on repeating gowns, so of course we've seen this one several times. She wore it to Crown Princess Victoria's wedding just a few months later, in 2010 (seen above), and this is my favorite appearance so far. The green is so fresh, it looks amazing with the lightness of the pearl jewelry (the Pearl Poire Tiara and its assembled parure). She's also worn the dress with the emeralds again for the New Year's Court gala in 2011 and 2014.
The dress now has its own place in history, with a starring role in a portrait by Mikael Melbye which was placed on stamps to celebrate her ruby jubilee. The artist wanted a monochromatic look in order to focus the painting on her expression, so the green dress was painted in silver. It works in silver, it works in green, and I wouldn't mind it if she had a few run up in every other color of the rainbow. When it works, it works.

Photos: via Getty Images/DR

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

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