Royal Fashion Awards: New Year's Receptions, 2015

Royal Fashion Awards: New Year's Receptions, 2015

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Happy New Year! We get to kick it off in style with tiaras ablaze - which is the best way to start a new calendar, if you ask me. The first day of January brings us sparkling events in Denmark and Japan and plenty of royal fashion awards to go around.

Best in Quantity
The Japanese Imperial Ladies

We start in Japan, where the Emperor and Empress, accompanied by the imperial family, received New Year's greetings from dignitaries. I always find it a little tricky to comment on the gowns here, since they are all conforming to the strictest protocols and there's not really room for personal expression. But you can't beat them when it comes to sheer numbers of tiaras on display. Each woman of age that is able to attend does, and they all have at least one parure to wear. The Empress has not worn a tiara for a while now, and that continues this year, but the rest are all sparkled up and ready to go. In the mix for the first time this year is Princess Kako, daughter of the Prince and Princess Akishino and granddaughter of the Emperor and Empress. She just turned 20 and got her brand new tiara, and we'll be chatting about that in depth soon.

Video, above. For pictures and more video, click here.

Next we go to Denmark, where the royal family holds a gala banquet for members of government and other VIPs. It is always one of the most formal events, if not the most formal event, of the year, and aound their shoulders they wear the collar of the Order of the Elephant, Denmark's highest order of chivalry. Click here for a gallery.

Most Anticipated Repeat

Queen Margrethe

View image | gettyimages.com

Margrethe is big on repeating gowns and she usually picks between two tiaras for this event (the Pearl Poire or the emeralds from the crown jewels; one notable exception was the year she wore her brand new tiara). So to see those emeralds and a green lace gown we've seen several times was entirely expected. She's also quite prone to wearing this particular giant fur wrap, so everybody say hello once again to the infamous Yeti Pelt.

Most Surprising Repeat

Princess Marie

View image | gettyimages.com

Princess Marie has had a run of new gowns for this banquet in years past, so I suppose she was due for a repeat. Still, I wouldn't have guessed she'd pick this particular one, worn to Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill's wedding in 2013. I quite liked it as a light choice for a summer wedding, but I'm not sure it can stand up to a heavy gold collar. She wasn't all surprise, though, as she stuck to her standard diamond floral tiara.

 

Best in New

Crown Princess Mary

View image | gettyimages.com

Flipping things around, Mary - who has worn a repeated gown for the last few years - opted for something new. And I guess my love affair with white will continue strong in 2015, because I can rarely find fault with a simple belted white gown. I love it with her evening cloak, which always makes me want to buy an evening cloak just so I could say evening cloak more often in my daily life, and I love it with the elements of the Danish ruby parure. She always wears the rubies for the New Year's banquet, and this time she's gone for the tiara, the stud earrings with pearl drops, the simplified version of the necklace, the bracelet, and the ring. Lovely, and (no surprise here at all) my favorite for the night.

View image | gettyimages.com

Updated to add: A video of the royal arrivals for you, below, and you can click here for a video on the terribly grand table setting for the banquet.

Who was your best dressed from this year's opening round of sparkle?

We return to our regularly scheduled programming on Sunday!

Photos: ANN News video, FNN video, Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images

Royal Fashion Awards: New Year, New Sparkle

Royal Fashion Awards: New Year, New Sparkle

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And so it is time, once again, to ring in a new year of royal splendor in the way we always do: with tiaras! The Danish royal family wastes no time busting out their finery, holding the first of a series of New Year's events with a banquet on January 1. It's time for tiaras, gowns, uniforms, and the extra fancy collars from the Order of the Elephant:

Video: The royal family arrives

Best Repeated Variety

Queen Margrethe

The Queen can be counted on to repeat a gown for the event, but she's the only one of the three ladies here that changes up her tiara choice from year to year, so there's that. This year she repeated a favorite apple green gown which is quite flattering and paired it with her traditional Yeti pelt fur wrap and the Danish Emerald Parure from the crown jewels. She also wore this combo in 2011 for the same event.

Most Stretched Repeat

Crown Princess Mary

The banquet has become Mary's yearly opportunity to display just how creative she can get with the many pieces of the Danish Ruby Parure - and normally, I love it. But...maybe sticking the brooch on a piece of velvet and calling it a choker is stretching it just a tad, hmm? The choker is a new incarnation of this burgundy velvet dress, which is making its third appearance at the event and has been revamped from its original maternity form.

Best in New

Princess Marie

Making sure we don't drown in repeated gowns, Marie's here to save the day in a new number with a printed peplum top and a solid skirt with a train. The way she's pinned on her collar is just lovely, but I'm missing the small portrait brooch of Queen Margrethe (as worn by Mary) - we've seen Marie wear the honor previously, but not tonight. A picky request, though, from a completely elegant appearance. She is wearing her regular diamond floral tiara.

And an Honorable Mention to...

Helle Thorning-Schmidt

I know basically two things about Denmark's prime minister: she likes a good selfie, and she knows exactly how to dress herself for gala events when she's thrown in with tiara-wearing ladies. All politics aside, she's my tiara-less best dressed for the evening. I mean, this is just gorgeous.

There are two additional receptions in Denmark to be held yet (neither with tiaras, but still fancy court dress).

UPDATE: And here's the sparkly event in Japan, in the video below!

For the second year in a row, Empress Michiko has chosen not to wear a tiara, I believe for medical reasons (extra weight on the head can be troublesome if you have a back issues and things like that). At the beginning, we see the Crown Princess arrive in the pearl-tipped diamond fringe tiara. She does not appear at the audience itself, so the arrival is all we get. The rest of the imperial ladies are sporting their individual tiaras.

Who wins your best dressed award?

Photos: DR1/BilledBladet/Scanpix