WEDDING FLOWERS: Jorgen Bender
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Showing posts with label Jorgen Bender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jorgen Bender. Show all posts

Royal Outfit of the Day: April 14

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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 Wedding Anniversary of the Week: September 19

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King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in Greece this week - they hit the big 50 year mark yesterday. They were young when they married, she was 18 and he was 24, but even then their story was a long one.
They first met in 1959. Anne-Marie was the 13-year-old daughter of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark, and Constantine was the Crown Prince of Greece, on a state visit to Denmark with his parents, King Paul and Queen Frederika. By 1961, a romance was in the works. Their engagement came early - too early, King Frederik thought, being concerned that his daughter was still just a teenager and still in school. He asked them to wait until Anne-Marie was 18 and had finished her education to marry, and so they did. They were intended to marry in January 1965, but things were moved up when King Paul died in March 1964 and Constantine took the throne. The wedding was set for September 18, 1964, just after the end of official court mourning. Less than a month after turning 18, Anne-Marie became a queen.
Her wedding gown has always been a sentimental favorite of mine, but then I'm apt to fall in love with any kind of simple, classic style paired with a lace veil. Designed by her mother's favorite couturier, Jørgen Bender, the gown has an elegant silhouette: a wide neckline delicately accessorized with a cross pendant, an empire waist, three-quarter length sleeves, and a split front skirt with a detailed edge and train behind. The whole affair was turned into a true queen's gown with a massive 20' long train flowing out from behind and requiring several royal bridesmaids to manage.
Video: Starting with the glittering pre-wedding ball. Attended by an enormous group of royals, in this clip alone we can see Anne-Marie in the Greek Emerald Parure, Queen Frederika in Queen Sophie's Diamond Tiara, Queen Ingrid in the Danish rubies, Queen Juliana in the Stuart Tiara, and more! 
Queen Anne-Marie was the youngest of Frederik and Ingrid's three daughters but the first to marry, and she set in place several trends that would be echoed by other brides in her family. Dress designer Jørgen Bender would go on to design the wedding gowns of her sisters Margrethe and Benedikte, as well as Benedikte's daughter Alexandra and Margrethe's daughter-in-law Alexandra. Though she already had a tiara collection of her own by this time (the Antique Corsage Tiara from her family, as well as the Greek emeralds and rubies, turned over to her by Queen Frederika), Anne-Marie borrowed a diamond tiara from her mother for the wedding. Her use of the Khedive of Egypt Tiara started a tradition that continues today with Ingrid's female descendants. She also borrowed the family wedding veil, solidifying a tradition that is still alive in the family.
The wedding placed two young, glamorous, fresh faces at the helm of the Greek monarchy, but the institution had a turbulent past and a less-than-stable footing, and it wasn't long before things got rocky once again. In 1967, the young couple and their family left Greece; by 1973, the monarchy was abolished. They remained in exile for many years, eventually settling in England, but in recent years they have returned to live once again in Greece.
At their golden wedding party, with most of their children and daughter/son-in-law (not pictured: Prince Nikolaos and wife Tatiana)
They may be former monarchs, but thanks to their family connections, they show up at many royal events (in addition to the Danish ties, King Constantine's sister is Queen Sofia of Spain and they are related to many royal houses going further back). Family members have joined them in Greece to celebrate, click for more: the party at the yacht club (also shown above - loving Marie-Chantal's ribbon belt), and a gathering the evening before.
Photos: Keystone/Hulton Royals, Keystone France/Gamma-Keystone, and Milos Bicanski, all via Getty

Royal Outfit of the Day: January 7

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Psst...: Yes, this is a new feature! See today's other post for details.


Queen Margrethe, accompanied by Prince Henrik and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, attended the second day of the New Year's Court festivities, a reception for the Diplomatic Corps. The video above shows the event from 2012.
Yes, the video is showing you this event from a couple years ago - but guess what? It doesn't even matter, because the ladies wore the same stuff this year! Repeats ahoy, and that's why our outfit of the day is really from Margrethe. Some of you gave Mary a hard time for repeating her gown for the gala event, but here's her example: Margrethe wears this fur-trimmed blue outfit (from longtime couturier Jørgen Bender, if I'm not mistaken) for two days in a row for these daytime courts and has done so with the same dress for quite a few years. It's how she rolls, and it makes me appreciate any amount of variety from Mary all the more, no matter how small.
Margrethe, Mary, and Mary's brooch (as shown in the documentary De Kongelige Juveler)
Mary's gown is another altered repeat, but she wore the lovely sapphire brooch Queen Margrethe gave her when Christian was born. It's a family heirloom from Queen Ingrid's mother, and it's always a treat to see in use!

Photos: Polfoto/Scanpix/De Kongelige Juveler

Flashback Friday: Princess Alexandra's Gowns

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So many Princess Alexandras out there - today's about the one in Denmark, the one that used to be married to Prince Joachim and is now known not as Princess Alexandra but as the Countess of Frederiksborg. Today's about her princess days, though, specifically those majestic ball gowns she used to trot out. She had the fairytale look down pat, which makes her perfect material for a little Friday dress delight.

She married the second son in the family, but she did so in 1995, nine years before Crown Prince Frederik would marry and provide Denmark with a crown princess. Alexandra, by default, played a big role. She also married into a family headed by the dramatic Queen Margrethe, herself no stranger to a lush fabric and a big skirt. Add those things together, and you begin to see how enormous gowns with major trains came to fit right in.

And oh, did she love a train - and oh, how I love her for that. Several of these memorable frocks came from Jørgen Bender, Danish royal couturier extraordinaire. Bender also designed Alexandra's royal wedding gown. Others came from Henrik Hviid, who would design the dress for her second wedding, plus a selection of additional designers. She paired them with the Alexandrine Drop Tiara, which is her only one (and also a favorite of mine). Do I need to tell you that the purple one is my favorite? I hope not.

Sure, not every one was super successful - is that tartan? - and some are starting to look dated. Those that have followed her after her divorce know that her style is much updated now; in addition to the change in time, there's been a change in partners (both she and Joachim seem happy with their second spouses and on good terms with each other) and a change in status, making it all the more clear that she was dressing distinctly for her princess position. Which incidentally happens to be exactly why I loved her style, as I'll forever appreciate the effort.

Which is your favorite Alexandra look?

Photos: Polfoto/DR/Corbis/Scanpix

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