WEDDING FLOWERS: Royal Men
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Showing posts with label Royal Men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Royal Men. Show all posts

Royal Birthday of the Week: May 5

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Sweden's King Carl Gustaf celebrated his 69th birthday last week as he usually does with music and military outside the palace, and he was quite dashing in his uniform (as was Prince Carl Philip). This year, because he's a grandpa and it's a classic grandparent move, he let his two squirmy granddaughters run the show. "Let" might not be precisely the right word. I trust he won't mind if we focus our attentions elsewhere too.
Princess Estelle couldn't resist displaying a few of her famous dance moves, but she was totally calm in comparison to her cousin Princess Leonore, who used up all her patience charming the pontiff earlier in the week and was good and DONE with sitting still, thankyouverymuch.
Kids will be kids, right? And coats will be coats, by which I mean they will be in beige and in mass at any royal gathering, guaranteed. A trio of Swedish brands for Sofia Hellqvist, Crown Princess Victoria, and Princess Estelle, while Princess Madeleine wore a beige version of the Seraphine coat worn by the Duchess of Cambridge in blue a few months ago. (Madeleine was also in Seraphine for her Vatican visit, a jacket she paired with a dress from another Kate favorite brand, ASOS.)
Coats from left to right: Sofia's from Tiger of Sweden, Madeleine's from Seraphine, Victoria's from Filippa K, and Estelle's from Livly
I can accept this sea of blergh as a background for Estelle's splash of blue and primarily for Queen Silvia's repeated purple cape. Anything to showcase a purple cape.

Since it's a day for grandfather/granddaughter outings:
Over in Norway, Princess Ingrid Alexandra christened the lifeboat Elias for the Norwegian Society of Sea Rescue with some support from her grandfather, King Harald. Throw in a fancy braid and some pretty purple flowers for them both, and you've got yourself a recipe for aww.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, SVT video screencaps, Tiger of Sweden, Seraphine, Filippa K, Livly, and Redningsselskapet via Creative Commons

Royal Fashion Awards: Queen Margrethe’s Christiansborg Birthday Dinner

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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

British Royal Outfits of the Day: March 20 (Updated)

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While I've been in a state visit coma, assorted Windsors have been doing their thing. Time to play catch up, y'all!
Will and Kate made their annual St. Patrick's Day visit to the Irish Guards, an event more about shamrocks and giant dogs and uniforms with frock coats than about other clothes.
But since "sartorial" is right in the name of the blog and all, I will duly report that Kate was in a repeated Lock & Co. hat and a new Catherine Walker coat. All brown, and while that is by its very nature not the most exciting of colors, this was quite elegant and she looked great.
The Duchess had another engagement this week too, for which she wore a new ASOS maternity dress and a repeated black coat with ruffle trim (by her mysterious "independent dressmaker," apparently).
And this was supremely cute. Polka dots are the best. I hope she went home and twirled, like this model's apparently about to do. Polka dots deserve a twirl.

Chaz and Cams embarked on their U.S. visit, which kicked off with a few meetings (oh hello there President Obama, Uncle Joe), a bit of sight seeing, and some general tourist schmoozing.
This geometric trim deal is a great outfit on the Duchess of Cornwall, no? It's from Bruce Oldfield. It didn't look quite so clean with her scarf and that fur-trimmed black hat she's been living in of late, so we don't have to look at those pics. Problem solved.
This evening reception dress is also Oldfield, but I'm mostly interested in the fact that she's rocking a cape and a selection from her magnificent collection of pearl chokers. (Those things would pull my attention in almost every situation, to be fair.)

And finally we have Prince Harry, who launched Walking With The Wounded's trek around Britain this week. Harry's got a lot going on now, what with leaving the army and all that, but I think we can all agree that the most important thing is that he continues to look really good in casual gear. #priorities

P.S.: Since we're catching up with the Windsors, let me tell you that it has been a jolly week at the Jewel Vault too. Highlights: William and QEII had a little Take Your Grandson to Work Day (for which she wore a Cambridge emerald brooch just to give those of us on the Brooch Identification Squad a chuckle), and Her Maj got a canine guard of honor, which is THE BEST.


Update: Here's Cams on the last day of the U.S. trip.
She made some new friends in Kentucky in an outfit from Dior (oh la la) and the newest addition to her pearl choker collection, one with an Art Deco sapphire clasp.
And here is an evening engagement during the trip that I missed (per the caption, it's the International Conservation Caucus Foundation Gala where Charles was presented with the ICCF Teddy Roosevelt Award for Exceptional Leadership in Conservation, March 19):
And how could I miss this one - that's my very favorite of Camilla's pearl chokers! Oh, that thing makes me happy every time I see it. So glad she brought that to the U.S. with her.

Photos: Via Getty Images as indicated, ASOS

Royal Outfit Grab Bag of the Day: February 4

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Today's outfit grab bag has a British flavor, so locate a scone and settle in:
The Earl and Countess of Wessex embarked on a visit to Finland, meeting with President Sauli Niinistö and his wife, Jenni Haukio. This black Tom Ford dress (per the Countess of Wessex blog), black boots, and print scarf on the Countess seems a little too clingy and a little too casual to me, so I have to give this one a miss.
Later on, Sophie opted to repeat a burgundy guipure lace dress. I'm not the biggest fan of the large scale laces, but this is lovely on her. It's from Stella McCartney, but most definitely in the shallow end of the Stella pool, so to speak (which is most definitely where Sophie should stay).

And now we bop over to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who attended the British Asian Trust Dinner last night.
Camilla's worn this gown many times, and the best thing about it is that she uses it to showcase whatever purple gems she can dig out of her vault.
Hellooooo, amethysts. You know you're dealing with some major earrings when they're powerful enough to be spotted through the signature Cams 'do. She's also sporting her diamond serpent necklace, one of her favorites, but I only have eyes for the purple.

And finally, also out and about...
Prince Harry met marathon runners raising money for RFU's Injured Players Foundation and visited a youth project. And here's your Very Important Harry Update: He continues to do casual wear better than any other royal.
And he knows it.

Photos:  @TPKanslia, @ukinfinland, Net-a-porter, Chris Jackson and WPA Pool via Getty Images
Royal Outfit of the Day: October 13

Royal Outfit of the Day: October 13

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This weekend marked another milestone for Felipe VI's reign in Spain: his first National Day as king.
For the parade, Felipe was decked out in uniform, their daughters were dressed in Nanos, and Letizia stuck to her favorite designer, Felipe Varela. The dress has the look of a standard, one of those tweedy/bouclé numbers you might get from vintage Chanel, but Letizia - as always - puts her own twist on the story with a closely tailored fit and a shaped neckline.
The story took an unexpected turn at the back: a different fabric! Which has the unfortunate effect of appearing that they accidentally ran out of the good stuff. I was with her until that plot twist, and now I think I have to crown Felipe the best dressed of the day (if you're going to change out of your uniform for the reception, might as well make it some natty pinstripes, right?).


Photos: Eduardo Parra and Juan Naharro Gimenez via Getty Images

Royal Parliament Opening of (Last) Week: October 7

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'Tis the season for royal parliament business, and Norway took their turn last week. The King opened parliament with the Queen and the Crown Prince in attendance. This is the standard group for this event, by the way; this is one that Mette-Marit does not attend.
Queen Sonja often favors colors that go with the surroundings, and this year's red peplum jacket, black skirt, and black hat with cut outs on the brim were no exception. She did wave her Norwegian fashion flag in an outfit from Peter Dundas, who is the current designer for Emilio Pucci, and jewelry from Gine Sommerfelt (per Kjell Arne Totland). I'm not particularly fond of that close-fitting hat style, but Sonja sure seems to like it.

As for the gentlemen, they both wore the collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav together with the blue riband of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. 
Norway falls somewhere in the middle on the spectrum of fanciness in these royal parliament openings: not as sparkly as Britain's crowned affair and without the carriages and court dress of the Dutch Prinsjesdag, but still with a throne and uniforms. (The Danish version happens today, and we'll hopefully be covering that on its own later.) I think it's a happy medium. I don't always cover the Norwegian event here, but sometimes a little bit of pomp just hits the spot.

If you'd like to see this event on video, click here.

Photos: Sverre Chr. Jarild/Stortinget and Terje Heiestad/Stortinget, Bilder fra Stortinget via Flickr/Creative Commons

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