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

Sunday Tidbits for May 17: Some Dresses, Some Sparklies

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Lots coming up on the blog this week: pre-wedding business in Sweden, national stuff in Norway, happenings in Spain, etc. But first, a tidbit or two...

--Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist have a service and reception today for their marriage banns and we'll be looking at that later. For now, they've released some new pictures, and Sofia's wearing a Reiss dress. Happy birthday to Prince CP, by the way - he turned 36 this week!
Foto Mattias Edwall, Kungahuset.se
--The Cannes Film Festival is in full swing, and French actress Clotilde Courau - also known as the Princess of Venice and Piedmont, though she doesn't use the title professionally - always turns up. Her dress is Valentino Couture, and I'm in sheer disbelief that we didn't see it on Crown Princess Mette-Marit first. Probably waiting patiently in that Norwegian closet.

--I'm also intrigued by her jewels, from Bulgari High Jewellery's Giardini Italiani collection. I love mixing stone colors in modern pieces.

--Also in Cannes, minus the evening gown: Prince Félix of Luxembourg. [Luxarazzi]

--Prince Harry continued his cuteness assault in New Zealand following my post earlier this week. Here he is trying his hand at a Maori Haka:


--I am intrigued by the Countess of Wessex's floral dress worn to a ballet performance this week, and am waiting to see it without the jacket. In her down time, she and Lady Louise have been having a blast at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Savannah and Isla Phillips included. [Countess of Wessex Blog, Daily Mail]

--Over at the Jewel Vault this week, we talked about two of the Duchess of Cornwall's famous pearl chokers.

--And finally, here's a little something to drool over: stunning Cartier jewels auctioned at Sotheby's this past week. We'll be talking about some of the tiaras featured at that auction a bit later on. [YouTube]

Photos: via Getty Images and Kungahuset as indicated
Royal Trip of the Day: May 13

Royal Trip of the Day: May 13

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Do you need a midweek pick-me-up? Okay. Let's talk about Harry.
Day 1 of the New Zealand Tour
Following his time with the armed forces in Australia, Prince Harry embarked on a tour of New Zealand that runs through the end of the week. I'm glad we're nearing the final stages, to be honest with you. I've died several times already, and it just keeps getting worse.

In Sydney, before leaving for New Zealand
I take my hat off to the team that plans his tours. Good grief, these people know exaaaactly what they're doing. Harry's on a charm offensive and no woman, man, child, puppy, or cupcake is safe.

Day 4
For heaven's sake, he's even given an interview about wanting to have kids and wanting someone to share the royal grind with. (I know.)


 Day 1
Also, I warned you about the puppies.

Day 5
On the sartorial level, he's managed to stay out of his blue suit for quite a few engagements, which is great. (...Maybe that didn't come out quite right.)
Day 4
Casual wear and baked goods, I don't know what more you could ask for.

Day 4
I mean... {SOUNDS}

Photos: Chris Jackson, WPA Pool, and Martin Hunter via Getty Images

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

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 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

The Spanish Proclamation: The Main Event

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Video: A short look above,
or click here for a full replay (I'm not sure if it will be up permanently)
It was a great day for a Proclamation in Spain – the sun was shining, the crowds were cheering, and King Felipe VI is officially on the throne. While I attempt to break my habit of writing “Princess Letizia”, let’s recap the sartorial side of the royal family’s big day.

Felipe has a commanding presence as king, don’t you think? Being dressed to the nines in his army gala uniform with his newly awarded red Captain General sash doesn’t hurt, obviously. He gave a strong speech that received a worthy (and lengthy) standing ovation, and that was just part of the warm welcome the royal family received today.

I felt like yesterday was about Juan Carlos and today was about Felipe, and I think Queen Letizia’s outfit choices have reflected that focus well. Today she chose a sleek white coat and dress with a hint of sparkly embellishment at the collar, needless to say from her favorite designer Felipe Varela. It was more formal than her usual choices, but not a drastic attention-grabbing departure from the style for which she is known. The collar added a patriotic touch with hints of red and yellow in the decoration, but not on a level that would make you wonder if she’d gotten lost on the way home from the World Cup. She avoided big jewelry but did add the small bow decoration of the Order of Charles III as a nod to the formality of the occasion. All in all, she walked a fine line and she walked it well, and unless she drops an enormously fabulous tiara appearance on us in the months to come, this will be a strong contender for her best of the year.

The brand new Princess of Asturias (Leonor) seemed a bit bemused by the extra attention, as did her sister Infanta Sofia, but they were both on their very best behavior. They wore matching outfits in different colors (pink for Leonor, blue for Sofia) with a little bit of fun in the hair department in the form of braids for Leonor and a sparkly dragonfly headband for Sofia. An A+ appearance if there ever was one.

Queen Sofia received her own well-deserved standing ovation during the Proclamation, and she sweetly accepted the affection in a sleek yellow ensemble with pearl and ruby jewelry (the pendant on her necklace belonged to her mother, Queen Frederika). She was supported by Infanta Elena, who wore cream and was spotted dropping a graceful curtsey to her brother. Also present at the Congress, and you can pick them out above, were Juan Carlos’ sisters Infantas Pilar and Margarita, plus Sofia’s siblings Princess Irene and King Constantine (with wife Queen Anne-Marie).

This was the rare day where there were no royal outfit flops to be found. Everyone was appropriate and everyone looked fantastic, and that really allowed the true purpose of the day to shine through. Well played, Spain.

P.S.: We won't have our regular post on Friday. Ascot is still happening over at the Vault, if you haven't checked in there.

Photos: RTVE video

Royal Balcony Appearance of the Day: June 16

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Trooping the Colour, the Queen's official birthday parade, went on in London this weekend. Hats and the upper two-thirds of outfits, here we come:
The Queen and her Duke first, of course (more on her gems at the Vault), followed by her Royal Colonels on horseback. (Shown at right are the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, and the Princess Royal. William's in the middle.) Everybody's all very smart and such, not my favorite of the Queen's outfits but there are enough uniforms around her to distract me.

Any time Camilla wears her pink topaz pearl choker, she wins, those are the rules. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a brooch that looked pretty faux to me, but she still stood out as her smart suit was quite a bit smarter than what's going on with Sophie and Eugenie, I'm afraid to say. Yeah, I'm on Blergh Patrol today.

Over on this side of the balcony, we've got a selection of Kents for you, looking very neat and tidy all around. Well, I'm not sure what's happening with Lady Helen's outfit (she's the one in raspberry), but I'm sure it's all very fashion-y. Anyway, it's always nice to see Lady Gabriella (center) hasn't lost her fondness for a proper hat.

And finally, a selection of Gloucesters and some trailing Kents. We could talk about all of them individually but we won't because CAPE ALERT! Princess Michael has arrived. Dramatic (so we know it's still her), but tasteful too. Well played.

P.S.: Garter Day is on tap for tomorrow!

Photos: BBC1 video

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