Royal Christmas of the Day: The Windsors at Sandringham

Yesterday's Christmas church stroll by the British royal family was pretty sartorially predictable. Predictably! Maybe the most surprising outfit was the Queen's, but she gets her own post at the Jewel Vault (click here). As for the rest of this lot...

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No one that has been paying any attention will be the least bit surprised to see that the Duchess of Cambridge has ordered up another color of a favorite outfit (a Catherine Walker coat, owned also in green, with another Jane Taylor headband, and worn with her oak leaf brooch). Likewise, no one that has been paying any attention will be the least bit surprised to see that the Duchess of Sussex has ordered up another navy outfit (Victoria Beckham this time). Per usual x2.

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Deep colors were also the name of the game for Autumn Phillips and Princess Beatrice, both sporting Claire Mischevani, and Princess Eugenie in festive red. I'd tweak all three of these looks just a littttttttle bit, although I am prepared to offer up my applause to Beatrice for throwing a hat brim into the family mix.

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On the lighter side, have some refreshing bright blues courtesy of the Countess of Wessex (in Suzannah) and the Princess Royal. Is Sophie my fave this year? Maybe. Just maybe.

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And finally, bless Zara Tindall for bringing some cheer into my Christmas review by flying the flag for the Purple Is A Neutral club. Every little bit helps our cause.

Royal Christmas of the Day: The Windsors at Sandringham

I hope you had/are having a pleasant holiday/holidays/regular weekend (take your pick)! The Windsor family is here to ease us down from our sugar hangovers (please say that doesn't just go for me) with their usual hats n' coats act for their usual Christmas Day walk to church at Sandringham.

The Queen, in BRIGHT orange and a whole lotta diamonds, has been covered at the Jewel Vault, as has her Christmas broadcast and the Duchess of Cornwall's Christmas brooch. As for this selection of the rest of the crew, the question is: do we have any last minute contenders for our Readers' Favorite Outfits of 2017 vote?

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Like, say, this chic little take on beige? At her first Sandringham parade, Meghan Markle gave us blergh done right with deeper accessories, an interesting purse shape, and her second great deployment of tall boots. A strong start to a future life of hats, too.

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Perhaps you would prefer something that says, in a more specific manner, This Is My Festive Christmas Coat? If so, the Duchess of Cambridge has your back in her gold buttons and velvet-trimmed tartan.

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Should your tastes find you wishing no scarves, long sleeves, or gloves were needed, the Countess of Wessex has already beat you there with her own version of festive wrapping. Splitting up the electric blues for the day, Princess Beatrice took the hat (with a sadly droopy coat, I am sorry to report) and Princess Eugenie took the coat with some fun color blocking added in.

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And finally, there's new competitor in town for the title of most coordinated family. Well played, Phillips clan (Autumn, Isla, Peter, and Savannah).

What do you think? Any new horses in the Best of 2017 race? I'll see you back here on Thursday and the race will begin...

Royal Christmas of the Day: December 27

I hope everyone had/is having a happy holiday! We have, as always, some Windsor fashions to chat about, courtesy of their traditional Christmas church parade.

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Parades, this year. The Cambridges spent their Christmas with Kate's side, but they still brought along their family coordination act. Accessorizing with a faux fur collar and the best pair of shoes she debuted this year was an instant upgrade for Kate's repeated Hobbs coat.

The rest of the fam marched to church at Sandringham without the Queen, who had a heavy cold. (Her Christmas broadcast has been covered at the Vault, of course.) I think they put on a fairly chic show, though:

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I'm all for the Duchess of Cornwall and Autumn Phillips leading the way in their chic blue coats - and for some more extra fur at the collar. Camilla accessorized with her sapphire and diamond butterfly brooch.

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As per usual, I find that the York sisters' hats bear little relation to the rest of their outfits, but in this case, these coats - chic though they are - could use a little pepping up.

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Refreshingly ditching the coat in a cozy wool-blend knit dress from Azzedine Alaïa (per the Countess of Wessex Blog), the Countess of Wessex was a standout in red. The drama of the Jane Taylor hat - which I'll wager we'll see again at Ascot some day - makes the outfit without taking it over, thanks to the black color choice. Definitely my Christmas best. Et toi?

Royal Christmas of the Day: December 27

I hope you all had a holiday weekend (or non-holiday weekend) as cozy and chic as the one the Windsors had.

Yes, I said chic! This might be the first time in the short history of this blog where I can honestly apply the word to pretty much all of the British royal family at once, at their annual march to Christmas service at Sandringham.

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The Queen got things rolling in her jolly red coat and hat with snuggly fur trim. Change the fur to white and add a black belt with a gold buckle, and we'd really be in business. That fur trim did mean she went without a brooch, but other family members were ready and willing to pick up the slack in that department. You can read all about her brooch pick for her traditional Christmas speech over at the Jewel Vault, of course.

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Here's one brooch stepping in, a diamond moth from the Duchess of Cornwall. She pinned it on this chic charcoal and black outfit - one of my favorites from Camilla's current wardrobe. She looks great in these coats with clean lines and selectively placed trim, and should buy them in bulk.

Lady Sarah Chatto also helped out in the brooch department, in a diamond and pearl star brooch that belonged to her mother, Princess Margaret. It's a lookalike to the Queen's Jardine Star Brooch, but that style is really quite common (the Princess Royal has one too).

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She and Princess Beatrice represented the black coat team, a look which is not particularly interesting but is also hard to get wrong. It did make me glad for Princess Eugenie's shot of teal, though.

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Princess Anne - who I like to imagine was having a stern conversation with her umbrella here, just daring it to defy her and attempt a windy getaway - sported a feather in her cap and a chicly cut light green coat.

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And it was green for the Duchess of Cambridge as well, as her parade of new coats rolls on. I love the empire waist variation (when one has one's own coat museum, one can afford to switch it up), and of course I appreciate that she made a rare brooch appearance. The acorn motif brooch has been seen once before, in 2012, and is thought to be in her personal collection.

All that said, there was one family member that really swept the chic competition. I may need to make a quick addendum to my Best of 2015 honorable mentions...

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Hello, Sophie! The added faux fur collar elevates the Countess of Wessex's Suzannah coat by about a million points for pure Christmas perfection.


On that chic note, the holiday hiatus is back in effect! We'll return with our annual coverage of the first tiara events of the year, the New Year's receptions in Denmark and Japan.

Photos: via Getty Images

Royal Holiday of the Day: December 29

Hello again! I hope your celebrations - if you were celebrating - were plenty merry. Better late than never, we have a couple royal Christmas celebrations to check in with today.

In Denmark, Queen Margrethe packed the house (er, palace, Fredensborg Palace to be precise) with family this Christmas. For the first time since 2006, her two sisters, Queen Anne-Marie and Princess Benedikte, and most of their associated families joined the Danish royal family for the holiday. The result is one impressive group portrait:

Photo: Steen Brogaard

Nothing says Christmas quite like a game of who's who with the family photo. Extra snaps to Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik and their color coordination.

Over in Britain, at Sandringham, the Windsors gathered for the holiday and made their traditional Christmas church run, starting with the Queen in the brightest color of them all.

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Her unusual brooch choice as well as her Christmas broadcast have both been covered at the Jewel Vault, as always.

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Princess Anne led the charge, as it should be, but she and her mother were alone in their colorful coats. We needed those shots of color, really, because most of the rest of the family defaulted to their favorite neutrals.

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Princess Beatrice sported a RED Valentino coat, previously worn to Ascot, and some serious shoes that leave me applauding her shoe spirit if nothing else. (Let me update this to add: RED Valentino is a brand, an offshoot of Valentino, and not a reference to the color of her clearly un-red coat, for those of you that think I've gone color blind.)

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The Duchess of Cambridge looked nice and cozy in a long Moloh coat, but I have to admit I preferred Autumn Phillips' touch of fur when it came to added winter warmth.

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She and Princess Eugenie, with a welcome dose of pink in her hat, took my best dressed prize (apart from QEII, who as always is on her own level), but it was a pretty average showing on the sartorial front. To be expected, really. But the Countess of Wessex was determined to make up for it with her showing at church the Sunday after...

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I mean, Sandringham is a hunting estate. Maybe she took this bad boy down herself.

That's all for now, folks. We're heading back into our semi-hiatus and will return at the end of the week for the year's first tiara events, the sparkling New Year's Courts!

Royal Fashion Awards: Christmas with the Windsors

Merry Christmas, lovelies! Anybody get a tiara in their stocking? Seems I shall have to wait another year (or millennium) for a real one to pop up in mine. Le sigh. Anyway, let's travel back in time to Christmas Day and spend some time with those tricky Windsors at Sandringham, shall we?

Best in Surprises

The Queen

Not the color I would have guessed, and certainly not the brooch I was predicting. Just when I was getting really good at predicting her moves, she throws a curveball! That Lilibet is a sly one. (That's a new brooch, full details are of course available at the Jewel Vault.)

Best in Purple

The Duchess of Cornwall

Camilla has replayed this general tune in a few different ways, but this one is quite fetching. And also purple. Win win.

Best in Sherlock

Princess Beatrice

If Holmes wore Dolce & Gabbana and jazzed up his hats with depressingly black Christmas ribbons, that is.

Best in Watson

Princess Eugenie

This works quite well alongside her sister's outfit, even if it's not the best coat for Eugenie herself.

Best in Unidentified Millinery Objects

The Countess of Wessex

How nice of Sophie to be the one to sport some headgear for us to really chat about (someone's gotta do it, that's the Windsor way). Sneaky, this one: it's a bird riding shotgun on her back! It's a stray Christmas wreath! And it's surprisingly chic either way!

Prettiest in Pink

Lady Louise

Such a cherubic little wardrobe she has, bless.

Best in Standard

The Princess Royal

What can you say? Carry on, Anne, carry on.

Best in Beatrice

Autumn Phillips

I really feel like she wore Beatrice's back up outfit. Seriously - statement hat not at all related to the basic coat, totally Bea. I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

Worst in Shoes

Zara Phillips

Just because someone is willing to sell you your grandma's shoes does not mean you should buy them. Even if they promise to add some extra clunk to the heel, just for you.

Who do you say wins the Christmas fashion race?

P.S.: Yes, we're sticking to the ones at Sandringham.
P.P.S.: I will see you next when we have tiaras in Denmark at the New Year's Courts to discuss!

Photos: AP/Getty Images/Bauer Griffin

Royal Fashion Awards: A Very Royal Christmas 2011

Well ho, ho, ho, friends: Christmas brought some of our favorite royals out to play. With Prince Philip still hospitalized but reportedly in good spirits, the British hit church on Christmas morning at Sandringham; meanwhile, Christmas Eve services were attended by the royal families in Norway and Denmark. It was an understated holiday all around, but that's never stopped us before...

Best Pass

Queen Elizabeth 

 Christmas without your spouse at your side? Pass. Wear whatever you like, QEII. Carry on.

Best in Festive

The Duchess of Cambridge

Left to Right: Princess Eugenie, The Duchess of Cambridge, Zara Phillips. Click to enlarge.

On a low-key holiday, those that made an effort shall be commended. Eugenie is awarded for adding some Christmas-y color in, while Zara gets points for turning in the required amount of hat flair for a British royal event. Only Catherine did both, though, with her gorgeous wine coat and déjà vu hat. She wins the most festive award of the day.

Worst in Mismatched

The Duchess of Cornwall

L to R: The Duchess of Cornwall, The Princess Royal

Oh, the combos. Anne's slightly off hat-to-coat combo (what season are we in again?) is no match to what I am pretty sure are army green boots on Camilla. What a mishmash duo...and somehow, I'd expect no more from either.

Best in Plaid, Tartan, etc., etc.

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor

L to R: Autumn Phillips, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Queen Margrethe, Crown Princess Mary

I suppose there's a certain festiveness to a good tartan...alas, certain things are never quite as charming past a certain age. Lady Louise was cute as a button, Queen Margrethe was Queen Margrethe, and Autumn and Mary sadly furthered two of my least favorite trends right now: short maternity tents, and anything resembling a SHOOTIE. Sigh.

Best in Miniature Headgear

Margarita Armstrong-Jones

L to R: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Princess Isabella

This one's the hardest to award, by far. Ingrid's cute bow? Isabella's adorable purple? It's gotta be Margarita with the combo for the win.

Best in Understated

Princess Beatrice

L to R: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja, Princess Beatrice, Lady Sarah Chatto

Ingrid's bow really was the best part of the whole Christmas appearance from the Norwegian royals, with Mette-Marit and Sonja blending right in. Lady Sarah did the same, but then again, understated is a permanent state for her. Understated is not at all Princess Beatrice's regular mode, but she managed to pull out the best-coordinated look of the non-looks.

Best in Retro

The Countess of Wessex

L to R: The Countess of Wessex, Viscountess Linley

Retro's tricky to do sometimes. Sophie's almost there, just a wee bit bigger on that pill box and we'd've had it, but Serena...well, she overdosed, poor dear. Though I'll say this: that's a hat.

Who made your best- and worst-dressed list this year?

Photos: Chris Jackson/Getty Images/Zimbio/Daylife/Belga/Newspix