Royal Gowns of the Week: November 14

Let's close the week on an elegant note, shall we? TWO elegant notes, in fact. Thursday was a good day for evening gowns.

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took on the task of attending the annual Royal Variety Performance, something that rotates between family members. Has anybody else noticed that William made the switch to loafers (in velvet or suede, looks like) with his tuxes now? I feel like we should talk about that. Subtle slipper style. Me likes. I shall await his debut of the McQueen beaded skull style.

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I suspect you did not come here to talk about men's shoes, though. Fair enough. To Kate! She wore a new dress from Diane von Furstenberg in black lace. This is the second DVF lace gown we've seen this month, actually, the first being the plum number sported by Princess Stéphanie during Germany's state visit to Luxembourg. Put Stéphanie's color with Kate's neckline and sleeve length, and I'd be in heaven. I'm in heaven anyway because of a Kate Updo Sighting, mind you, but I'm quite greedy.

She also wore her Kiki McDonough blue topaz and diamond hoop earrings

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark also had a night out, traveling to Germany where Mary was presented with a BAMBI Award for her charitable endeavors, particularly her work against domestic violence. Frederik tagged along, probably because he saw Mary's dress and jumped at the perfect opportunity to wear that navy tux he likes so much. (Or maybe just because he was proud of his wife, I'm not a mind reader.)

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It's getting to that time when I start pondering the best looks of the year, and people, we have a serious contender for Mary's best. This is a Moment right here, capital M. That sparkly dress under all those lights, fabulous!

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Mary's navy blue gown is from Jesper Høvring, worn with her aquamarine girandole earrings, a massive ring, and an Ole Lynggaard Flower bracelet. She's worn the matching Lynggaard Flower earrings in the past, and though I usually reserve my drooling for the older jewels, I neeeeed this set in the worst way. Sadly, no Santa that's ever visited my house has pockets quite that deep. Le sigh.

 Anyway, this has been your dose of Friday pretty. Carry on.


Photos: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images, Net-a-Porter, Kiki McDonough, Matthias Nareyek and Luca Teuchmann via Getty Images, Jesper Høvring, Ole Lynggaard

Runway to Royal: The Dutch Inauguration

I said we were done with coverage of King Willem-Alexander's inauguration, but...uh...I lied. Because while we talked about the outfits, and the jewels, and a few of the designers (Jan Taminiau and Jan Taminiau!), we didn't talk about the rest of the designers. Today, a round up of some of the identified designers we haven't already covered in depth - and feel free to add additional designers in the comments!

Apart from Taminiau, Natan was the designer that got the most mentions during our previous coverage. A custom version of a previous look was provided for Queen Máxima for the abdication, and bespoke outfits (and capes) for the little princesses were made - the modifications to the basic design were picked out by the princesses themselves. Natan also provided couture looks for Princess Laurentien and Princess Mathilde for the inauguration, and both paired them with Fabienne Delvigne hats.

But Natan wasn't the sole dresser for these ladies: for the abdication, the princesses wore matching off-the-rack dresses from Pili Carrera. Princess Laurentien also wore dresses from Hardies in The Hague, and Olvi's brand.

Another Dutch designer who fared very well at the festivities was Addy van den Krommenaker, who did quite a few dresses for Queen Beatrix's sisters and their families. Modekoningin Máxima had great coverage of the festivities from a Dutch fashion perspective, including the eagle eyes for all these and Laurentien's designers.

Unsurprisingly, Princess Mabel stuck with her wedding gown designers, Viktor & Rolf. Her red gown is actually a repeat. Though it was reported that the bow on her inauguration dress came from the wedding gown, it looks like that's not true - though the inspiration for the selection seems clear.

Also unsurprisingly, Valentino made several appearances. Máxima repeated an older gown, while Mette-Marit (always a Valentino fan) and Sheikha Mozah had new couture to show off. The Qatari royal family actually bought the Italian fashion house a while ago, so I suppose you could say she was representing the home team.

The Duchess of Cornwall was dressed in bespoke Bruce Oldfield, and wore a repeated Philip Treacy fascinator to the inauguration. Princess Letizia was dressed by Felipe Varela, including a repeated navy gown. This is yet another un-shocker...I picture her closet as row after row of Varela garment bags with, like, some Mango bags stuffed in the back. Her hat - now that was something different, you can count on one hand the number of times we've seen her in a fancy hat - was from Maria Nieto.

Crown Princess Mary represented Denmark well, in bespoke Birgit Hallstein (thanks to the commenter that linked to Hallstein's Facebook page featuring shots of the gown in progress), Charlotte Lynggaard, and a repeated Jesper Høvring gown. Crown Princess Mette-Marit found her fix of long printed gowns at Giambattista Valli for the pre-inauguration dinner.

Elie Saab was represented by Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and Crown Princess Victoria, who repeated an older gown. Victoria also threw in some Escada for the ceremony, paired with a Philip Treacy hat, and bejeweled Jenny Packham with a By Malina coat to wrap it up.

Who had the best designer-to-royal match?

Photos: ANP/Natan/Getty Images/NOS/Pili Carrera/DutchPhotoPress/PPE/Viktor&Rolf/Style.com/Jesper Høvring/Elie Saab

Gold Star: Máxima in the Evening

I added Máxima's evening attire to the post on her inauguration gown, but I'm gonna feature her again because it needs to be said: girlfriend looked good. It was her second Jan Taminiau look for the day (huzzah! Can we get a switch to mostly Taminiau instead of...well, you know?), a burgundy-purpleish lace number with an elegant neckline and just enough train to make it count without dragging her down.

 

This was worn to the water pageant and the dinner following, and unfortunately because it was outdoors and on the water she ended up covering that masterful dress with a wrap (two wraps, part of the time) for most of the evening. But the dress wasn't the only sparkling thing: this was no tiara event, but Queen Máx still wore diamond stars in her hair, because she's our girl.

Video: A stop on the river cruise, and the gown in action

The King was in black tie, while the princesses wore their Natan dresses from earlier in the day with capes also provided by Natan.

Bea was there too, in purple no less. Once again, she's not only color-coordinated with Máx, but they're jewel-coordinated too - notice the diamond stars on her shoulder - and I am once again charmed by their teamwork. Bea's accompanied there by her sister Margriet, wearing Addy van den Krommenacker, as several members of the family were.

Left to right: Mary, Mette-Marit, Letizia, Mabel, Victoria

The royal guests were there too, though this was not their event and their presence was subtle. Mary repeated her gown from the Luxembourg wedding, and managed to sneak in some bits from her ruby parure (major earring alert!), so she was my default fave. Mabel's surprisingly understated in her Viktor & Rolf, but still all bow-ed up. (I've heard from several of you that the bow on her shoulder at the inauguration was, according to reports, in fact a bow from her wedding dress, which just breaks my heart. She looked especially emotional all day.)

Christina, Juliana, Annette, Sophie, Laurentien

Annette's wearing her inauguration dress without the jacket. I thought it was curiously dramatic with, and without I'm in love.

Mathilde, Margarita, Mozah, Aimée, Marilène, Irene

Plenty of glitter and sparkle among the guests, you know I approve. I loved Victoria's hardware above, and - this will come as a shocker - Mozah's particularly enchanting to me. (Some of you called her day outfit scary. No, my loves, no. We call that fierce.)

Gold stars nearly all the way 'round, don't you think?

And oh yes, before I forget, there was a brunch today for those still around, and then the royal family departed the palace to get back to business.

NOS has a short video of a few of the guests departing, click here to see. And click here to see Princess Beatrix leaving, once again with cheers of "Bea Bedankt" ("Thanks Bea") in the background.

Photos: NOS/PPE/DutchPhotoPress/Getty Images

Royal Trip Report: All Kinds of People, All Over the Place

Royal trips a-go-go! Seems like everybody's traveling everywhere lately, and I love it. Trip wardrobes are the best, even when they're a little on the low key side. So let's check in with some of our royal wanderers, shall we?

Frederik and Mary in Chile, days 1-3

First up: Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary went on an official visit to Chile. This was actually supposed to be a state visit made by Queen Margrethe, but on doctor's advice she cancelled and the crown princely couple stepped up. And as you might expect for a substitute visit, this is mainly a trip of repeats. Actually, I think the new item getting the most attention here seems to be Fred's new hairdo...and you thought the royal men didn't get enough frivolous attention.

Days 4 & 5

I think my favorite outfit might be the new dress shown above on the far left, from Elise Gug, blergh and all. And I will be forever grateful that she stopped short of a full jumpsuit with that print on the far right above. We've been there, and it wasn't pretty.

Elsewhere, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene made an official visit to Palau.

Video: in Palau

Seems to have been a pretty short and casual island-appropriate trip, as you might expect.

The Windsors are out and about too, starting with the Earl and Countess of Wessex in the Czech Republic to present Duke of Edinburgh Award certificates as well as other engagements.

These were my two favorite Sophie outfits from the trip: Sophie does McQueen, and more Roland Mouret. I'm not entirely sold on the head-to-toe cream, but the continual Benjamin Button-esque evolution of Sophie's style gets two thumbs up from me. And I think we always need more Roland Mouret.

Speaking of things we need more of, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall started a trip to the Middle East in Jordan with a visit to King Abdullah and Queen Rania, wearing Antonio Berardi. We could use more Berardi on the royal scene, I say. Good match for Kate or Beatrice maybe (or, hey, Sophie while we're at it).

Video: Charles and Camilla's official welcome in Jordan

They're on a multi-country tour which also includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. And it's been your basic Charles and Camilla show, you know, no real surprises or outliers in the fashion realm as far as I'm concerned. I will say this: the Qatar leg was disappointingly low on sightings of my girl crush, Sheikha Mozah - only one meeting with Charles, I think. And I will also say this: I can't wait for the release of this year's royal gift list. Will Cams pick up another ruby breastplate? The suspense is killing me.

Which trip outfit is your favorite?

Photos: Kongehuset/Abaca/Marfa/CTK/Getty Images

Royal Fashion Awards: New Year's in Denmark

Happy New Year! Are you alive? Did you make it through the holidays? I’m just barely hanging on myself, so let’s have a dose of our favorite elixir to make it all better: tiaras! The Danish royal family gets right to business every January with the New Year’s Courts (or Levees). The first banquet is usually the most formal event of the year for them, and they don’t disappoint in the splendor department.

Best in Gestures

Queen Margrethe

Well, isn’t this nice: Daisy saw our roundup of tiara news from 2012 and decided to keep us rolling in 2013. This is the Naasut Tiara, her 40th Jubilee gift from Greenland, and this is its grand debut. You can read more about it in my entry from when it was presented (click here), and I suppose we’ll have to give it a proper Thursday honor now that we’ve seen it in action. Hurrahs for the spirit of wearing new gifts aside…I’m not sure I’m a fan. It’s so aggressively gold, no? I’d like to see it again with a gown and hairdo designed specifically for it, instead of these repeats.

Best in Recycling

Crown Princess Mary

Seems a low key year for Mary, doesn’t it? A repeated Jesper Høvring gown (worn to this same event three years ago), downsized ruby set, not even a fur wrap. And yet! It looks fresh, somehow. I think it’s because I particularly love this way of wearing the ruby necklace and earrings – I love the set more every time she switches it around.

Best in Plumage

Princess Marie

It's bright, it's shiny, it's come straight out of some fictional conservative Las Vegas theater to put every royal butt ruffle to shame. But maybe this is why real Vegas showgirls don’t bother with modest versions of their stage attire: too much ironing required. Oh well, at least someone wore a new dress this year. So go on, Marie. Shake your tail feathers.

Best in Gentlemen

Crown Prince Frederik

Left to right: Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim

With due respect to Henrik's special talent for looking disheveled even in his finest duds - I’d rather have a uniform, and I’d rather have Frederik’s, so I’ll give him the win.

There are two more receptions (still formal, but no tiaras), on the 3rd and 4th. We’ll talk about those later in the week.

Who's your favorite here?

Photos: Scanpix/PPE/DutchPhotoPress/Ekstrabladet/BT/B

Runway to Royal: The Luxembourg Wedding

I don’t know about you, but I have the most massive tiara and couture hangover from this weekend. To soothe my symptoms of withdrawal, I have a couple more posts for you on the fabulousness we just enjoyed. Hey, we’re not going to see another event like this for a good while, so we better take it all in. First, a little comparison from runway to real royal life: who adapted it best?

This is legit couture – made just for you, so runway matches aren’t exact. So many of you noted multiple similarities between a lot of the Elie Saab gowns, and I don’t disagree with you. As with most ornate creations, it doesn’t help that we can’t pick out the fine details like we would be able to if we were standing right in front of the dresses. But I can’t get enough of it either way, so I remain firmly on Team Bring It On. For the record, Marie-Chantal's was my favorite - a true classic.

Also for the record, there were Elie Saab ensembles that didn't float my boat. Sorry, Clotilde. I'm still upset there wasn't a legit tiara (I just love the pink tiara she wore on her wedding day sooooo much, I'm complaining about its absence again), and the wedding outfit needed some color somewhere in the worst way.

I guess this is something of a classic silhouette for Mary; she’s worn these tiered gowns in the past, and I won’t lie to ya, they’re never my favorite. But they are probably spectacular in motion.

I was surprised how many of you hated Sophie’s outfit for the wedding. All I know is this: I watched the arrivals live, and it was like one long parade of standard suits and shiny suits and standard suits and shiny suits. Sophie was a breath of fresh air, totally striking in her black and white. And I couldn’t tell there were horses in the print – something which seemed to bother several of you on a deep level - until looking at photos.

Some found Caroline’s dress for the gala hideous, but I say to you: rejoice, for she stopped short of matching boots. (I actually quite like it, especially when you compare it to some of her recent evening choices).

What I loved about both Astrid and Margaretha was that I would never in a million years have selected these dresses for these two ladies. But here they are, workin' them like nobody's business.

Máxima is my favorite runway to royal example: she's given this Jan Taminiau dress so much more life with her feather boa on steroids and her rubies. Bless her and her flamboyance.

This is only a selection, feel free to post other runway finds in the comments!

Who had the best runway interpretation?

Photos: Getty Images/Cour grand ducale/Style.com/Jan Taminiau/Jesper Høvring/Bruce Oldfield

Royal Trip Report: The Danes in Brazil (Updated)

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have been on an official visit to Brazil, visiting Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro this week. They are there to promote Denmark and strengthen business ties, and they have a whole delegation with them. Luckily for us, Mary also has a whole wealth of outfits for our frivolous enjoyment.

 Day 1: Visiting an exhibit, the Scandinavian Church, and a reception

This is so light and fresh! And that's saying something when a coat (basically) is involved - many would have stopped at the blue Prada underneath. Makes me wish for summer, even though it's fall in my corner of the globe, and I love me some sweaters. That's my typically long-winded way of saying: I like it.

 

Day 2: Visiting a center for abused women, followed by a dinner in the evening

Note that her purple accents match the purple gates of the center she's visiting, and note that if you need me I'll be out buying purple paint...and a gate of some sort. (I can't believe my own humble abode isn't already guarded with purple, it's a terrible oversight on my part.) (My nonsense mutterings are just going to continue on, you've been warned.) She's dipping into the design world of Alberta Ferretti here on both accounts, and I would tell you here that I wish royal ladies would wear Ferretti more often, but that's a funny statement to make when the bronze dress has already been worn twice - are you feeling the déjà vu? Princess Beatrice wore it to the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Day 3: Visiting a hospital, an institute for the blind, and an exhibition, followed by a reception in the evening

There's a lot of furniture involved in these visits. They're forever opening a chair exhibition of some sort, or something else about Danish design. I think the sitting portion of the job is the one I'd be really good at. (Helps when you have hunky assistance when the sitting portion of the job is over.) ANYWAY...quite a contrast in outfits here: light and airy, and then sort of dark and choking.

Day 4: Visiting a youth center, a university, an exhibit opening, and an evening reception

Is it an option to have your hair done by Mary's hairdresser instead of Mary herself? Let me be clear: I'd say yes either way. Beyond that, these are two good dresses, and I continue to be intrigued by Mary's varied use of that statement white belt.

Day 5: Visiting a breastfeeding project, and then meeting with the Brazilian Olympic Committee
...........................................................................................................No.

Mary and Frederik leave Brazil today, hopefully before she has a chance to bust out any more printed jumpsuits. As you may be able to tell from my pointless non-sartorial musings in this post, I found it a serviceable if not thrilling trip from the wardrobe front (though we shall see what, if anything, else it brings before she boards the plane for home). But still, I shall ask you:

Which is your favorite Brazil outfit?

UPDATE: The remainder of the outfits from the trip...

Day 5: Dinner

MUCH better on the print front. Yes. Flowy, as close to an evening gown as you can get while remaining out of black tie territory.

Day 6: Final engagements

This has been an acceptable recovery from the first day 5 outfit. Let's all forget it ever happened...

Photos: SN/Terra/BilledBladet/Reuters/Agencia Minas

Flashback Friday: Extreme Dress Makeovers

Way back in January, Crown Princess Mary turned up at the annual New Year's Courts in two old dresses recut, restyled, and repurposed.

In red in 2007 and 2012; in blue in 2006 and 2012

Mary's craftiness naturally started me thinking about other royals that have sent their clothes in for some sartorial surgery - it doesn't take a royal fashion encyclopedia to guess that Mary's far from the first to try it. In fact, this isn't even the first time Mary's tried this thrifty strategy for a new look.

In blue lace in 2004 and 2009; draped in 2010 and 2011

Fancy (and pricey) blue lace from an early gown was recut into a new shape for a trip to Vietnam in 2009, and just last year in Australia she debuted a remake of the Jesper Høvring gown she wore to Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden's wedding. Like many, I wondered at the time of the wedding if the original lace of the gown wasn't just a temporary solution to cover her shoulders for the church - after all, it did seem a bit of an odd match. But the extra over the shoulder touch in the finished product was a wonderful surprise outcome.

If Mary has the redesign flair, it's easy to trace it back to a possible source: none other than her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe. Not at all surprising from such a creative mind, right?

In pink at Frederik and Mary's wedding in 2004 and the New Year's Court 2012; in the original blue and the end dress on display

Queen Margrethe's wonderful ensemble for Mary and Frederik's wedding lives on, though not in exactly the same amount of wonderfulness as the fuchsia coat has been recut into a regular frock. And one of the dresses included in the jubilee exhibit of her gala gowns has been redone several times: first made by Eric Mortensen for Balmain in 1990, Margrethe later had her trusty couturier Jørgen Bender alter the neckline and sleeves twice before adding on the dramatic lace overlay.

In 2004, 2005, and 2009

Another example we've seen before comes from Spain and the always budget conscious Princess Letizia. Her pre-wedding dinner dress came from Spanish royal favorite Lorenzo Caprile, and Caprile was called upon to change it up for a state visit the year after the wedding. But at some point, Letizia went totally off of Caprile and switched to Felipe Varela for reasons unknown. The third alteration of the dress, in 2009, was not Caprile's work...a fact which I think is quite evident. Important note about dress redos: quit while you're ahead.

In 2006 and 2011

Stepping out of the gown realm for a quick second, Kate Middleton made a thrifty pre-wedding splash by chopping some serious inches off of an old Katherine Hooker coat. It would not surprise me at all if she ends up with quite a string of clever reworks to her name as her royal years add up.

In 1989 and 1992

Perhaps she'll one day take a page out of Diana's book and cut any whiff of outdated flair right out of a look. The full skirt on this Catherine Walker gown gave way to a much sleeker sheath dress, all while keeping the intricate top.

In 1984 and 2001

Last but not least, look at this: even the Queen of Thrifty Royals, Princess Anne, isn't opposed to hacking up a 1980s monstrosity. Which leaves me with but one question...why doesn't she do it more often?!

These are by no means the only examples out there of royal dress makeovers, so let me ask you this:

What's your favorite dress redo?

And for bonus points:

Which current royal dress would you like to see go under the scissors?

Photos: Daylife/Mirror/Scanpix/PPE/Colourpress

2011 in Review: Crown Princess Mary

Best of the Year

In a year ruled by navy and beige and blergh, there's no way the most aggressive use of color all year wasn't getting a special mention from me, the eternal color cheerleader. This is a stunning shape on Mary, and slyly interesting in its color combo. A+.

Runners Up

We didn't get very much Mary this year, comparatively speaking, what with the babies and all. But the perfectly simple christening outfit, the rest of her outfits from Monaco (easy and breezy in white on arrival and a perfect ocean teal at the wedding), the intriguing blue tweed, the perfect print, and the reworked Swedish wedding gown all stood out. That last one was a close runner up to the ultimate winner for me. So, so elegant.

Worst of the Year

The curious run of mismatched pieces in New York paired with the accidentally va-va-voom gold number nearly did me in, but in the end this droopy Prada gets the "prize". I know some of you like it, but I. Do. Not.

Which outfits make your best and worst lists for Mary in 2011?

Photos: Purepeople/Abaca/Hello/Daylife

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mary, 20-26 November

Here's what Mary wore from 20-26 November:

1. Day 1 of the couple's trip to Australia, 20 November, beginning with (a) flats and a hat to open the Sculpture By The Sea exhibition and then (b) ditching the hat and switching to heels for more events. Prefer the hat version, myself.
2. Meeting the Governor-General, 20 November. Simple but lovely dress, the perfect background for what we're all really looking at: the twins!
3. Day 2, 21 November. Ah, yes! Much better without some strange winter jacket on top.

4. a) Dinner on day 2, 21 November, in (b) a repeated dress from Diane von Furstenberg. Look familiar? It's the short version of the dress Carole Middleton wore to the evening bash after William and Catherine's wedding.
5. Day 3, 22 November, in an outfit that morphed as the day went on. She took a repeated dress (which many of you will be happy to see again, its last appearance was much loved) and topped it with a hat (a) and then wore it without the hat (b) and then added a ruffled front cardi (c - while checking out a portrait of herself, which must be a surreal experience) and also wore it with both cardigan and hat. And that's what we call coming prepared for all eventualities!

6. Day 4, 23 November. I usually just go for whatever picture shows the outfit fully, but I couldn't resist the ridiculous chicness of this pose in that Egg chair. I like the outfit, too, but the chair...sorry, I'm an interior designer. Can't help myself.
7. Dinner, day 4, 23 November, repeating another dress from when she was pregnant with the twins - early on, during Nikolaos and Tatiana's wedding festivities.
8. Day 5, 24 November. Love the more casual shirt with the slim fit white skirt.
9.  Dinner, day 5, 24 November. Oh, no. Not a fan of the random patchwork business.
10. Day 6, 25 November. Hmm...a lovely pop of color and print, or way too much of a 1970s flashback?

11. a) Reception on day 6, 25 November, wearing b) a new Georg Jensen necklace. (Here's the full fantastic red dress.) This whole trip was a showcase of jewelry from all Mary's regulars: Marianne Dulong, Ole Lynggaard, and of course Georg Jensen. Several items were new, too, which makes one wonder if she's sitting on a stash of unimagined size, or if she's found other ways to work out loans for herself.
12. a) Day 7, 26 November, repeating outfit #2 but adding a brooch (b). Strange positioning there, no?
13. Gala dinner to finish out the official portion of the trip, 26 November. I do believe this is a reworked version of the dress she wore to Victoria and Daniel's wedding - the strange lace on the top has been removed, and the shoulder drape has been added. I did not like it then at all, and now I am in love. Perfect!

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Reuters/Zimbio/Georg Jensen