10 December 2015

Royal Fashion Awards: The Nobel Prizes, 2015 (UPDATED)

The thing I love above all else is variety – especially of the jewel sort – and this year’s Nobel Prize ceremonies delivered a pleasing mix of fabulous variety and business as usual. Check back on the open post for links to view the ceremonies, and there are gallery links at the bottom of this post. Also, we've covered all of these tiaras before, so click the links for more. To the awards!


We start in Norway, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded at a ceremony attended by King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

Business as Usual, Color Division
Crown Princess Mette-Marit
The Crown Princess loves her some white coats, and she loves her a white ensemble for this ceremony. This year’s Alexander McQueen version, repeated from Queen Margrethe’s birthday celebrations, adds some swing to the usual silhouette, and I love it. I’d love it even more with a hat instead of this headband thing (she swaps out the ribbon color and has worn it several times before), but I’ll take what I can get.
She managed to shake up her usual white dress business at the evening dinner. Look, Ma, not a prairie flower in sight!
Valentino dress, Mette-Marit wore it previously in 2008
Sleek + white is the way to my heart. Well, one of many ways.

Best in Color Refreshment
Queen Sonja
This teal on Sonja is like a cool drink of water after a hot run of years in a white/red or dark/black palette for this event. Fab.


Next up is Sweden, where they fill the evening presenting shift with sparkles galore to hand out the rest of the Nobel Prizes. The whole Swedish royal family was in attendance: King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine, Christopher O’Neill, Princess Christina, and Tord Magnuson.

Best Tiara Surprise
Princess Madeleine
Let’s start with some jumpy claps: Princess Madeleine in the Swedish Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara! This tiara belongs to her aunt, Princess Margaretha, who has also loaned it to Princess Christina in recent years. She also wore the diamond floral earrings usually worn by Queen Silvia and a ring from Princess Lilian.
Madeleine looks so great in aquamarine stones, and this tiara - one of my favorite aqua pieces, and irresistibly sparkly in motion - looks perfect on her. Her gray Fadi El Khoury gown (probably the one we thought was destined for Victoria) is sparkly yet soft, and the whole ensemble gets a big A+ from me.

Best Tiara Assumption
Princess Sofia
I assumed Sofia would wear her own Emerald and Diamond Tiara again, and she did. She still gave us a surprise in the form of new (looks new, at least Update: they are borrowed from Queen Silvia!) emerald and diamond earrings to match and a large diamond brooch from the family collection.
I’m surprised her gown is from Oscar de la Renta, and I’m surprised I don’t love it as much as I usually love OdlR. But I am happy to see that the pesky sash issues from October have are all sorted out and she looks like a pro this time around.

Business as Usual, Tiara Division
Queen Silvia and Princess Christina
I hoped Queen Silvia might break her recent Nobel tiara streak, which involves alternating between the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure and the Nine Prong Tiara every year. But no, the Party Antlers rode again. She paired them with one of her favorite pairs of earrings, the Karl XIV Johan Earrings, and a red gown with a jacket top and massive skirt.
Princess Christina also continued her love of the Six Button Tiara, and I continue to be glad that she makes it look the best out of all the royal ladies.

Best of the Best
Crown Princess Victoria
Oh, you didn’t think that a new-to-Madeleine tiara was going to distract me from giving my top prize to the one in purple and in a fun tiara choice, did you? The competition was close, but my predictable old self won out in the end.
I LOVE Crown Princess Victoria’s flowing purple gown with a cape on top, which is a custom creation in aubergine silk chiffon from By Malina. I love the amethyst jewels that she paired with it (two brooches, earrings, and necklace from Queen Josephine’s Amethyst Parure), and I love that she wore the Connaught Tiara! It’s not a totally new-to-her piece, since she first wore it at Prince Carl Philip’s wedding and had worn the diamond drops before that, but it is a nice development to see the tiara shared outside of a family wedding. My best of the best tonight.




UPDATE: Day 2

Day 2 of the Nobel festivities starts with more business as usual.
In Norway, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess attended the annual concert for the Nobel Peace Prize, and I like this dress on Mette-Marit, but...well, that's about as much enthusiasm as I have for that.

I do have more enthusiasm for the King's Dinner in Sweden, and not just because they have tiaras. Okay, partly because they have tiaras, but also because there are some interesting dress selections going on here.
I wondered if Crown Princess Victoria would repeat her lovely Pär Engsheden lake of sequins worn to the Nobels in 2011, when she was pregnant with Estelle, and sure enough...here we go! And with the Baden Fringe Tiara for bonus points.
Photo: Kungahuset.se
Also riding the shiny blue train was Queen Silvia in the Leuchtenberg Sapphires, with...an extra tablecloth attached to her hip, just in case? Never know when you're going to need that emergency table linen.

I've seen labels from "showgirl" to "Downton Abbey" applied to Princess Madeleine's lace dress with its sheer top and high lace collar, which is quite a gap to span. I suppose that's an achievement on its own. Personally...well...I think it's too complicated for a sash and all that lot, for starters.
Princess Madeleine's dress from Alberta Ferretti
She paired it with the Modern Fringe Tiara, returning to her favorite. Princess Christina kept to her favorite as well with the Six Button Tiara two nights in a row.
A video posted by Kungahuset (@kungahuset) on

And finally, Princess Sofia. She did not take this opportunity to dive into the family vault, instead sticking with her Emerald and Diamond Tiara. She also stuck with that middle part in her hair (you know, the one that makes the tiara look like it's precariously balanced right up top), with a half updo this time. I'm growing tired of that, but I have a feeling this Zetterberg Couture dress is one of which I could never grow tired. Similar in certain ways to Princess Madeleine's dress from the previous evening, so apparently I have a type.


Links for night #2:

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, Net-a-porter, Vogue.com, Oscar de la Renta, SVT and Nobel Prize screencaps/Kungahuset.se
at 2:15 PM
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