Royal Event of the Day: Koningsdag 2017

The celebrations for King Willem-Alexander's 50th birthday kicked into high gear yesterday (on his actual birthday) with the annual Koningsdag (King's Day) celebrations, held this year in Tilburg.

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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima with their daughters, (L to R) the Princess of Orange (Catharina-Amalia), Princess Ariane, and Princess Alexia.

Queen Máxima ordered up an extra special outfit for this extra special birthday occasion, obviously. Jan Taminiau created a striped dress in dark blue and ochre with a cape to keep her cozy on a chilly April day. The shirred ribbon stripes on the dress feature metallic embellishment and crystals; the cape transitions from a matte chenille top to a smooth sateen bottom, the colors blending in an ombré style. Máxima accessorized with a hat echoing the textures of the design and a camel bag, shoes, and gloves to match. She also wore diamond earrings that she has used with multiple pendant options, sapphires this time.

Photos: REINIER RVDA via TextielMuseum

This new ensemble comes with a special treat: it will be immediately shown at the Textile Museum in Tilburg alongside the Queen's magnificent blue caped inaugural gown from the same designer. The design, a regular outfit from afar and a textile experiment come to life up close, is a perfect match for the museum.

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Basically, Jan Taminiau + Cape = LOOOOVE in my book of sartorial math. It's as simple as that. I do wish the matching hat didn't look so instantly brain-like, but if you told me Máx's brain included some sparkly metallic embellishment, I'd buy it. So it all fits in the end.

A post shared by Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) on Apr 27, 2017 at 5:04am PDT

As usual, multiple family members were on hand to keep the party going: Willem-Alexander's brother and sister-in-law, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, plus the four sons of Princess Margriet and their wives. (Top pic above: Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène with Constantijn and Laurentien. Bottom pics above: Prince Floris and Princess Aimeé, Princess Annette and Prince Bernhard, Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Princess Anita.) It all sort of pales in comparison to Laurentien's loud stripes and leather jacket, doesn't it? She's the only one that could pull that off, that's for sure.