Things that are currently flipping my skirt up, just because I feel like sharing:
Givenchy will no longer hold couture runway shows; instead, privileged clients will view the collection by private appointment. They make specific note of "assorted royals" unable to attend runway shows due to security and thus in need of private showings. Who are these assorted royals, hmmm? I know Rania is a Givenchy fan, but one Queen does not an assortment make. It's killing me a little bit that our dear fashionable royals will be sporting amazing couture and we will not be able to give them credit for it, because the rest of us aren't rich enough to lay eyes on Givenchy's best work. Harrumph. [Huffington Post]
That infamous black dress worn by Lady Diana Spencer during her engagement (you remember, the cleavage-y one) was recently sold at auction. I thought this piece, interviewing the owner of the auction house, was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look. Bonus pic of the dress and other Emanual items that went on the auction block. [Fashionista]
And, saving the best for last: MORE WEDDINGS!!!
Our favorite little engaged flower from Victoria's wedding, Tatiana Blatnik, will wed Prince Nikolaos on August 25th in Greece. The most urgent question of all: will this be a tiara event? Well, ok, that's the second most urgent question, but we don't have any hope of learning what the dress looks like before the big day.
And another shining star, Charlene Wittstock, will also get her day in the sun - Albert has finally announced their engagement. Why this announcement couldn't have come last week to save poor Charlene the awkwardness of being "just" a girlfriend at a royal wedding is beyond me, but I won't complain - another amazing wedding dress is in the works!
Update: Did you see Charlene's ring? Holy crap! Best royal engagement ring in quite some time - and by best, I mean BIGGEST:
Here’s a dress that’s bound to be on as many worst dress lists as it is on best dress lists. This is the first dress that comes to mind for many people when they think of royal wedding dresses. And that, my friends, is why it makes my list of best dresses: because one of the chief goals of a dress of this stature is to capture the imagination.
You could cite the fact that the whole affair got unexpectedly and disastrously wrinkled in the carriage on the way to St. Paul’s Cathedral as a reason to put it on the worst dress list. You could also focus on the fact that this concoction fell into just about every fashion trap the 1980s had to offer; I mean, this dress was freaking enormous in every way. But before you downgrade it for that, consider for a moment our lovely bride.
The dress could have used a carriage of it's own.
Even the shoes were frilly.
Stuffed with tissue paper, hanging on the hanger ready for transport. There's so much detail that isn't evident from the pictures and television footage.
Lady Diana Spencer was just 20 years old when she married Prince Charles in front of a congregation of 3,500 in St. Paul's Cathedral, gathered crowds of 600,000 in the streets of London, and a television audience of 750 million around the world. She was just 19 years old, actually, when the engagement was announced and the dress design began.
Wearing the Spencer Tiara.
And what do you do when you are 19 years old? You experiment with fashion. Nineteen and twenty are prime ages for trends. You’re much too young to have a defined personal style (at least, not one that you’ll hold on to past the next decade of your life), and you’re still too inexperienced to understand the meaning of elegance in its true, timeless form. Of course this dress is Eighties-orrific. Of course she looked like a girl all dressed up in a fancy party dress. That’s what she was! We judge the dress from today’s standards (even Diana did, later on in her life), but we often forget to consider what this dress was in the context of its time. This wedding was an event. The dress, accordingly, was also an event. This is one instance in which the gasp factor as she came out of the carriage was fully realized.
The 25 foot train was one of the main stars of the day.
The dress, the whole wedding, was enough of a dream come true to permanently lodge itself in the minds and hearts of people across the world. Diana’s dress was everything it should have been. And that is why it makes my list of best dresses.
Watch this behemoth dress in action - the whole royal wedding is posted on YouTube! Here's Part 1, search through for Parts 2-8:
Video of the wedding tends to pop up and then disappear, so watch soon!
