Week in Review: Princess Charlene, 30 October-5 November

Here's what Charlene wore from 30 October-5 November:

1. a) Attending the Princess Grace Awards in New York City, 1 November, in b) Christian Dior with Montblanc diamond earrings (they were the event sponsor). I would like this more if I didn't like Princess Madeleine's similar gown worn on the same night so much better. Alas! It was a good appearance for her, though.
2. At a luncheon in the couple's honor, 2 November. LBD, fine.
3. Opening the Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess exhibit in Toronto, 2 November. And another LBD, and I'm going to have to say...not fine. This is really tight, clingy tight. It did not look so hot from the back view. And yes: it's very shoulder-centric.

Photos: BilledBladet/Style.com/Billy Farell Agency/Purepeople/Abaca

Wedding Wednesday: Queen Soraya's Gown

 HIM The Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

February 12, 1951

Tehran, Iran

A reader request today, for one of the most fairy tale royal wedding gowns of all time, worn by a royal bride that ended up living a fairy tale gone wrong.

The beginning was certainly straight out of a storybook: the recently divorced (from Princess Fawzia of Egypt) Mohammed Reza Pahlavi fell in love immediately with a picture of the young half-Persian, half-German Soraya. He asked for her hand in marriage after just one meeting, and sealed the deal with a massive 22.37 carat diamond engagement ring.

The fantasy continued at the couple's grand wedding at Golestan Palace. Soraya's Christian Dior gown is quite possibly the most couture couture gown ever seen at a royal wedding; it's just utterly, unabashedly over the top. Made of 37 yards of silver lamé studded with pearls, 6,000 diamond pieces, and 20,000 marabou feathers, the creation weighed a whopping 44 pounds (20 kilograms).

The strapless dress came with a matching jacket and veil for the ceremony itself as well as a full-length white mink cape to keep the bride warm. In the evening, both jacket and veil were discarded and an emerald and diamond parure from the crown jewels was added.

 

But as we all know, things are rarely what they seem, and not even the wedding was as much a fairy tale as it appeared. The ceremony, originally scheduled for December 27th, had to be postponed when Soraya came down with a serious case of typhoid fever. She still wasn't entirely well in February but further postponement wasn't possible, so she had to soldier on. The bride could barely move in her heavy gown, as you can see in this video:

Seeing her stagger, the Shah ordered a lady-in-waiting to take a pair of scissors to the priceless gown and cut the petticoats and train until she could walk again. She also had to deal with the chill in the non-heated palace; there were wool socks underneath that voluminous skirt.

Seven years later, the Shah and his Queen found themselves in a predicament: Soraya had not been able to have children, and the Shah needed a son to continue the dynasty (he had one daughter with his first wife, but a boy was required). In 1958, the Shah tearfully announced their divorce. It was "a sacrifice of my own happiness," Soraya said. Given the title HIH Princess Soraya of Iran and generous funding, she lived the rest of her life as a jet-setting socialite in Europe, but she never managed to find real happiness. Even a romance with director Franco Indovina ended tragically with his death in a plane crash. Soraya became known as the "princess with the sad eyes" and titled her memoir Le Palais des Solitudes, or The Palace of Solitude. She died on October 26, 2001; her belongings were auctioned off and that famous wedding gown sold for $1.2 million.

The Shah married again, to Farah Diba, and had four children including two boys. The Shah was exiled in 1979 and the heir he fought to have has never had the opportunity to rule Iran.

What did you think of Soraya's gown?

 
Photos: Life/Corbis

Royal Trend Watch: Paris Fashion Week

The fashionistas have been out in full force for quite some time now at fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and finally this past week in Paris. It was Paris and the Spring 2012 Ready-to-Wear collections that brought a few select royals and their front row styles out to play. Princess style at a fashion show is a curious phenomenon: to stick to your regular royal uniform, or go fully fashion-forward decked out in your designer of choice?

Left to Right: Princess Charlene at Akris, Princess Beatrice at Elie Saab, the Princess of Venice and Piedmont (Clotilde Courau) at Balmain

Charlene and Beatrice both stuck to outfits that they would wear any day of the week; though Clotilde looks like she dressed special for the show, she's really doing the same. Beatrice wins this group for sure. Her simple Elie Saab sheath (quite similar to what we've just seen Kate in, by the way) is a master class in the power of color.

But Bea doesn't win the week. No, for that we have to go with a princess that really did put a royal spin on the fashion week trends: Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand (she's the daughter of the Crown Prince of Thailand).

L to R: At Balmain, Christian Dior, Lanvin, and Hèrmes

Princess S. (one time typing the full name is enough for me) is quite the fashion girl, you see. She's a designer and a student of fashion, and has even showed in Paris herself. Also, she's an international badminton player. Everybody loves a princess of all trades! (Well...maybe not everybody. There was a bit of a kerfluffle when she tried to introduce herself to Princess Beatrice at the Elie Saab show and was rebuffed by Bea's bodyguard. Awkward.)

L to R: At Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Elie Saab

I'll admit it was a bit jarring at first to see her go full-on Morticia when we last saw her in demure national dress in Monaco, but I'm ending the week a big fan. There are loads of princesses working the sensible trends; we have plenty of room for one that loves fashion and isn't afraid to let you know it. I say: work it!

Which one's your favorite royal outfit from Paris Fashion Week?

Photos: lehtikuva/Getty Images/Daily Mail/Daylife

Week in Review: Princess Charlene, 31 July - 6 August

Here's what Charlene wore from 31 July - 6 August:

1. Attending a benefit concert for the charities of the Order of Malta, 31 July, repeating a Christian Dior dress worn for one of her photoshoots before the wedding. So she got to keep the clothes, hmm? Nice work if you can get it.


2. Visiting the "The Magnificence of Royal Houses" exhibit, 3 August. Repeated Akris dress, typical Charlene.


3. Opening Van Cleef & Arpels' newly renovated boutique in Monaco, 4 August, in the dress she wore to the brunch held the day after her wedding.


4. a) and b) at the Red Cross Ball, 5 August, in c) Akris. Some of you had a problem with the sapphires in combo with that dress; I don't have a problem with blue and pink, but I do have a problem with the fact that the sapphires just faded away in contrast with that bold dress. Maybe that makes it a more versatile piece, but I think it looks...off.

Back to the boutique opening for a moment: the new boutique includes a whole area named for Charlene, and she wore a VC&A necklace of white gold, turquoise and diamonds from the "Princess Charlene Magic Alhambra" set. And there's another gem to be spotted from the opening as well:

What's that behind Charlene? It's a portrait of her wearing the Ocean Tiara in its proper tiara format, taken by Karl Lagerfeld. Looks...interesting. I am still waiting until she wears it for an event to judge.

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Reuters/Van Cleef & Arpels

Flashback Friday: Princess Caroline at the Red Cross Ball

Princess Caroline's multicolored appearance at this year's Red Cross Ball caused quite the range of reactions, didn't it? Some gave her credit for being able to pull off such an ensemble in the first place; some dished out praise for supporting an African designer (Duro Olowu) over her usual well-known couturiers; and some were just horrified. (Me: little bit of all of the above.) But it wasn't the first time she made a splash, and it certainly won't be the last...

Caroline made her debut appearance at the Red Cross Ball in 1973, if you can believe that.

Her 1970s appearances were full of Dior and floral hair arrangements, like a Hawaiian luau rather than a formal ball. Sign of the times, I guess. (Click here to see all of Caroline's Red Cross Ball outfits from the 1970s.)

That effortless chic must have worked in her favor in the 1980s, as she remained mostly free of some of the fashion horrors that decade impaled us with.

Well, mostly. But just one dress mullet in a decade is actually a pretty good record. (Click here to see all the dresses from the 1980s.)

As it turns out, this is my favorite decade for Caroline at the Red Cross Ball. Why? Jewels, of course.

Amazing necklaces (including the one we just saw worn as a tiara for her brother's wedding), brooches from the Bains de Mer Tiara, and the diamond floral hair ornaments she loaned Charlene for her wedding (on the far right above), to name a few of the pieces she trotted out.

She really hasn't been so bejewelled since. Certainly not in the 1990s, where the most notable dress was this somewhat transparent number from 1993:

Click here to see all her dresses from that low key decade.

Finally, in our most recent decade, we find her last jaw-dropping outfit, from 2006:

A Chanel Couture stuffed swan. Or possibly a plush polar bear? It's even more interesting when you compare it to her understated appearance the year before, which will make you question the relative dress code of this event. (Click here to see that and all the rest of her outfits from the 2000s.)

One only wonders what she'll bring us next year. If it can't be sparkly, I hope it's another stuffed animal, or at least a leftover fabric quilt like this year. It's just more entertaining that way.

Which dress and/or decade is your favorite?

Photos: Life/Corbis/Fotobank/The Royal Forums

Wedding Wednesday: Princess Caroline's Dresses

In advance of what we can only hope will be Prince Albert's only wedding, how about a look back at his stylish sister and her three ceremony outfits?

In 1978, 21-year-old Princess Caroline married 38-year-old playboy Philippe Junot. They were civilly married on June 28th with a religious ceremony on the following day. For her wedding gown, Caroline turned to Marc Bohan at Christian Dior.

The end result was not precisely the original design intent: Bohan had to make last minute changes after details of the bride's look leaked. It's hard to concentrate on the fairly plain dress with the Princess Leia hair, isn't it? One wonders if keeping the original design despite the spoilers might not have been the way to go.

Caroline and Philippe were divorced in 1980 amid accusations of infidelity (from both sides, apparently). Their marriage was annulled by the Catholic Church in 1992.

Next, Caroline married Stefano Casiraghi in a civil ceremony on December 29, 1983.

Once again, Christian Dior provided the dress: this time, a draped silk charmeuse affair with matching bow in her hair. A far more sophisticated look than the first wedding, no?

Caroline and Stefano had three children together: Andrea, Charlotte, and Pierre. (Andrea was born about 5 months after the wedding.) Stefano died in a speed boat accident in 1990 at the age of 30, leaving Caroline a widow and single mother.

Caroline is currently married to Prince Ernst August of Hanover, making her title HRH The Princess of Hanover, Hereditary Princess of Monaco. Caroline and Ernst were married civilly on January 23, 1999 after Ernst received permission from Queen Elizabeth II in accordance with the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. (He still lost his position in the line of succession to the British throne, though, as Caroline is a Catholic.) The bride wore a light blue Chanel suit for her small and secretive third wedding.

Once again, the marriage was not without scandal. Ernst's first wife was a close friend of Caroline's, which has raised a few eyebrows. At the time of the wedding, Caroline was 3 months pregnant with Princess Alexandra, the couple's only child. And the scandals haven't stopped in the years since the wedding: Ernst is an interesting character, to say the least. He's been photographed kissing another woman. They are still married, but haven't been seen in public together for a long time. Needless to say, many will be on the lookout for Ernst's presence or absence at the upcoming royal wedding.

Do you have a favorite of these three? I've always loved number two, myself. That dress would still be stylish today, and that's quite the feat when you consider its 1983 origins.

Week in Review: Charlene Wittstock, 22-28 May

Here's what Charlene wore from 22-28 May:

1. Attending the Amber Lounge Fashion Show, 27 May. No, I can't approve of the trousers. No.
2. At the Monaco Grand Prix, 28 May. Very Charlene, this.
3. Grand Prix JetSet party, 28 May. And this too, just tremendously Charlene. All these three are from Akris.

Also, a new photoshoot was published this week. Char and Al were photographed by Karl Lagerfeld for Madame Le Figaro magazine.

Hey, I'm just glad to see her in couture that isn't Armani Privé (well, solely Armani, I should say). Love the second and last looks. Karl's tight with Caroline, maybe he'll take Charlene under his wing...ah, a girl can dream.

Photos: Hola

Gold Star: Sheikha Mozah's Glamorous State Visit

You know, we've been seeing a lot less designer clothes lately. Royal families are trying to be a little more down to earth, I guess, not going around shoving the fact that they have money in the faces of those that are dealing with recession and unemployment. Buckingham Palace went out of it's way to point out that the Queen has an evening dress with detachable ornamentation for maximum reuse, and that it was made by her dresser. Victoria's been out and about in H&M, and then of course you have the Queen (or Princess, rather) of this: Letizia, and her wardrobe of high street staples.

Nothing wrong with that, quite sensible really. Sheikha Mozah, though...now she seems to belong more in the "you know I'm rich, I know I'm rich, let's not play games about it" camp. Her wardrobe from the recent state visit to England is pure couture: Armani Privé, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Chanel, Dior.

I love it. It's like eating a decadent dessert after a day of salad. And if there's a woman alive that can carry off those names without looking like she's trying to hard, it's the Sheikha.

It's not just the clothes, either. How about those jewels? Bestill my little magpie heart.

And while we're accessorizing...

Heh. The mind of Karl Lagerfeld at work. Couture is the highest form of fashion as art, which means sometimes you'll get it and sometimes you won't. I say if you're going to go couture, go all the way, fug or not.

Gold star: awarded for pure glamour.

Photos: Getty/AP/HuffPo