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

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

1. a) Attending the Francisco Cerecedo Journalism Awards, 2 November, in b) Hugo Boss. Her innards appear to have caught fire.
2. At Fiesta de la Banderita, fundraising for the Red Cross, 3 November.

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Hugo Boss

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mary, 21-27 August

Here's what Mary wore from 21-27 August:

1. Boarding the royal yacht, Dannebrog, for a summer cruise of royal visits. Who's looking at the outfit? There's a twin involved!
2. Day 1 of the summer cruise, 22 August. Repeating one of my favorite purple dresses, topped with a repeated pink hat. I often find pink and purple too twee a combo, but this is working all over the place.
3. Day 2, 23 August. Lurve! I know a hefty chunk of you are about to tell me that she might as well be back in maternity wear, but so help me, I go weak for a good swing coat. Just so stinkin' elegant.
4. Last day, 25 August. More repeats, in a new pairing. Did not like the dress + coat combo at first, but I'm on board now.
5. Leaving for a trip to Africa, 25 August. Perfect princess travel wear.
6. Visiting a refugee camp in Kenya, 27 August.

I feel like this week just had a giant Mary's back! stamp right across it. This is precisely the elegance that makes me like her style in the first place, and we've been missing it for quite some time, what with the babies and all.

Also, this was a tremendously cute week. Husbands in uniform and babies with wee outfits and giant cheeks galore! Even an aquarium kiss, for the softies in the crowd.

Sometimes you just have to embrace the cheese. It's good for the soul.

What was your favorite outfit this week?

 Photos: Isopix/Peter Grosen/All Over Press Denmark/PurePeople/Abaca/Henrik Dam/Billed Bladet

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 10-16 July

Here's what Letizia wore from 10-16 July:

1. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace and a luncheon for the President of Panama, 11 July. Was it National M.C. Hammer week in Spain?
2. At the Culture National Awards, 12 July. WAS IT? This is not at all legit, and should be quit immediately.
3. Visiting Montserrat Abbey, 14 July. I'm checking...I'm checking...okay, not a trace of Hammer.
4. At the AIJEC 25th Anniversary Gala, 14 July. I just still can't believe she busted out my 2 least favorite pairs of trousers and wore them back to back. I care not about the rest of the week. (And there you have the fundamental problem with the Hammer pants.)
5. Attending graduation at the naval academy, 16 July. Oh, except that she did it again. I don't get it.

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Reuters Pictures/Hoymujer

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mary, 3 - 9 July

Here's what Mary wore from 3 - 9 July:

1. Visiting Circus Summarum with Isabella and Christian in a repeated Hugo Boss dress. Taken individually, I do not like a single one of these prints. And yet, you stick them all together, and I think you end up with a super cute little frock. What kind of sartorial magic is this?

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 26 June - 2 July

Here's what Letizia wore from 26 June - 2 July:

1. Awarding the Beca Ferro 2011 for cancer research, 28 June. You know, I've never met a jumpsuit I liked. I just think at best, they look like something you should have stopped wearing when you hit puberty; at worst, relics from Betty White's Golden Girls wardrobe. (Wow, second Golden Girls reference in a week. Either something's going terribly wrong with royal fashion, or I need to quit with the late night television marathons.)
2. Opening the Cervantes Institute in Hamburg, Germany, 30 June. Meh.

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 12-18 June

Here's what Letizia wore from 12-18 June:

1. Visiting Willem-Alexander and Máxima in the Netherlands with Felipe and the girls. Don't you love it when the royals are actual friends?
2. At a skin cancer prevention event, 14 June, a) on Letizia and b) from Uterqüe. I love this! Bright colors, and a wee frame like Leti's can certainly pull off a little skirt volume. This dress is fun, no?
3. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace, 16 June. The pink skirt has returned, and this time it's with...uh...one of Felipe's shirts? Two outings, and I'm ready for this to be retired.

Photos: Hola/Terra/Uterqüe

Royal Style Duel: Letizia vs. Mary

What do we have here?

A battle of the LBDs! Letizia and Mary both stepped out this past week in what sure does look to be the exact same dress, from Hugo Boss (just about the only designer these two ever have in common):

Let the battle begin!

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 29 May - 4 June

Here's what Letizia wore from 29 May - 4 June:

1. Armed Forces Day 2011, 29 May. I'm a sucker for Letizia in red.
2. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace, 30 May. Those shoes are kinda fierce, no? You know I love that...even when I don't quite get the whole outfit combination.
3. Attending a tribute to the Kings of Navarra, 31 May. Wearing a nice new suit and those Paco Gil shoes that I gushed all over when she arrived in London for William and Kate's wedding.
4. At the Prince of Viana 2011 awards ceremony, 31 May.
5. Attending a meeting in Madrid, 2 June. This is very basic, very Letizia, but very well put together. Love the all the different blues she's paired, and I LOVE her hair like that - so soft and pretty.
6. Visiting an exhibition, 3 June. She lost the jacket for a dinner later that same day, making her a perfect match to Crown Princess Mary.
7. Visiting King Juan Carlos in the hospital, 4 June. Cute style, but more importantly a cute smile - precisely what you want to see when someone's leaving a hospital!

Best and Worst of the Week

A very good week in Letizia Land, right? I had to go with the red for the best, because I am Team MORE RED. Plus, it gave me a chance to include her officer/gentleman Felipe, and as you know I am also on Team MORE MEN IN UNIFORM. The fringe on the shirt from #2 made my worst, because I couldn't decide if the fringe made it better or worse than just a regular, boring old button-down affair...and frankly, button-down shirts shouldn't require so much pondering. How about you?

Photos: Diariodenavarra.es/Zimbio/Getty Images

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 15-21 May

Here's what Letizia wore from 15-21 May:

1. Attending the funeral of Fernando Moreno y de Borbón, 18 May. Last week the earthquake stuff, this week a funeral...I hope she gets an engagement holding puppies or something soon.
2. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace, 18 May, a) on Letizia, and b) from Hugo Boss Orange. Have also seen this said to be from Adolfo Dominquez, so you be the judge. I don't care who made it: I'm not a fan. I say, if you're going for a baggy top, have a good fit on the bottom. Not bagginess all the way around - nobody wants to die from drowning by fabric.

Photos: Diario Feminino/Hugo Boss/Life

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 20-26 February

Here's what Letizia wore from 20-26 February:

1.  Lunch for the President of Israel, 22 February. Her hair looks great, it's a color, she's not under-dressed in the least, and yet...I don't like it. Somehow I feel like it ought to smell of mothballs (no, that doesn't make sense to me either). Man, I'm impossible to please.
2. Opening University General Hospital "Santa Lucia", 23 February. Not bad, not remarkable. A little Grandma-esque with the shoes.
3. Attending the XI Edition of Business Night, 26 February. This may be black, but I like a ruffled blouse under a blazer.

Best and Worst of the Week

I've decided to judge this week on shoes only. (If this surprises you, you must be new to the blog. Welcome!) On the left, we have the snakeskin shoes from outfit 3 as worn previously in 2004; on the right, the shoes from outfit 1. She must own these mauve shoes in every color available, plus a few custom colors. Enough already! What's with the need to match the shoes to the outfit? (I've complained about this before, and I reserve the right to complain about it in the future.) I much prefer the contrast of the stiletto snakeskins, with no platform in sight. And that's how the only black outfit of the week becomes my best, and the only colorful one becomes my worst.

Are you as bothered by the matching shoes as I am, or am I alone out here?

Photos: Terra/Noticies/opinionofmurcia/PPE

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mary, 12-18 September

Here's what Crown Princess Mary wore the week of 12-18 September:

1. Opening an art exhibit, 12 September, a) on Mary and b) from Hugo Boss.  As far as maternity wear goes, I'm all for mothers-to-be getting onboard the tailoring train; there's no reason to stick with floaty empire waists for nine whole months!  This is a lovely dress, she wore a brooch and I love a little daytime bling, and she's rocking it better than the model did.  Love.
2. Television interview, 16 September (no clue when it might have been filmed, of course).  I want her hair.  Seriously.  My hair couldn't look as good as hers even if I did have 24/7 hair stylists at my disposal.

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 29 August - 4 September

Here's what Princess Letizia wore the week of 29 August - 4 September:

1. Dinner in Mallorca, 30 August. Looks like she's trying a little Mette-Marit move with the shoes there.
2. Audiences, 31 August. OH NO. She brought back the Hammer pants. Just to spite me, I'm sure of it.
3. Audiences, 2 September. Uh oh, somebody caught the stripe infection from her sister-in-law. Is it just me or is this dress just out of character for her? I mean, I'm surprised she chose it. Doesn't feel like her style.
4. Audiences, 3 September. This one again.

Best and Worst of the Week

I don't mind the striped dress, but the jacket adds a little Miami Vice flair to it that I can't get with. So the best has to be the blue one, school-girlish as it is, because the silver get up just doesn't make my skirt fly up. Nothing, though, is worse than the Hammer pants.

Photos: Terra/Zimbio/Abaca/Purepeople

Week in Review: Letizia, Princess of Asturias, 18-24 July

Here's what Letizia wore the week of 18-24 July:

1.  Delivery of the National Prizes of the Minister of Culture, 20 July. 
2. Closing of conference of Cervantes institute representatives, 22 July.
3. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace, 23 July, a) from the front and b) from the back.  Rare is the day outfit that requires a back view, but this sort of fringe-y tail situation is a rare outfit indeed.

Best and Worst of the Week

What a snoozefest of a week.  I'm bored.  I'll go with the blue suit as the best simply because it's the most dressy of them all.  The second white-and-khaki affair of the week loses on the premise that one should never feel the need to make an M.C. Hammer reference when discussing one's princesses.

Photos: Terra/PurePeople/Abaca/Daylife/Getty

Mary in Washington, Day 2 Continued

Mary and Frederick attended an event at the Danish Embassy:

I know that this Hugo Boss dress inspires some mixed opinions, but I love it.

Photo: ANP/EPA/Michael Reynolds

One caveat to my love - from far away, the accessories don't make sense. It's not until you can get up close and personal with this frock that you can see the variation in the print that ties in the coral earrings and the bronze shoes. Your reward for looking a little closer is the detail in this fabulous hairstyle - clearly HRH is traveling with hairdresser in tow!

Photos: PPE/Nieboer

Mary in Washington, Day 1

Denmark's Crown Princess Mary looked picture perfect kicking off her Washington, D.C. visit alongside Crown Prince Frederick at John Eaton Elementary School.

Photo: Belga/DANAPRESS

This is light and bright, appropriate for the weather and the occasion. The dot detail on the skirt and belt is young and fun, perfect for a school visit. Top is Hugo Boss and the shoes are Prada. Great way to start this trip!

Photos: Belga/ROYALPRESS/Nieboer/PPE