I have a confession to make: these past few weeks, I’ve been
thinking about weddings. Maybe because a distant cousin got married a few
months ago or because it’s June now. June is the month associated with weddings
and I don’t really know why it is the preferred month of some couples tying the
knot. I think i need to do a research on that.
And since I’ve been thinking of weddings, June is the month of
weddings, long hours of reading bride and breakfast plus I am a royal fan I decided
to take a look at some royal wedding dresses.
THE ROYAL WEDDING GOWNS THAT I LOVE.
One of the royal wedding gowns that I love is the wedding gown of
HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Also called Daisy, the reigning Queen of
Denmark is known for her unique fashion sense-from loud colors to floral
prints.You can say that it is far from the traditional royal fashion sense
(just compare her style to HM Queen Elizabeth II,) but I believe the Danish
Queen can pull it off and not everybody can pull off loud colors and prints.
Her unique fashion sense is a breather from the somewhat formal way the
reigning monarchs dresses.
At the time of her wedding to Count Henri de Laborde de
Monzepat, she is the heiress to the throne. Her wedding gown must be a gown
that reflects her status as an heiress to throne, a dress fit for a future
queen.
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| Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Prince Henrik on their wedding day |
This gown is an original design, something you won’t see in bridal
shops.i love the regal and elegant feel of her gown. The lace panel and the
Daisy brooch in the middle are beautiful. The placement of the brooch in the
upper middle part of the dress is also perfect, if you place it on the neckline
or on the sides, the brooch will compete in the attention with the lace panel.
In my personal opinion, her gown is more beautiful than her British
counterpart, Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding gown which is very political to me.
What I hate about the gown though is the square train. A round train would be
much better.
Next on my list is the wedding gown of Princess Claire of Belgium.
The former Claire Coombs is the wife of Prince Laurent, the youngest sibling of
HM King Philippe of the Belgians making her a sister-in-law to the King.
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| Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium |
Her gown is a simple one, off -shoulder with lace sleeves and
accents on the bodice. Very simple and I admit i am a huge fan of lace dresses
and gowns. She also wore a floral lace veil made from Brussels lace. It is
actually an heirloom veil from her mother-in-law, Queen Paola of the Belgians.
The veil dates back from 1877 worn by Paola's Belgian grandmother, Laura
Mosselman du Chenoy, when she married Don Beniamino, Prince Ruffo di Calabria,
and it is made of three meters of Brussels lace. It is also worn by Princess
Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este (sister of the King of Belgium) and the
current Queen of Belgium, HM Queen Mathilde on their wedding day.
What I love about the dress, is that it is simple just a lace as
an accent and it perfectly complimented the lace veil that she wore. Nothing
busy, nothing over the top. Belgium is known for its lace so it makes sense for
a Belgian Royal bride to use lace on her gown as a tribute to the country.
Still on lace,the
last gown on my list is the wedding gown worn by Princess Carolina of
Bourbon-Parma.Princess Carolina is the niece of the former Queen Beatrix of
Netherlands and a cousin to King Willem-Alexander of Netherlands.She is the
daughter of Princess Irene,younger sister of the former Queen Beatrix of
Netherlands and the late Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma.
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| Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma and husband,Albert Brenninkmeijer. |
The Addy van Kronemaker designed gown has sweet sleeves,and a lace
bodice that parted over the slim skirt,creating a flowing train.the lace is an
heirloom piece,given to Princess Carolina's mother by Queen Juliana of
Netherlands,her grandmother.The bride's mother wore it on her wedding day in
1964 and was restored by the gown's designer for use on the gown.
The gown in my opinion,is a breath of fresh air.It is a departure from
the traditional long-sleeved,full skirted gowns we see on royal brides,yet
still managed to look modest and elegant.Royally unroyal,i guess.It is something that every girl can wear.The
bouquet is also a departure from white bouquets that the royal brides carry.The
overall look is light,fresh and vibrant-perfect for a summer wedding.
THE OTHER ROYAL WEDDING GOWNS.
Now these gowns are not really my favorite but they caught my eye
and they have a distinct design and story that made them worth writing.
Let’s begin with one of the most famous, most loved royal of all:
Diana, Princess of Wales (that’s the right royal title for her. She was never
really a Princess Diana. Weird law of British monarchy.)
On her wedding day to Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, she wore a
gown designed by the then husband and wife, David and Elizabeth
Emmanuel.Altough not big names in British fashion; she took a bold step of
asking them to design her wedding dress.
The wedding is to be held in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Considering a
big venue and the spectacular architectural style of the cathedral, she need a
dress fit for the venue.
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| The Prince and Princess of Wales. |
The dress is made from ivory silk taffeta with sequins and antique
lace. The dress has a round ruffled neckline, showing of the collar bone and
full sleeves with lace and sequins on the bodice. Attached at the back is a 25
foot train! The ruffled neckline and sleeves gave the illusion of wideness on
the top, thus making Lady Diana’s waist look tiny.
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| Left and Center:the lace and sequins detail on the bodice.Right:the gown's 25 foot train |
Again, while I love Diana I don’t like her wedding gown.it is not
ugly and it is the trend during the 80’s but the design is already dated. Personally,
the designed suited the late Princess of Wales-perfect for a young girl that
she is on her wedding day. Try to imagine the dress to then 29-year old Kate
Middleton on her wedding day and you got my point.
Next is Lady Diana’s equally popular daughter-in-law and the one
she never got to meet, the Duchess of Cambridge. For her wedding to the Prince
William of Wales in April 29, 2011 the former Kate Middleton turned to
Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton to design her wedding dress.
I remember watching the live telecast of the royal wedding and
waiting to see her dress. And when she came out of the car, i was quite disappointed-I
was expecting a grand design, something you don’t normally see on bridal shops.
The wedding gown is made of ivory satin gazar over white satin
gazar with lace appliqué sleeves and adornment on the bodice, skirt, and train;
with a boned bodice and padded hips. It features a deliciously draped skirt
with a modest train (just less than 3 meters, or 9 feet).
The gown is not ugly and Kate is one of my style icons. There’s
nothing really wrong with it and considering she is not your ordinary bride
(sleeveless gowns are a no-no on a royal wedding.), she has a lot of
consideration on her wedding dress.
Truth is, the gown perfectly complimented the venue of the royal
wedding, the Westminster abbey. The abbey has a gothic design -much simpler and
definitely less grand than St. Paul’s Cathedral. The long sleeves and A-line
skirt complimented Kate’s tall frame and perfect for a bride on her late
20’s.Now try to imagine that gown on her late mother-in-law and again you will
get my point. What I love on the gown though, is the lace used on the sleeves (yeah
I’m really a lace girl.i think I should marry the nephew of the King of Belgium!!).
The next gown that caught my eye is the wedding gown of the Crown
Princess Pavlos of Greece or better known as Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece.
A daughter of an American billionaire and wife of an exiled Crown Prince of
Greece, she chose the famous Valentino Garavani of Valentino to do her a
haute-couture wedding dress.
I am a huge fan of Valentino, the label’s RTW lace dresses and
Rockstud pumps are on my fashion wish list.And I also dream of having an
haute-couture wedding dress designed by him. But honestly Princess
Marie-Chantal of Greece’ wedding dress is a disappointment for me.
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| Pavlos and Marie-Chantal |
One of the most expensive wedding dresses ever made, the pearl-encrusted
ivory silk gown with tulip shaped skirt and 4.5 meter Chantilly lace train
costs $225,000!The gown was made by 25 seamstresses and 12 different kinds of
lace was used. Since it’s an haute-couture piece, you can expect excellent
craftsmanship and artistry-it is really a work of art worthy of a place in a
museum.
Again, the long sleeves, high neckline and full skirt are perfect
for those blessed with tall and slender frame-a contrast to Princess
Marie-Chantal’s petite frame. The lace on the upper bodice looks like polka
dots. Everything is, in my opinion over the top. Seeing her pictures wearing
the gown, it seems that the dress is swallowing her; all I see is the dress and
not the bride-she’s not wearing the dress, the dress is wearing her.
I don’t like the dress, even though I am a fan of Valentino.Again
it is a work of art but I think it is better off in a museum rather than on a
girl’s wedding day. Given the rich background of the bride, the dress in my
opinion is what you can call “for show rather than for go.”
On the simple side of things, we have another Valentino bride.HM
Queen Maxima of Netherlands wore a Valentino wedding gown when she married HM
King Willem-Alexander of Netherlands on February 2002.
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| King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of Netherlands. |
Her wedding gown is made from silk Mikado-a heavy silk since it’s
a winter wedding. The gown has a high cowl neckline, three-quarter neckline and
flared skirt. Her veil is made of silk covered with floral hand-embroidery.
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| the front view of the dress. |
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| the beautiful veil. |
What’s beautiful about this dress is everything is balanced. The
three-quarter sleeves perfectly suited the high neckline, preventing the
too-stiff look. The simple dress also balanced the veil, preventing them from
competing the viewer’s attention. The hidden lace panels on the skirt-visible
only when Queen Maxima is walking, are a cute, little surprise for me.The only
thing I don’t I don’t like in the dress is the shiny fabric-I am not really a
fan of too shiny fabrics.
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| the hidden lace panels. |
All in all, everything is beautiful
and simple. Nothing too busy, nothing over the top. Queen Maxima looked very
regal-a future queen indeed, on her wedding day. In my personal opinion,
Valentino was able to compensate for the disappointment of Marie-Chantal’s
wedding gown. Lastly, Queen Maxima’s mega-watt smile perfectly completed the
look.
