Saturday, January 14, 2012

Royal Fashion Awards: The Ruby Jubilee Gala Performance

And the Ruby Jubilee continues in Denmark! A gala performance tonight - black tie for the gents, tiaras (naturally) for the ladies.

Best in Her Own Category
Queen Margrethe
 
Yes, Jubilee girls get their own category. This is all the things that Margrethe's style usually is - colorful, full-skirted, swathed with interesting fabrics - and yet it manages to be rather understated. Perhaps she's saving momentum for tomorrow's fancy banquet?

Best in Pinks
Queen Sonja
Left to right: Carina Axelsson, Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Queen Sonja of Norway, Queen Silvia of Sweden
A dress in the red family is the obvious choice for a ruby jubilee, isn't it? On dress power alone I'd have to give this to Carina, but I'm picking Sonja for entirely different reasons: she wore this dress for her very first state visit to Denmark as the Queen of Norway in 1991. First of all, it still fits - well done, ma'am. Second of all: awww. That's sweet, right? And third, my goodness, if there's any fellow queen that's going to appreciate a sleeve like that, it's Daisy! Points for country-to-outfit match have been awarded.


Best in Blues and Such
Queen Anne-Marie
L to R: Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, Princess Theodora of Greece
Sliding on around the color wheel, the ladies in blue and purple and black with a blue-purple cape (capes!). When it comes to the best here, Marie-Chantal and Theodora (see here also) were both out on the basis of being betrayed by their fabrics. And let's face it, not much else was going to compete with purple in my world anyway. Well done, Anne-Marie.

Best Surprise
Countess Alexandra
Let's start with the worst surprise: Nathalie didn't wear a tiara. How sad! I mean, she did have some diamond stars at the back of her hair, but I'm still frowning in her general direction. And now the best: Alexandra came! Alexandra, now known as the Countess of Frederiksborg, is the ex-wife of Queen Margrethe's youngest son Joachim, and mother of his two oldest boys. She attended alongside her new husband in a gorgeous red dress. That's a classy move on both sides.

Best in Dapper
Prince Nikolai, Prince Joachim, and Prince Felix
Not even Henrik's purple and print can compete with these gents! Well done, Joachim, for teaching your sons how to do dapper from the start.

Best Tiara
Countess Alexandra
L to R: Queen Margrethe in the Baden Palmette Tiara, Princess Benedikte in her star and pearl tiara, Queen Anne-Marie in the Khedive of Egypt Tiara, Queen Silvia with the Connaught Tiara on her head and the Modern Fringe Tiara around her neck, Queen Sonja in Queen Maud's Pearl Tiara
L to R: Crown Princess Mary in her wedding tiara, Princess Alexandra in Princess Benedikte's Floral Tiara, Princess Marie-Chantal in her fringe tiara, Princess Theodora in Margrethe's turquoise bandeau, Countess Alexandra in the Alexandrine Drop Tiara, Carina Axelsson in her diamond spike tiara
Last but never least, the trickiest question of the night: who wore the best tiara? Should it be Silvia, for pulling out two tiaras at once - and this isn't even the fanciest event of the jubilee? (By the way, I'm now unbelievably excited to see what she brings tomorrow.) Or Anne-Marie, for her sentimental choice (after all, that is the tiara Margrethe wore on her wedding day)? Or how about Theodora, for busting out a real surprise: not only is this the first time she's worn the turquoise bandeau, it belongs to Queen Margrethe. Margrethe shared. Tiara news of the year already! In the end, I had to go with Countess Alexandra and the Alexandrine Drop Tiara, which many of us thought we weren't going to see again for a long time. I don't care if it's crooked, people! I. Love. That. Tiara.

Who was your best dressed - and best tiara'd - for the night?

Tomorrow: even more events, culminating in the fanciest of banquets. Yes, more tiaras. Wee!

Photos: Starlounge/Belga/PPE/sn.dk/bt.dk/BilledBladet/Getty Images/Daylife