Royal Fashion Awards: Guests at the Dutch Inauguration

Turns out, the dress code for Willem-Alexander's inauguration was pretty much the same as 1980 where the royal guests were concerned: hats and long dresses for the ladies, uniforms or white tie for the men. Except now we're a little farther removed from the days when that was a standard dress code for formal day events, and, well, not everyone knows how to deal. Let's see how our royal guests did, shall we? (Reminder: King, Queen, and Princesses were covered in the last post.)

Best Dressed

Princess Letizia

Left to Right: Princess Mathilde of Belgium, the Princess of Asturias, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

Let's start with the good stuff, shall we? First of all, Mathilde is on the list again, and she's on it while wearing Natan - but it works. Victoria was extra sparkly, sparkly dress and sparkly diamond rivière, which was fabulous. But Letizia's got the real lock on fabulous, with her statement hat and lace (not spiderweb-y this time, good). She's working it.

Most Improved

The Duchess of Cornwall

L to R: The Duchess of Cornwall, Crown Princess Masako of Japan

It's interesting how divided we end up on Camilla - I thought this was much better, and much more her territory, than last night's. Masako's in this category because, well, she showed up! And that's automatically an improvement.

Best in Traditional

Sheikha Mozah and Princess Sarvath

L to R: Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco, Sheikha Mozah of Qatar, Princess Sarvath El Hassan of Jordan, Crown Princess Sarah of Brunei, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand

And now for our customary round up of ladies that have other standards to play by for various reasons: this one goes to Mozah, for she is my girl crush, and Sarvath, who was particularly lovely in this take on her usual traditional dress.

Worst in Hats

Princess Stéphanie and Princess Margarita

L to R: Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma, the Duchess of Parma

Well, I said we were out of practice pairing hats with long gowns. We've got a pair of Ecto Cooler green headphones, a tribute to Queen Beatrix, something from the Little Rascals, maybe, and things growing out of heads that are not hair. Because hats shouldn't need AquaNet and because we shouldn't dress four decades beyond our years, this one is shared by Stéphanie and Margarita.

Best in Dutch Lace

Princess Carolina

L to R: Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau, Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, Princess Anita of Orange-Nassau, Princess Irene of the Netherlands

Lace and lace sorts of things must have been on the memo today, because the ladies went wild. Irene is elegant, but Carolina's color wins it for me. (Marilène's one step away from being a contender in the previous category, so she's out of the running.)

Best of the Rest - Dutch Division

Princess Aimée

L to R: Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess Aimée of Orange-Nassau, Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, Princess Christina of the Netherlands

Random selection of Dutch leftovers...let's go with...Aimée. Because court dress is hard enough, let alone maternity court dress. (She's expecting her third child.)

Best in Statements

Crown Princess Mary

L to R: Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Princess Annette of Orange-Nassau, Juliana Guillermo

And finally, the outfits with something to say.Something other than "Oh, don't I look luverly," that is. Mette-Marit clearly wants us to know that she can't be forced to wear a proper hat. Mabel needs you to know that she will never get her fill of bows. Mary seems to be telling us she forgot she had to wear a sash with this. And Annette and Juliana...I don't know, but maybe Annette's got something to prove after you didn't like her wedding gown the other day. Anyway, Mary wins just because that's the only dress of the bunch that I like on its own.

Who was your best dressed inauguration guest?

Photos: Pool/Getty Images/Reuters/PPE/DutchPhotoPress/AFP/NOS

İNAUGURATİON OF KİNG WİLLEM ALEXANDER -WATER PAGEANT AND DİNNER

source(zimbio:getty images,vanitatis com,more photos,2,3)

İNAUGURATİON OF KİNG WİLLEM ALEXANDER - OFFİCİAL PHOTOS

The Dutch Inauguration: The King, Queen, and Princesses

The inauguration ceremony of King Willem-Alexander at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam was the second emotional event of the day, with both Máxima and Beatrix seeming to hold back tears at various points. It was a lovely ceremony, and now we have some lovely clothes (and jewels!) to chat about. We’ll have a look at the royal guests, including the extended Dutch royal family, later on, but for now: let’s discuss the King, the Queen, their kids, and Princess Beatrix.

King Willem-Alexander

Having relinquished his military positions as required prior to becoming king, Willem-Alexander opted for white tie instead of a full uniform. It turned out to be the perfect thing, aesthetically speaking, as it was a blank enough canvas to let the sovereign’s mantle on his shoulders and the riband of the Military William Order shine. A regal king indeed.

Queen Máxima

Máxima opted for Dutch designer Jan Taminiau for her inauguration gown (excuse me while I brush my shoulders off, as that was precisely my prediction). It was royal blue, or sapphire blue if you prefer, because the big jewel of the day was…drum roll required, look at that thing…the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara! In its massive form, which we haven’t seen her wear before. And this isn’t even the full form, as we seem to be missing some bits at the top! What a difference a hairstyle makes – it really is a sapphire tiara, which you couldn’t tell most of the time Beatrix wore it. Stunning, and a big gun way to kick things off.

Taminiau and his creation

As for the crepe and chiffon gown, she compensated for the fact that there is no robe for a queen consort by adding a little cape – as I said on Twitter, very Mozah, very very Gwyneth in Tom Ford. The dress underneath featured richly detailed embroidery, a suggested sleeve, and a small belt which held her Order of the Netherlands Lion beautifully. Brilliant. Dramatic and exactly what you want for a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The Princess of Orange and Princesses Alexia and Ariane

First of all, can I just say that Amalia is the most composed 9-year-old I’ve ever seen? Followed closely in the Composed Kids ranking by her two sisters, mind you. The A-Team led the Dutch royal family and they did it with such poise. They were dressed to impress, too, in Natan. The styles were slight variations on the same theme, giving the girls a touch of individuality. And they too were in blue, true members of the team.

Princess Beatrix

You know what I loved? Beatrix was on the Blue Team, too. Such a lovely message they’re sending there. And blue was a wonderful pick, as it brought out the orders and represented the flag. Not that you’re ever going to get much argument out of me when it comes to a canvas for major sapphires, anyway.

As I said, coming later will be the rest of the guests – but let's give the major players their proper due for now.

Who had your favorite outfit?

UPDATE: And here's the happy family at this evening's water pageant. Máx is yet again hitting it out of the park!

Photos: NOS Screencaps/Jan Taminiau Facebook/RVD

THE ROYAL GUEST ATTEND İNVESTİTURE CEREMONY OF KİNG WİLLEM ALEXANDER AT THE NİEUVE KERK

source semana es diez minutos es, vsnitatis com,zimbio:getty images,bauer griffin,PacificCoastNews.com)