Royal Fashion Awards: Luxembourg's National Day

Let's take a quick mid-Ascot break for a jaunt to Luxembourg, shall we? It's National Day over there, and the grand ducal family's been out for two days of festivities. On Friday, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited the town of Differdange while their oldest son, the Hereditary Grand Duke, and their daughter, Princess Alexandra, visited Esch-sur-Alzette. Friday night featured a torchlight procession and fireworks. On Saturday, the family united for the Te Deum; later, the Grand Duke, Grand Duchess, and Hereditary Grand Duke were present at a military parade. And all along there were fashions and hats and uniforms, oh my!

Best in Cute

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Friday

In Differdange (left) and at the Friday evening festivities (center and right)

Oh, these two. More than thirty years of marriage, and they can still bring the awwws. Maria Teresa opted for a double dose of suits with waist ties: first, an orange accent, and in the evening, a metallic number.

Best in Repeats

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Saturday

We saw this Natan coat and dress and Jane Taylor hat last month at the British Jubilee festivities; it was elegant then and it's elegant now. Just goes to show you that Natan can do some lovely things, a nice reminder as we approach the October wedding of the Hereditary Grand Duke. (We don't know who is making the bride's gown yet but with the sheer quantity of Benelux ladies sure to be present, he'll be busy no matter what.)

Best in Birthday Boys

Grand Duke Henri, Saturday

National Day is the official celebration of the Grand Duke's birthday (his actual birthday is April 16th), and he was looking dapper as ever in his uniform for the Te Deum and the military review and parade afterward.

Most in Need of a Companion

Prince Guillaume

On Friday (left) and Saturday (right)

Apparently Guillaume's fiancé, Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, the future Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, is going to stay incognito for the time being since she's not officially a member of the family. Sad. Anyway, we did get a bit of a taste of what the wedding will bring as the Te Deum was held at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City just as the wedding will be on October 20th.

Gorgeous, no? As a side note, the schedule for the wedding celebrations has been released! The civil wedding will be held in the afternoon on October 19th, followed by a gala that evening. The wedding will be the next day as previously announced, at 11 in the morning. (I'll cut to the chase: this means our best bet for a tiara event will be the gala on October 19th if at all. Guests should be in hats for the morning wedding.)

Most Improved

Princess Alexandra

On Friday (left) and Saturday (right)

Alexandra can occasionally look like she's stolen her mother's clothes, which makes this girlish pink Carolina Herrera a refreshing change for this 21-year-old. And even though I missed Stéphanie, it was nice to see Alexandra accompany her brother on Friday.

Best Villian

Princess Tessy

On Saturday

No, no, I'm NOT talking about Tessy herself, but...is this not just a wee bit like the love child of Cruella de Vil and Alexis Carrington? (Which lets me say this: the devil wears Prada.)

Best in Other Brothers

Prince Félix

Prince Félix (left) and Prince Louis (right)

Rounding out the family on Saturday were two more sons of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, Prince Félix and Prince Louis (Tessy is Louis' wife). Missing in action was the youngest of the five grand ducal kids, Prince Sébastian, but I doubt he could have stolen this prize from the handsome Félix anyway.

There is traditionally a gala on the evening of National Day complete with tiaras, though whether or not pictures are released is sketchy from year to year. Fingers crossed we'll see something later.

Who's your sartorial favorite this National Day?

Photos: PPE/Wort/RTL/Cour grand ducale

2011 in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Best of the Year

I like it when she gets saucy on us. This is the only Mette-Marit appearance that truly made my jaw drop this year. What can I say? Sometimes you have to wait a while between stunners from her, but she's got some serious game when she feels like playing it.

Runners Up

I just love it when she puts those little caps on the back of her head. Probably would hate it on anyone else, but with her nearly white hair and striking features, it just works. I also like it when she gets her LBD on, and also her purple on, and her perfect princess on, with a special mention for getting her national costume on. Gorgeous.

Worst of the Year

I fully expect her oddly colorful, slightly Oompa Loompa schoolgirl look to garner many mentions here, but for me, the worst was the height of something that brings her whole look down for me: such casually thrown together combos. What was with the business coat thrown over the frilly dress? She usually restricts her odd combos and too-basic business wear to her everyday dealings, but this one stuck out for being included in a state visit.

Which outfits make your best and worst lists for Mette-Marit in 2011?

Photos: FVN/Getty Images/Daylife/Aftenposten/AVB

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 9-15 October

Here's what Mette-Marit wore from 9-15 October:

1. a and b) Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Fridtjof Nansen, 10 October. Part of me wants to dole out compliments for the use of color and for doing something different with the hair, while the rest of me can't stop thinking she looks like a schoolgirl from a Dr. Seuss tale.
2. a and b) Dinner for the commemoration, 10 October. PURPLE! Yay.
3. Visiting the Work Institute Buskerud, 11 October. I'm very entertained by the nametags here. "HELLO! My name is: Your Future Queen. Figure it out."

Photos: Daylife/Reuters/Zimbio/Getty Images/Lehtikuva

Runway Monday: Carolina Herrera Daywear

A couple weeks ago we looked at some of the best gowns from Carolina Herrera's Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear, Pre-Fall 2010, Fall 2010 Ready-to Wear and Resort 2011 collections.  Now it's time to look at the day stuff, which is equally elegant:

 I'd love it if one of these summery looks could make an appearance before the warm weather runs out.

 All the orange we've seen lately on Mathilde and Máxima has me longing for another strong color instead.  How about some red touches to change things up a bit?

If we must continue with the orange something more like one of these looks would be preferable, no?  The first look on the left bears striking resemblance to the black and white print/orange combination Máxima's been wearing from NATAN, but I love how much more sophisticated it looks in the hands of a more talented designer.  Mathilde could take a note from the center model; orange shoes are a great accent on their own, just not so much with an entirely orange ensemble.  And if we must go full-on citrus, mixing up the textures as in the last outfit is a much more refined way to go.

Photos: Style.com

Month in Review: Crown Princess Pavlos and Tatiana Blatnik, June

Here's what 2 of the most stylish members of the Greek royal family wore in June:

Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess Pavlos

1. King Constantine's 70th Birthday Party, 2 June.  The party was held at M-C and Pavlos's house, so there weren't any good pictures of her.  Can't see much here, but I like the hairdo.
2. Diane von Furstenberg and Claridge's Launch Party in London, 23 June.

Tatiana Blatnik 

1.  King Constantine's 70th Birthday Party, 2 June.  This dress is Amanda Wakeley, see here.
2. Arriving in Stockholm, 17 June.
3. Private dinner at Drottninghom, 17 June, a) on the Andrew Gn runway and b) in Stockholm.
4. Pre-wedding dinner and concert, 18 June.
5. Crown Princess Victoria's Wedding, 19 June.  Obviously a custom design here, but you can see the similarities in the tone of the tulle and the floral embellishment with this dress, from Herrera's Fall 2010 RTW collection.
6. Diane von Furstenberg and Claridge's Launch Party in London, 23 June.  I'm guessing this is DVF, on account of the function and the fact that Tatiana works for her.  We need more royals that work in the fashion industry.

Best and Worst of the Month

I read that Carolina Herrera is on the shortlist for making Tatiana's wedding gown, and I hope it's true!  Tatiana didn't put a foot wrong this month.  I love her already.  This frothy dress was just perfect for the Swedish wedding - not too much, not too little.  Marie-Chantal, on the other hand, wasn't enough at the DVF party.  The dress is plain, and I don't get the combo with the tan/brown shoes.  I'm disappointed we didn't see her at the wedding festivities; surely that would have been the sartorial high point of her month.


UPDATE:  Found another one for Tatiana - from Princess Madeleine's World Childhood gala on 30 June...

...and we have a miss.  I think this is Diane von Furstenberg.

Photos: Getty Images/Svenskdam/CTK/Marcio Madeira/Pascal Le Segretain/FirstView.com/Dave M. Benett/Newspix/Belga

Runway Monday: Carolina Herrera, Spring 2010 Ready-To-Wear

Princess Máxima recently wore Carolina Herrera to great effect at the birthday celebrations for Denmark's Queen Margrethe:

I'm hoping she's only just grazed the surface of her Herrera patronage.  This designer has a way with bright, bold colors and graphic prints while still keeping everything elegant as can be, which makes her a fine alternative for the NATAN crew of royal ladies (Máx, Mathilde, Maria Teresa, and Claire).  Queen Silvia, Crown Princesses Mary and Mette-Marit and more have already dug into Carolina Herrera; here, from the Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear, Pre-Fall 2010, Fall 2010 Ready-toWear and Resort 2011 collections, is a selection of her most elegant evening gowns, perfect for royal wear.  (We'll talk daywear some other Monday.)

Which dress would you most like to see on the royal red carpet?

Photos: Profimedia/Marcio Madeira/First Look/Maria Valentino/Carolina Herrera