The Countess of Wessex attends a performance by Ballet Central

Sophie, Countess of Wessex, attended a performance by Ballet Central to mark their 30th anniversary at Corn Exchange in Newbury on May 14, 2015.

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge made a private visit to the Goring Hotel

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge made a private visit to The Goring Hotel to 105th birthday celebrations. Kate was photographed leaving the five-star hotel at lunchtime. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in Purple and Pink Floral Frock by Erdem (Resort 2013 Collection - "Darla" dress) for Goring Hotel Celebration

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Sophie, Countess of Wessex, 52nd Torch Trophy Trust Award

Judith Phelps of Telford Hornets RFC and North Midlands RFU and Adrian Bishop of Tewkesbury RFC Further were presented with their awards by HRH the Countess of Wessex at a ceremony at the Army & Navy Club on February 24, 2015 in London They were nominated by the RFU for unstinting commitment to rugby and their local community.

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in 2014

Catherine,Duchess of Cambridge attend the St Patrick’s Day Parade at Mons Barracks on March 17, 2014 in Aldershot, England. Gold Cartier shamrock brooch first worn by Queen Alexandra in 1901. Apparently, Queen Alexandra started the tradition of handing out the shamrocks on St Patrick's Day. Kate wore Hobbs green coat ..

Catherine, Duchess Of Cambridge Tour Australia And New Zealand Day-1 on April 7, 2014 in Wellington. Kate wears red Catherine Walker coat dress and and has been loaned the Queen's silver fern brooch.

Catherine, Duchess Of Cambridge Tour Australia And New Zealand Day-6 on April 12, 2014 in Hamilton, New Zealand. The Duchess wore a striking green Erdem coat, with a green Suzannah tea dress underneath

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-8 on April 14, 2014 in Christchurch. It's a red day for Kate with this pillar box red Luisa Spagnoli suit

Catherine, Duchess ff Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-10 on April 16, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. A sunny Roksanda Illincic was the first outfit for Kate on the Australia leg of the tour.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand - Day-12 on April 18, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Kate Chose to wear Zimmerman for the Royal Easter Show.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-13 on April 19, 2014 in Brisbane, Australia. Kate opted for a LK Bennett sheath style dress

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-13 Sydney's Taronga Zoo on April 20, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Kate wore another broderie anglaise dress for her visit to the zoo

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-17 on April 23, 2014 in Adelaide, Australia. Ablush pink long sleeved peplum top was paired with a matching pleated A-Line skirt for a day in Adelaide. Kate wore Alexander McQueen Wool Cashmere Peplum Dress

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-18 Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the National Arboretum on April 24, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. Catherine wore a Catherine Walker coat dress

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-18 Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends a reception hosted by the Governor General Peter Cosgrove at Government House on April 24, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. Kate looked chic in a white Lela Rose cocktail dress

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge tour Australia and New Zealand Day-18. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridgeduring an ANZAC Day commemorative service at the Australian War Memorial on April 25, 2014 in Ca nberra, Australia. For her last day Kate wore a Michael Kors indigo twill coat and a navy hat by Australian milliner Jonathan Howard

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit Scotland on May 29, 2014 in Crieff, Scotland. Kate wore Jonathan Saunders, the designer’s "Athena Wool Jacquard Coat" from his autumn/winter 2013-2014 collection.

The Duchess Of Cambridge Attends Action On Addiction Dinner. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the Action on Addiction autumn Gala evening at L'Anima on October 23, 2014 in London, England. The Duchess wore a piece from Temperley London’s pre-fall 2014 collection, the brand’s Emblem Flare dress.

The UK Observes Remembrance Sunday. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph on Whitehall on November 9, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. The Duchess wore Alexander McQueen Black flared wool coat.

Crown Princess Victoria met with the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan

Crown Princess Victoria met with the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan at the Royal Palace. 24 October 2014

ERDEM Margot ruched lace dress                            CHANEL Caviar Quilted Clutch

Miranda Kerr in Erdem – Kora Organics Event

Emma Stone in Erdem ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise Of Electro’ Berlin Photocall

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in Suzannah Dress & Erdem Coat

Weekly Royal Fashion Awards: September 15-21, Plus a Tiara Watch!

Best in Visits

Queen Máxima and Princess Letizia

Video: Felipe and Letizia meet their Dutch visitors at the airport

Willem-Alexander and Máxima got back to their one day visits to fellow European monarchs this past week with a quick stop in Spain to see the King and Queen. So many things to love just in this video: the warm greetings, the best thing Letizia wore all week, Máxima's abundant use of aquamarines, and her excellent response to the Spanish monarchy's anti-hat and currently anti-bling culture.

 

That would be a jeweled butterfly in the hair, of course. Attagirl!

Most Curiously Hatted

Queen Mathilde

Continuing visits across the country with King Philippe

Mathilde had other events this week (she was in New York, and I think we'll cover that when we cover the rest of the people in NYC next week), but this one sort of wiped them all out. There are outfits that you can casually throw a hat on...and then there are outfits that you can not.

Second Most Curiously Hatted

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Visiting Vest-Agder

I don't know what exactly is going on here, but these two together without context humors me. If I hadn't seen them next to each other on video (click here!), I might think someone had Photoshopped this up: one Arctic survivor bundled up for life and one dude in a suit, just out for a stroll.

Best in Family Events

The Swedish Royal Family

King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Chris O'Neill, and Princess Madeleine attend a reception celebrating the King's 40th Jubilee

First, the Jubilee festivities continued with a reception, where Victoria's simple dress was the perfect day dress to pair with her father's order, and a much less distracting choice than Silvia's Easter egg suit...

The Opening of Parliament and the evening performance (King and Queen not pictured)

...and then it was time for the annual opening of Parliament. The black and white on the ladies is the standard dress code, and a throwback to the court dress of earlier days, and Madeleine's winning it (during the day at least).

Best in Variety

Crown Princess Mary

Mary at an awards ceremony, and during the state visit from Vietnam (with her Erdem dress)

Mary had a busy week, more events than this, and she had some interesting designers too. A blue Gucci number - not unlike the Gucci worn by Máxima earlier this year, sans the Bea sleeves - and Erdem! Count that as another royal Erdem that I actually like. I like that blue coat too, and as a bonus it was worn for a state visit, and you know what that means...

Tiara Watch!

Reason #597 why fall is awesome: we usually get a couple state visits out of it, and state visits = tiaras. Tiaras in all their sparkly action, no less:

Video: State banquet for the President of Vietnam

Queen Margrethe is wearing the Baden Palmette Tiara; Mary has on her wedding tiara; Marie is wearing her regular floral tiara; and Benedikte is also in her floral tiara. A regular diamond party! And thank heavens for the tiaras, because I'm not wild about the gowns. Marie's is lovely, but that waist ornamentation has no business being cluttered by a sash and a star. And Mary looks like she's reusing the skirt from one of my favorite New Year's Court outfits, and yet I still don't love it. Hmm...

Who was your best dressed last week?

Photos: IBL/Belga/NRK/Expressen/BestImage/Abaca/Kongehuset

Weekly Royal Fashion Awards: April 22-27

Best in Events

The Duchess of Cambridge

Video: At the inauguration of Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden

What does it take for an event to overshadow the clothes? Well, Harry.Potter.OMG for one. Lucky royals. (But okay, for the record, my sartorial thoughts on the Week in Kate - polka dots: super cute, Erdem: fabulous, Emilia Wickstead: needs a little something, and Topshop in video: cute.) Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that some of the blogs following Kate have joined forces for the Baby Cambridge Fundraiser (click here for their Facebook page). A brilliant idea to raise funds for EACH, and I suggest you check it out!

Best in Fancy, Part 2

Princess Letizia

A lunch at the palace for the Cervantes Award and at the ceremony

Hey, we've got a little streak going. I like it!

Best in Mix and Match

Crown Princess Mary

Opening the Finn Juhl Hall at the United Nations in New York. Click here for video from TV 2, click here for pictures.

This is a nice combo of pieces we've seen before, the skirt multiple times and the top from the Luxembourg wedding. Now I'm wishing she'd worn the top with the printed skirt from the start.

Best in Almost Queens

Princess Máxima

Visiting Show Band (with and without coat); attending a concert; opening the King's Games in celebration of the inauguration; launching national Girlsday

The last review before she becomes the only queen on our weekly list! {Pause for nostalgia.} After this post...it's inauguration festivities time!

Best in Estelle

Crown Princess Victoria

Let's be real: the other thing that overshadows the clothes is an Estelle sighting. Other engagements, schmother engagements.

Who was your best dressed last week?

Photos: Getty Images/PacificCoastNews/TV2/DutchPhotoPress/ANP/PPE/Kate Gabor/Kungahuset

Royal Trip Report: The York Sisters in Germany

Here's a fun royal trip for you: our very own Holmes and Watson, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, took a two day jaunt to Germany as part of the Great Britain Mini Tour to promote British business and culture overseas. While everyone else fusses about what this means for their future (or non-future, as the case may be) as working royals, let's fuss about their fashion! Successful or not, they do bring a dose of youth to the royal fashion scene - and we can always use more of that.

They began in Berlin, where Beatrice paired a chic belted Burberry coat with a Jonathan Saunders dress and Kurt Geiger heels and Eugenie went with a basic Mulberry coat, navy Alice and Olivia dress (or so it was reported - she kept the coat on) and L.K. Bennett heels. I can't tell you how much I love Beatrice's "put a belt on it" philosophy - cinching it is just the right thing to do.

In the evening, they hit up the ambassador's residence. Beatrice brought back perhaps my very favorite Erdem dress in royal use today, but Eugenie made a strong play for my affections with sparkly chevrons. You guys, I am obsessed with chevrons right now. And these ones are sparkly. If they were purple too, I might have hyperventilated.

Day 2 took them to Hanover, home of their ancestors. Eugenie repeated the coat she wore to Christmas service, and reaffirmed my initial thoughts: this is too bulky for her. It's just bulky enough to appear to add bulk to her, and that just won't do. She fared much better without the coat, even though it's still not as interesting as sparkles and chevrons. As for Beatrice, her blue coat is lovely and all that - but day 1 still wins it for me.

Which outfit is your favorite?

Photos: NetaPorter/PA/Matches

Weekly Royal Fashion Awards: November 25-December 2

It's December now (how did that happen? Last time I checked it was March) and tartan is in the air, apparently. Let the festivities begin...

Best in Not That Different Hair? Maybe? I Don't Know?

The Duchess of Cambridge

Opening The Treasures Gallery at the Natural History Museum; visiting Cambridge; visiting her old school

It's time for a confession: I don't get the fuss over her new hairdo...it looks kinda the same to me? Well, adding some layers does not a "new 'do" make, I think, despite what the headlines say. Then again, I require an updo (tiara optional but preferred) before I pay much of any attention to anyone's hair. I'd rather talk about hockey in heels or sweet little bows on coats or the perils of peace signs on clothing, really.

Best in Shoes

Princess Letizia

At the opening of the Volunteering National Congress; attending Premios Magisterio 2012 at Caixa Forum

I am liking that number with the red top way more than I should, really...and it has to do with two little straps on the feets. It's like a nude shoe with a bite. Lurve.

Best in Isabella

Princess Isabella

So, Queen Margrethe has designed the sets and costumes for a production of The Nutcracker, because she's awesome like that, and the family went to see her show. And Isabella wore little boots, because she's awesome like that.

Best in Blergh

Princess Mathilde

Visiting the ENSAV Arts Academy; attending the Department of Defense's family information day

No real color, not even a spot of orange in sight!

Best in More Tartan

Princess Máxima

At the Prince Bernhard Culture Prize ceremony; at Action Plan apprenticeships; opening the International Supply Management Congress

Hey, maybe Máx and Kate can go on a little stroll at Balmoral together sometime and talk about tiaras. (As you do.) On a sidenote, we've now entered the time of year when Máxima insists on wearing lighter color shoes with dark tights, and makes me die a little on the inside.

Best in Adorable

Crown Princess Victoria (and Daniel)

Victoria and Daniel gave an audience to two kids with serious illnesses that wanted to meet them, though the MyBigDay Foundation. Just adorable.

And an Honorable Mention to...

Princess Beatrice

At the British Fashion Awards

Perhaps my favorite royal Erdem yet, just loverly.
 

Who did you like last week?

Photos: WPA Pool/Getty Images/Bauer Griffin/Lavenir/AP/DutchPhotoPress/PPE/Kungahuset

Royal Trip Report: The Cambridges in Asia, Part 2

Picking up where we left off, in Singapore in the middle of day 2 of the trip...

Day 2:  Visiting Queenstown and the Rainbow Center (at 1:26), followed by an evening reception at the British High Commissioner's residence

Something new: separates from Singapore label Raoul, and something new from something old: another bespoke piece from Erdem.

The top and skirt, plus the print and Those Shoes; Kate's version of Erdem at the reception and one of the dresses that trotted down the Erdem runway using this print

Gotta tell you, neither of these conjures up much of a reaction either way for me. They are things that she wore and they are fine. Moving on.

Day 3: Visiting Kranji War Memorial, followed by travel to Malaysia and a visit to Hospis Malaysia where Kate made a speech

This dress, another bespoke Jenny Packham, is officially "duck egg blue" - but was described as green at first by some present on Twitter. It's a non-color color, so subdued it can't make up its mind if it really wants to be blue or not. The whole outfit is understated to be sure, but then again it was a day of solemn locations. 

A look at the parasol, plus the bodice detail and earrings

I wondered if the war memorial visit might yield us a hat, but instead she took a cue out of Camilla's book and carried a parasol to beat the heat, a far more adorable way to go. No parasol for Wills though. I guess equal sartorial rights for men still have a way to go. (Sarcasm alert.)

Day 3: Attending an official dinner given by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong (the King and Queen of Malaysia) 

Speaking of gentlemen's sartorial prerogatives, WHAT is the deal with the business suit dress code? The ladies look like they're attending a different event entirely. I find this to be Bothersome. Capital B. And that's about as far from white tie (read: tiaras) as you can get, which I know had some of you distraught. (The Windsors just don't do tiaras like they used to. Look at all the trips Charles and Camilla have taken on their own, not a tiara in sight. Wasn't going to happen, I'm sorry to say.)

A look at the embellishment and accessories

Custom Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen again, this time featuring hibiscus gold embroidery - hibiscus being Malaysia's flower. Some of you likened the first outfit of this trip to something worn by the Queen in her early years, but this one really gets my comparisons rolling. This screams the embellishment of QEII's gowns in her earlier years, in pieces by Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies - sparkly and symbolic. Many of those dresses, with their exquisitely rendered national flowers and so on, are now museum pieces which can be spotted on exhibit from time to time. I see a similar future here.

Some of you have been criticizing her neckline levels, and I'm sure you'll do the same on this dress. But that criticism is not at all unique to this trip. How much is too much in this regard is a question of personal taste; obviously, Kate's not bothered by a deep neckline (just look at her wedding gown). Personally, I think she's doing a great job of staying herself while still incorporating local customs and other nods to the local culture (like the design above, or the use of local designers).

Day 4: Visiting a mosque, followed by a walkabout and a luncheon with the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce

A custom dress from Beulah (which has now been put out for mass purchase), and an absolutely gorgeous updo (Team Updo!). Beulah's designs are distinctive to say the least - the flowing skirts and sleeves - and they aren't my favorite in general, but this is a perfect example of the point I was just trying to make: it's appropriate above all.

And that's where we'll leave off for this installment of W&K's Great Adventure. Until next time...

Photos: Matches/Bauer Griffin/Getty Images/Style.com

Royal Fashion Awards: Ascot 2012, Day 3

Hey laaaadies! It’s your day, Ladies’ Day, at Ascot. Day 3 is supposed to bring the wackiest hats of all, so let’s see how our royal ladies did. (And click here for Day 2 if you’re catching up!)

Most Refreshing

Queen Elizabeth

Nothing like a nice cool mint julep of an outfit on a summer’s day (even if it is a rainy one), right? And look at our Lillibet go, pulling out yet another brooch surprise: this is the Teck Corsage Brooch (more currently known as the Duchess of Teck’s Emperor of Austria Brooch), minus the diamond and pearl chain we normally see dangling from it.

Best in Last Minute Saves

The Countess of Wessex

 In which we say: thank heavens for the hat, or else the rest would’ve put us to sleep.

Best in Post-Makeover Eliza

Princess Beatrice

Erdem’s becoming a full-fledged royal trend: Lady Helen Taylor opted for the designer back at William and Kate’s wedding and again for this year’s Jubilee service, Kate’s sported Erdem a few times, and now Bea’s made her third Erdem-clad appearance in a month! I like it only because it’s sort of a patriotic version of My Fair Lady’s take on Ascot, and I haven’t made a single MFL reference in two whole days of racing. (Just you wait for the rest of this post, just you wait.) 

Worst in Pre-Makeover Eliza

The Princess Royal

 Here’s a disagreeable surprise: another 2011 royal wedding repeat for Anne today, this time her outfit from William and Kate's nuptials which one year later is still a batty pre-makeover Eliza number. Clearly she's picked the most cutting edge hat out of her closet and is daring you to continue your sniggering.

Worst in Meh

Princess Eugenie

Honestly, not even the crumpled piece of laundry north of her ears or the fierceness happening south of her ankles can get me to muster up any sort of remarks for this outfit. It’s the fit that’s done her in; it makes me too sad. She's so lovely! Enough with the business that doesn't do her justice. 

Best in Ladies’ Day Crazy

Princess Haya

 By George, she’s done it! Haya has shown us how Ladies’ Day should be done. Gargantuan hat: check. A little something out of the ordinary, just for the day: pink and orange, check and check. And yet, still elegant and not Olympic levels of famished attention seeking: check, check, check.

Best in Regular Crazy

Princess Michael

Marie Christine, I’m dashed. I have no idea what the neck ruff you heisted from an English courtroom has to do with your leftover 1987 party dress or the business blazer that has no business being on top of it. All I know is that none of it will do for the miniature bowling party you’re apparently attending later. (Surely she has a wee bowling ball in that bag, right?) But bless your heart anyway, Princess Mike, for bringing the LOLZ on Ladies’ Day, and finishing us off with your own ode to the Black and White Ascot.

Who do you say is the fairest on Ladies’ Day?

Photos:  Getty Images/Daylife/i-Images/Zimbio/Wenn/Corbis/WPA Pool