Flashback Friday: Extreme Dress Makeovers

Way back in January, Crown Princess Mary turned up at the annual New Year's Courts in two old dresses recut, restyled, and repurposed.

In red in 2007 and 2012; in blue in 2006 and 2012

Mary's craftiness naturally started me thinking about other royals that have sent their clothes in for some sartorial surgery - it doesn't take a royal fashion encyclopedia to guess that Mary's far from the first to try it. In fact, this isn't even the first time Mary's tried this thrifty strategy for a new look.

In blue lace in 2004 and 2009; draped in 2010 and 2011

Fancy (and pricey) blue lace from an early gown was recut into a new shape for a trip to Vietnam in 2009, and just last year in Australia she debuted a remake of the Jesper Høvring gown she wore to Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden's wedding. Like many, I wondered at the time of the wedding if the original lace of the gown wasn't just a temporary solution to cover her shoulders for the church - after all, it did seem a bit of an odd match. But the extra over the shoulder touch in the finished product was a wonderful surprise outcome.

If Mary has the redesign flair, it's easy to trace it back to a possible source: none other than her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe. Not at all surprising from such a creative mind, right?

In pink at Frederik and Mary's wedding in 2004 and the New Year's Court 2012; in the original blue and the end dress on display

Queen Margrethe's wonderful ensemble for Mary and Frederik's wedding lives on, though not in exactly the same amount of wonderfulness as the fuchsia coat has been recut into a regular frock. And one of the dresses included in the jubilee exhibit of her gala gowns has been redone several times: first made by Eric Mortensen for Balmain in 1990, Margrethe later had her trusty couturier Jørgen Bender alter the neckline and sleeves twice before adding on the dramatic lace overlay.

In 2004, 2005, and 2009

Another example we've seen before comes from Spain and the always budget conscious Princess Letizia. Her pre-wedding dinner dress came from Spanish royal favorite Lorenzo Caprile, and Caprile was called upon to change it up for a state visit the year after the wedding. But at some point, Letizia went totally off of Caprile and switched to Felipe Varela for reasons unknown. The third alteration of the dress, in 2009, was not Caprile's work...a fact which I think is quite evident. Important note about dress redos: quit while you're ahead.

In 2006 and 2011

Stepping out of the gown realm for a quick second, Kate Middleton made a thrifty pre-wedding splash by chopping some serious inches off of an old Katherine Hooker coat. It would not surprise me at all if she ends up with quite a string of clever reworks to her name as her royal years add up.

In 1989 and 1992

Perhaps she'll one day take a page out of Diana's book and cut any whiff of outdated flair right out of a look. The full skirt on this Catherine Walker gown gave way to a much sleeker sheath dress, all while keeping the intricate top.

In 1984 and 2001

Last but not least, look at this: even the Queen of Thrifty Royals, Princess Anne, isn't opposed to hacking up a 1980s monstrosity. Which leaves me with but one question...why doesn't she do it more often?!

These are by no means the only examples out there of royal dress makeovers, so let me ask you this:

What's your favorite dress redo?

And for bonus points:

Which current royal dress would you like to see go under the scissors?

Photos: Daylife/Mirror/Scanpix/PPE/Colourpress

Wedding Wednesday: Infanta Cristina's Gown

 HRH Infanta Cristina of Spain and Iñaki Urdangarín

October 4, 1997

Barcelona, Spain

Today we have another near-miss contender for my Top 10 Best Royal Wedding Dresses: Infanta Cristina's gown.

Arriving on the arm of her father with bridesmaids (including cousin Princess Theodora of Greece) in tow

Cristina met her handsome groom at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he was a member of the bronze medal-winning Spanish handball team. When they married in the Barcelona Cathedral the following year, the bride wore a Lorenzo Caprile dress. Caprile has proved to be a popular designer among the Spanish royal ladies. Featuring a princess line silhouette, the gown is crafted from silk specially made in Valencia.

It's a very simple design, with a few standout features. The dress seems to feature little to no ornamentation, but there's actually an embroidered silver detail at the empire line of the waist. Very figure flattering, that. The design is carried through on the train, a detail that doesn't come across in many photographs. It also features an off-the-shoulder neckline, an interesting feature given we usually hear that the first component of a royal wedding dress is that it must cover the shoulders to be respectful of the church.

The train itself is about 3 meters long and like Letizia's does not appear to have been detachable. Unseen here, the back of the dress had a small laced up detail which was echoed in the design of her bridal party's outfits.

I was surprised in this video to see how well the train held its shape without too much fussing from the attendants. Of course, the fussing could just be edited out:

Infanta Cristina's veil is one of the main stars of the show. As we've discussed before, it is a 19th century family heirloom that is owned by Spain's National Anthropology Museum and was restored for the wedding. It was once used by Queen Victoria Eugenia, Cristina's great-grandmother, as were the diamond earrings she wore.

Underneath the veil, one of the prettiest royal wedding hairdos of all time, if you ask me. The hair was created by Gloria Delgado, a stylist knowledgeable in 19th century hair styling techniques that had been recommended by Caprile, and Cristina gave her free reign. (Good call!) On top of it all, the Mellerio Floral Tiara reigned supreme.

This has always been a favorite for me. It's just one of those gowns that has stuck in my mind since the wedding itself, which I would say is one of the components of greatness when it comes to a royal wedding gown.

Are you a fan of Cristina's wedding gown?

Photos: Hoymujer/Publiboda/Cover/TRF/Hola

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 27 March - 2 April

Here's what Letizia wore from 27 March - 2 April:

1. Welcoming Charles and Camilla for their official visit to Spain, 30 March. The gray coat is back, and she's shaking it up with a different dress underneath (the actual matching dress this time) and a bare leg. See, I don't mind the repeating so much when you shake it up a little bit (even just a tiny bit).
2. Gala dinner for Charles and Camilla, 30 March. It's red (which we love), it's a full skirt (which I love), and the hair's fantastic. So why don't I love this one fully and completely?
3. Visiting a guide dog center with Camilla and then lunch with C & C and the King and Queen, 31 March. The dress of indeterminate color returns, and we can see that it is actually red. Very much enjoying the shoe change - give those platform pumps a rest!
4. At the opening ceremony of a young entrepreneur's congress, 1 April. Looks like somebody's ready for summer, rocking a white suit already! Can't argue with that.

Best and Worst of the Week

Hmm. I like both of the red appearances (naturally), and I feel like I should be head over heels for the Lorenzo Caprile, but I'm not. Just too much going on there for my tastes - the texture on the skirt and the bodice are competing for my visual attention. (Best hair of the week, for sure, to be fair.) Nothing's really bad this week, either; can't complain about the gray or the white. How about you?


Photos: Zimbio/Getty/Terra/Profimedia

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 6-12 March

Here's what Letizia wore from 6-12 March:

1. At the movies with Felipe and the girls. I do love a little boot-over-jean action.
2. Lunch with the President of Chile, 7 March. It may be gray and black (which I think we can all agree we've seen too much of lately), but this is classy and appropriate.
3. State dinner for the Chilean president, 7 March. The skirt is reused from a previous outing. Every time I look at this, something different bothers me. Today, it's where the skirt is sitting on her waist. A little too high, maybe.
4. Visiting the Cervantes Institute during the state visit from Chile, 8 March. More gray and black, but again: classy and appropriate. And I really, really like the straight hair with the side part!
5. Attending the Discapnet Awards, 10 March, a) with coat and b) without. Color! And pattern! And yet I like it, but don't love it. Meh.
6. Audience with members of Tel Aviv University, 11 March. Oh, this again.

Best and Worst of the Week

Sad that my two favorites from this week are the gray and black ones, but it is what it is: outfits 2 and 4 are running close for best of the week for me, but the new hair from #4 tips it over the edge. Doesn't it make her look so much younger? Love it. Really, this was a pretty good week for Letizia. A little more dressed up than usual, which of course is what I'm always rooting for. But the end was a disappointing return to the norm, and thus it makes my worst of the week.

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Lecturas