Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 30 January - 5 February

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 30 January - 5 February:

1. Visiting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 31 January.
2. Attending a dinner at the Hotel D'Angleterre,31 January, a) with coat and b) without.
3. Visiting the UNAIDS building in Geneva, 1 February. 

Best and Worst of the Week

Number 2's the best, no question. The cardigan's kind of ruining the thing, but the coat makes up for it with that little touch of fur to class it up. Now, on the worst side, I'm torn. Neither 1 nor 3 are terrible. The texture on the skirt of 3 and the detailing on the jacket of 1 both add interest to what could be plain and boring outfits. Yet: the pink scarf is just too much extra and too unnecessary on 3. That's not as bad as this, though, from Outfit 1:

Seriously? Brown shoes? That suit, though it looks black, is in fact navy. But that still doesn't make this okay.  Also, peep toe shoes + tights = bad news, so I have my worst. What's yours?


Photos: Daylife/Reuters/Belga/DANAPRESS

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 16-22 January

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 16-22 January:

1. a, b, and c) New pictures released from the family's travels for Ingrid Alexandra's 7th birthday, 21 January. Good traveling outfits, nothing much to see here.
2. a, b, c, d) New official photographs released, 22 January; e) the Valentino gown on the runway.

A week of photographs that aren't actually from this week, but we'll go with it since it's been a while since we've seen Mette-Marit. No new gowns on display for the official pictures, but it is nice to see these repeats in a posed manner - all the better for the details.

And hey, look what's back:

Quite the selection, there, Queen Sonja. Now we know the layers are alternating pleats, lace AND ruffles. The full trifecta for this ruffled wonder.


Photos: Norwegian Royal Court

Gold Star: Sheikha Mozah's Glamorous State Visit

You know, we've been seeing a lot less designer clothes lately. Royal families are trying to be a little more down to earth, I guess, not going around shoving the fact that they have money in the faces of those that are dealing with recession and unemployment. Buckingham Palace went out of it's way to point out that the Queen has an evening dress with detachable ornamentation for maximum reuse, and that it was made by her dresser. Victoria's been out and about in H&M, and then of course you have the Queen (or Princess, rather) of this: Letizia, and her wardrobe of high street staples.

Nothing wrong with that, quite sensible really. Sheikha Mozah, though...now she seems to belong more in the "you know I'm rich, I know I'm rich, let's not play games about it" camp. Her wardrobe from the recent state visit to England is pure couture: Armani Privé, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Chanel, Dior.

I love it. It's like eating a decadent dessert after a day of salad. And if there's a woman alive that can carry off those names without looking like she's trying to hard, it's the Sheikha.

It's not just the clothes, either. How about those jewels? Bestill my little magpie heart.

And while we're accessorizing...

Heh. The mind of Karl Lagerfeld at work. Couture is the highest form of fashion as art, which means sometimes you'll get it and sometimes you won't. I say if you're going to go couture, go all the way, fug or not.

Gold star: awarded for pure glamour.

Photos: Getty/AP/HuffPo

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 22-28 August

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 22-28 August:

1.  Opening a school and cultural center, 23 August. 
2. Attending the 50th birthday party of the Norwegian foreign minister, 28 August.  Same Valentino shoes as last week.

Only two outfits this week, so nothing much to pick from - but the fun with shoes pattern continues.  I'm all for it.

Photos: ANP/siste.no

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 15-21 August

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 15-21 August:

1.  Presenting awards at a beach volleyball tournament, 15 August, a) in action and b) the Malene Birger top as modeled.  Looks better on M-M, no?
2. At a fashion show, 17 August, a) the Valentino shoes on display and b) in action.  SHOES!  I heart them.  Who cares about the dress.
3. Ingrid Alexandra's first day of school, 19 August.

Best and Worst of the Week

Hot shoes vs. an excessively large coat.  No contest.

Photos: FVN.no

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 11-17 July

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 11-17 July:

1. Attending the Life Ball in Vienna, 17 July.  On the right is the dress as shown in the Valentino Resort 2009 Collection.

I'm so happy Mette-Marit is back, she hasn't been spotted in nearly a month!  And this dress is lovely; I particularly like the blue sash she's added, despite all the folds and the sparkle I think the dress looks a little blah without it.

UPDATE: I missed some stuff!

Here she is leaving for/arriving in Vienna (I think...captions were a little fuzzy and the ghetto Google translator doesn't seem to understand Norwegian any better than I do) and then during an event for the International AIDS conference. 

Photos: Florian Seefried/Getty Images/Don Ashby/Style.com/UNAIDS/abc.no

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 13-19 June

Here's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the week of 13-19 June:

1. Arriving in Stockholm for the wedding, 17 June. The rest of the family travelled by plane but Mette-Marit here came by train because she's afraid of flying.  And that's not the only cute thing about her: this is a perfect traveling outfit for a princess-on-the-go.
2. Wedding rehearsal, 17 June.  Have to say I would have preferred she stick with the train gear.
3. Private wedding dinner at Drottningholm, 17 June. Fabulous dress of the weekend #1.
4. Wedding luncheon hosted by the King at Sturehof Castle, 18 June. This scarf and cardigan combo is adorable, and the turquoise jewelry adds great color.  Unfortunately she brought along the navy windbreaker you see her holding there and put it on later, ruining the whole thing.
   
5. Pre-wedding dinner and concert, 18 June.  Fabulous dress of the weekend #2.
6. Crown Princess Victoria's wedding, 19 June. Fabulous dress of the weekend #3.  Best dressed of all the wedding guests?  Discuss.

Best and Worst of the Week

     

 It's the tiara.  It speaks to me.  So does the white dress, but all that's saying is "Don't look at me!"  Or maybe that's the cardigan and the brown trim on the purse speaking.

Photos: Daylife/svd/Aftonbladet/Bjorn Lindahl/Lise Aserud/Scanpix/Svenskdam

Top 10 Best Royal Wedding Dresses: #4. HRH Princess Maxima

Maxima Zorreguieta and HRH The Prince of Orange

February 2, 2002

Princess Maxima has her fair share of hot mess appearances, but when she gets it right, few can surpass her. In this Valentino couture gown, Maxima was at the top of her game.

The dress was made of ivory Mikado silk. It was an excellent material selection; despite the fact that the wedding included lots of movement (Maxima traveled by both car and carriage and moved between two different venues for the civil and religious ceremonies), not a wrinkle was to be found.

The five meter long train was inset with panels of embroidered lace. The star tiara supported a veil of silk tulle decorated with floral motifs, hand-embroidered in true couture fashion. Maxima’s tiara combined the base of the Dutch Pearl Button Tiara with some of Queen Emma's diamond stars as attachments. This is a love/hate tiara: you either go weak for the stars, or you decry them for their kitsch. Me, I go weak. The height of the stars was perfect for the way the veil was attached, and the motif was a great complement to the sparkle in Maxima’s eyes as she wed her prince.

It's appropriately modest (with extra modesty added in, even), and could be seen as a bit stiff. But it's regal, and I think it went a long way in terms of transforming the exuberant South American into a true Princess.

Not only is this one of my favorite gowns, it’s one of my favorite weddings. Getting the right tone in a royal wedding is a hard thing to do; it would be strange to have all of the personal touches that a regular wedding usually has, given the wedding is something of a state event; but take too much of the emotion out and you’ll end up with a fancy business transaction. 2/2/02 hit just the right notes. The atmosphere was relaxed enough that there was laughter inside the church when the crowds outside punctuated the vows with great cheers. Silent tears rolled down Maxima’s face as a beautiful Argentine tango was played in honor of her homeland and in memory of her parents, who did not attend due to controversy surrounding her father’s past role in government:



Tears me up every time.

Click here to see all the Top 10 dresses!

Photos: Hola/ANP/Reuters/Jerry Lampen/Polfoto/Ed Oudenaarden/Pool/Benelux Press