The Royal Verdict

Whilst pretty much everyone in the world agreed that the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton look perfect on her wedding day, there were nearly 2000 guests at her wedding, not including those is surrounding areas and watching via a television link, and some of these guest deserve to be mentioned almost as much as the bride herself.

First of all, lady of the moment, Phillippa ‘Pippa’ Middleton.  Maid of honour Pippa looked almost as stunning as her big sister, in a dress by the same designer as that of the wedding dress – Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen – Ivory with a cowl neckline and matching back button detail a lace trims.

 Within minutes of her appearance, pictures of her bum even began trending on Twitter, leading her to be described as ‘a style icon is born’ and ‘your royal hotness’ by fashion journalists.  Katie Grand, editor in chief of Love magazine even declared that ‘Pippa gets figure of the day, and one day her bum will be declared eighth wonder of the world’.

Next up is another one we were all excited to see – Victoria Beckham.  Whilst she was slightly criticized for wearing a dress from her own collection, she looked nothing if not elegant.  The design was a boat necked navy dress with an asymmetric hem, worn with a Philip Treacy pillbox hat and customised Louboutin heels.  Whilst the outfit may have been more suited to a funeral than the royal wedding, Victoria certainly looked beautiful, with her sleek pony tail, a covered bump.

Samantha Cameron shocked viewers and critics alike by turning up without a hat.  She wore a simple green shift b Burberry London and three carefully placed jewels in her hair (Erdem none the less).  She also chose to wear shoes from the high street store Aldo (Samella heels £50)

Charlene Wittstock (fiancée to the Prince of Monaco) and Spain’s Princess Letizia showed themselves to be a pair who really understood what it took to look the part for a royal wedding.   Princess Letizia wore a pink chiffon dress by Spanish designer Felipe Varela and Charlene Wittstock wore Akris, both stood out for their perfect grooming and understated style.

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, or for those of you who didn’t know, Mrs Nick Clegg, bought a touch of old school glamour to the wedding.  With an outfit that appeared to be inspired by a mix of Dita Von Teese and Joan Collins Miriam wore a polka dot dress and matching turban.

Chelsy Davy.  Where to begin?  Going to the wedding of what could have been your potential brother in law, looking like you have just stepped out of Primark in Essex is just not a good look.  Alberta Ferreti or not, the turquoise outfit and orange skin looked terrible.

The ‘what were you thinking outfit’ goes to Tara Palmer Tomlinson.  From reading coverage of the wedding I’ve learnt that the hat she wore was supposedly ‘a diversion tactic’ to take attention away from her nose.  I’m not going to lie, before seeing this outfit I had no idea that anything was wrong with her nose.  So the outfit did exactly the opposite of its intention.  Whilst her Deborah Milner dress and Phillip Treacy hat are both fabulous creations, together it just looks wrong.  She may as well have worn a sign telling the world to look at her nose.

And no blog post about the outfits at the Royal Wedding would be complete without a mention for The Queen.  Her Majesty wore an Angela Kelly creation.  Whilst the single crepe wool dress may have drawn comparisons to Jim Carey’s portrayal of The Mask, the hand sewn beading in the shape of sun rays around the neckline and the yellow shade of the outfit certainly did add a bit of sunshine to the proceedings.  And let’s face it, for a woman of nearly 90 years of age, she didn’t look half bad!

Finally, a special mention for Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, who if we are being realistic after all his hard work in the prelude is now more likely to resemble Johnny Depp's character of the Mad Hatter.  He designed 36 of the hats worn at the Royal wedding, from the Beckham's to Lady Sophie Windsor.  Whilst the man in question is no doubt going to be taking a very long holiday after all his hard work, it seems only fair to admire some of his hard work.

All Hail McQueen Kate

Ok, so firstly, I realise this post is almost a month late, I’ve recently moved house so have only just had access to the internet.  I hope you enjoy the post all the same.

29^th April 2011, 10.51 am – the moment the whole world had been waiting for since the couple announced their engagement on November 16^th 2010 – Catherine Middleton, is helped into the Rolls Royce Phantom  (the same car which carried Charles and Camilla during the student riots of 2010) by her father Michael Middleton, and the world gets the very first glimpse of ‘the most famous dress in the world’, although the designer has not yet been named, the details of the dress that can be seen are scrutinised by fashion experts and amateurs alike, from the lace shoulder detail, long sleeves, diamond tiara and scalloped v-neck.

Ten minutes later the soon to be Duchess of Cambridge arrives at Westminster Abbey and steps out of the Rolls Royce, with the aid of younger sister Phillippa and the full view of THAT dress is available for all to see.  Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen is announced to be the designer of the dress, more than living up to the fashion houses reputation as the best of British.  It truly was a fashion moment for England to be proud of, with full skirt of heavy zibeline, handcut individual flowers worked into the ivory silk tulle and a train measuring 2m 70cm (9 ft), this dress was nothing short of perfect.

Kate opted for the diamond encrusted Cartier Halo tiara, borrowed from the Queen which she received for her 18^th birthday in 1936, surprising royal pundits and fashion experts alike.  Jewellery expert Vivienne Becker exclusively told Grazia magazine that the tiara has a tradition of being worn by young royals, for instance Princess Margaret wore it a lot in the 1960’s and Princess Anne in the 1970’s’ describing it as a young, decorative and low key choice.

Kate’s bouquet was created by royal florist Shane Connolly and consisted of flowers which all represented something of significance.  There was Hyacinth which represented a constancy of love, Ivy to represent fidelity, Sweet William for gallantry, Lily of the Valley for happiness and finally Myrtle to represent happiness.

Kate followed in the footsteps of the Queen Mother who in 1923 left her flowers on the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Warrior’( the tomb of an unknown soldier from world war one which to this day represents Britain’s war loss) as opposed to throwing them at a group of giggling royal females. 

With Catherine’s dress, tiara and bouquet aside, there was one more accessory that made her look simply perfect – her smile.  What began as a nervous smile in the ride with her Dad, grew into an enormous beam by the time she reached her Price at the altar.

For many, April 29^th 2011 will go down as the most memorable and romantic day in decades, for others it will be remembered as the day triumph can from the tragedy that was Lee McQueens death, but for Catherine it will simply be the day she married her one true love.