Crown Princess Mary's Daytime Fashion Part 1: June 2004 - June 2007

[Guess Who]

Although designer's clothes are chic but i think it's a bit odd to pay so much money for a dress and later see some1else wearing the same dress

Very true..Especially if it was a princess..I think its worth paying thousands for a dress, knowing that you would be the only one photographed in it.But I dont think its worth spending thousdans on cloths that everyonew ill be seen it and everyother day in the magazines/paper.

 

[Balqis]

Wow, really? I totally disagree. Don't get me wrong, I think Q Rania is one of the most fashionable royals around (perhaps THE most, after my own fave Mary of course... well actually they're all good), but the way she pinned that dress together totally ruinned it IMO. The material was supposed to fold gently over the chest and expose a bit of cleavage, but pinning i made it look sack-like around the top.

I'm still scratching my head.... different tastes I suppose.

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64549 http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64550

Indeed, everyone has a different point of view. That's to be expected. I think Queen Rania looked superb. Afterall she is pregnant and her dress needed to be adjusted in a certain way

 

[Balqis]

Although designer's clothes are chic but i think it's a bit odd to pay so much money for a dress and later see some1else wearing the same dress

To have an original made costs more. You have to have a dressmaker that does it for you. Or if you are in the big league, you can have Haute Couture outfits made especially for you. On the other hand a designer (who does ready-to-wear) has a line already made and it works out cheaper unless they charge a lot. Today designers know that to make it they have to have well-known people wear their brand, so they give celebrities or other well-known personalities discounts.

I don't think it's odd to have the same dress as someone else. Most people put their own original touch to the outfit and that's what seperates you from others. Also it can show off how good you are, how good your style is if someone can make the dress their own and stamp their own personality on it

 

[Balqis]

I loved this grey suit on Mary recently! Is it Hugo Boss? I liked the simplicity and the cut of it. You can notice that she has a good eye (or whoever dresses her) for tailoring. Letizia has worn a grey suit too and you can notice that hers looks like any department store buy. It's classy but doesn't have the same kind of cut, it's a bit bland compared to Mary's. But that's fine Letizia doesn't look like she cares to be known as a fashion princess. For her it's not really about the clothes

 

[kelly9480]

I seriously doubt that Mary is given Prada for free. Usually only celebrities, like actors and musicians get free clothes. Putting Mary in your collection isn't going to raise your profile because, unless they follow royalty or are Scandinavian or Australian, people don't know or care about Mary. She may be able to get some Danish or Scandinavian designers to give her free clothes, but the big name labels probably won't.

 

[Balqis]

I seriously doubt that Mary is given Prada for free. Usually only celebrities, like actors and musicians get free clothes. Putting Mary in your collection isn't going to raise your profile because, unless they follow royalty or are Scandinavian or Australian, people don't know or care about Mary. She may be able to get some Danish or Scandinavian designers to give her free clothes, but the big name labels probably won't.

You'd be suprised, Kelly. Maybe she isn't given things free but perhaps at discount prices. Has anyone heard of Lady Helen Taylor in the US? Probably not and she is Giorgio Armani's ambassador, promoting his clothes in Europe. Princess Kyril of Bulgaria (Rosario Nadal) did the same for Valentino at one stage and maybe still is. Both Queen Paola and her daughter Princess Astrid are long-time clients of Armani and he looks well after those. Miuccia Prada would be another designer that knows to court royalty is good for business. To dress a new princess brings cachet to a designer, don't under-estimate this, especially these days where images on the internet can end up everywhere.

 

[Jasl]

Very true..Especially if it was a princess..I think its worth paying thousands for a dress, knowing that you would be the only one photographed in it.But I dont think its worth spending thousdans on cloths that everyonew ill be seen it and everyother day in the magazines/paper.

It would be good to have your own personal dressmaker but I also think it costs much more to have one compared to just buying it off the rack. You can see that almost all the princesses wear ready made clothes now - Mathilde & Maxima even wear the same outfits sometimes because they both favour the same designers! Its just so much less hassle that way (and I reckon much cheaper, relatively speaking of course).

Someone also said that most people don't care about Mary so there's no point in giving her free clothes etc. Actually, I think there are a number of people, obviously in Denmark/Australia/Sweden/Norway who knows about Mary, and also countries such as Germany, perhaps even France, New Zealand, etc. who know about her. That's a lot of countries already and this will only grow. Other fashion designers spend more on bland advertising that aren't as effective, so I definitely think its possible that Mary (and the other princesses) get discounts from designers.

 

[Guess Who]

Some random pictures

 

[Jasl]

I absolutely adore this pic! This is my most favourite hairstyle on Mary. And I know that some people didn't like how Mary recycled her engagement dress so soon, but I think it was much much better the second time round. The loose hair (as opposed to that severe bun she sported at the engagement dinner) and the soft shawl were brilliant.

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66387

 

[hillary_nugent]

i think it is great that Royals recycle their clothes, almost half the world lives in poverty it would be sad to see people waste 1000s of dollars on clothes just to wear it once!!! >___<

 

[Napoleon]

I absolutely adore this pic! This is my most favourite hairstyle on Mary. And I know that some people didn't like how Mary recycled her engagement dress so soon, but I think it was much much better the second time round. The loose hair (as opposed to that severe bun she sported at the engagement dinner) and the soft shawl were brilliant.

I agree - I don't remember seeing of these photos. what function was she at? are there any more photos?

it's such a stunning colour. I think it's great to see outfits reworn in different ways.

 

[kelly9480]

Lady Helen worked for Armani as an ambassador, and therefore wore his clothes. She was a paid employee -- Mary is not. And she has since "retired" to focus on raising her youngest. That was announced in 2002 or 03. Rosario was Valentino's muse -- Mary is not. I seriously doubt she gets anything free. Prada doesn't need a crown princess 95% of the world neither knows or cares about for an advertisement. Prada has women ten times more famous wearing their clothes.

 

[Balqis]

Lady Helen worked for Armani as an ambassador, and therefore wore his clothes. She was a paid employee -- Mary is not. And she has since "retired" to focus on raising her youngest. That was announced in 2002 or 03. Rosario was Valentino's muse -- Mary is not. I seriously doubt she gets anything free. Prada doesn't need a crown princess 95% of the world neither knows or cares about for an advertisement. Prada has women ten times more famous wearing their clothes.

You misunderstood my point, Kelly. I pointed out the examples of Lady Helen and Rosario Nadal to show that designers realize the worth of associating their name with royalty (or even those on the fringes of it) and what that can bring. None of these ladies are much known outside of Europe. You made the point that Mary is not much known outside of Denmark/Australia etc. I am saying that it makes no difference. Dressing her would be worth it for any designer. You'd be suprised, especially when she truly establishes herself on the scene

 

[Guess Who]

I pointed out the examples of Lady Helen and Rosario Nadal to show that designers realize the worth of associating their name with royalty (or even those on the fringes of it) and what that can bring. None of these ladies are much known outside of Europe.

I think Lady Helen is known in Europe and in the States if Im not mistaken, she is also a very high socialist who is at all charities and parties, therefore wearing armani and going to be photographed in magazines, people are going to have an idea about the designer.
An example ill give u is that no one knew who the lebenese designer elie saab was, when QR started dressing her, we all started to hear about him and seeing his deigns everywhere, after that alot of people started wearing his designs, so the boost of elie saab mainly cam from QR.
As fro CP mary who is always in prada and in hugo boss and is always featured in magazines, i think people would want something that she wore or very similar, so my guess is that they will head to the same designer if they can afford it.

 

[Guess Who]

Does the CP have a fashion advisor or does she go shopping for her own cloths?

 

[MarieLouise]

Does the CP have a fashion advisor or does she go shopping for her own cloths?

I think I remember reading somewhere, that she has a fashion adviser. When the couple visited London, she brought her, so they could go shopping. But I'm not sure if she uses her all the time.

 

[Larzen]

An example ill give u is that no one knew who the lebenese designer elie saab was, when QR started dressing her, we all started to hear about him and seeing his deigns everywhere, after that alot of people started wearing his designs, so the boost of elie saab mainly cam from QR.
As fro CP mary who is always in prada and in hugo boss and is always featured in magazines, i think people would want something that she wore or very similar, so my guess is that they will head to the same designer if they can afford it.

I think the international break trugh for Elie Saab was when Halle Berry wore his dress when she got an Oscar atleast that was when I first saw his name all over the fashionmags and on other celebreties. I think it is also safe to say that Queen Rania is much more internatonal known than the scandinavian princesses combined and would have a stronger influence

Personally I think Mary needs to give Prada a rest and find some original clothes, preferable by danish designers (she IS danish now). There are many talented danish designers, she would get some clothes that not every hollywood starlet or soccerwife shows up in and it would for sure be cheaper....

 

[kelly9480]

Lady Helen and Rosario are known in the States. Rosario was on the cover of Town & Country.

Mary is unlikely to ever establish herself on the international fashion scene. She doesn't have the budget to do haute couture and just doesn't have "it". Even Maxima, easily the most "it" of the current crown princesses, hasn't established herself internationally. It's unlikely someone like Mary, who doesn't have the same charisma, is going to make a big splash. She may be big star to Scandinavians and Australians, but is unlikely to ever be a big star outside of Europe/Australia.

 

[Guess Who]

Personally I think Mary needs to give Prada a rest and find some original clothes, preferable by danish designers (she IS danish now). There are many talented danish designers, she would get some clothes that not every hollywood starlet or soccerwife shows up in and it would for sure be cheaper....

Mary keeps on weraing prada and its kind of boring, casue prada is boring itself.There are other designers who have nice stuff and suitable for a princess..

 

[Guess Who]

Mary is unlikely to ever establish herself on the international fashion scene. She doesn't have the budget to do haute couture and just doesn't have "it". Even Maxima, easily the most "it" of the current crown princesses, hasn't established herself internationally. It's unlikely someone like Mary, who doesn't have the same charisma, is going to make a big splash. She may be big star to Scandinavians and Australians, but is unlikely to ever be a big star outside of Europe/Australia.

Not many royales do have the budget for Haute couture but many are dressed in valentino evening gowns that are already very expensive like CP Maxima & CP Mette-marit.I do agree, mary wont be an international princess, but i think she can pull herself together and try to be one, but not with the pride she has.

 

[KSDiva]

Not many royales do have the budget for Haute couture but many are dressed in valentino evening gowns that are already very expensive like CP Maxima & CP Mette-marit.I do agree, mary wont be an international princess, but i think she can pull herself together and try to be one, but not with the pride she has.

I know the trend in Hollywood for many designers is to "dress" celebrities. In other words, the celebs don't pay for the clothes and become walking billboards for the designer. Seems like Princess Diana got slammed for doing it once, but then again, that family had more money and Charles was wisely invested also. Maybe Mary should look into it, if it's a national designer and then she sparks international interest, it's only positive for the country...

 

[kelly9480]

If she can get Danish designers for less money and promote them, that would be a good thing. But she's not going to make Prada any more famous than it already is, so she's not promoting it to anyone but the few million ppl who know or care about her (who probably already know Prada, unless they've inhabited caves for the last decade). She could make Danish design famous by wearing it, but she's sticking to international names -- thus doing nothing for Denmark.

 

[Jasl]

She could of course do that. But I think also that she has to make herself famous first. We wouldn't be talking about her clothes that much if she kept on wearing unknown Danish designers, you know what I mean? I mean there are some princesses who don't really wear clothes from well-known designers, and its like we aren't really interested. We might say "o she's so elegant, she's the most elegant princess" but this doesn't translate to us buying clothes from the designer of that ballgown. Heck, we don't even ask who designed it! We just say it looks good and leave it at that. So at the end of the day those princesses might stick to designers from their own country, but because they haven't laid the ground work yet fashion-wise, they are ultimately ineffective as fashion ambassadors. (cf Q Rania - she wears quite a lot of designer clothes, and people like Valentino (and other designers whose clothes she has worn) hail her as an "icon"... I doubt that those designers would be praising her had she stuck with middle eastern designers... not many designers want to praise "lesser known rival's" creations).

And there is also the fact that at the end of the day, most of us are also suckers for brand names (e.g. this explains why when we post pictures of clothes we want Mary to wear, we stick to well-known names). Plus a big part of us being interested in the princess' dresses is the fairytale factor, by that I mean that we wish we could have what they have. The only real diffiuclty with us accessing those lovely designer clothes from well-known edsigners is the price, whereas with small-time Danish designers, we have to go to Denmark etc.. too "impossible", too many obstacles to take into account which is a no-no when you're dreaming of yourself wearing those clothes...so we don't spend that much time hankering for it.. .

So anyway, personally I think Mary is doing it now in order to put herself on the fashion world stage. Its like when you're starting a relationship, in the beginning you really want to impress and so you wear elegant clothes and clothes that will get you noticed. But later on, when she establishes a name for herself fashion-wise (by that I mean, people from America will start knowing about the CPss and consider her a good dresser) she should start wearing more and more Danish designs. I don't doubt that she will to be honest. Mary's not thick.

 

[bad_barbarella]

Fashion... im a part time model... and i would have to say that no matter what... be yourself... stay true to the girl you have always been...

there is such a bit debate on what roaylty can wear... but think of the things they cant wear... if she loves a designers thats great... fashion is a way of expressing yourself, experimenting and finding the best reflection of who you are... regardless of what brands this princesses wear... just remember the pressure to reform to such high standards... elegance is expected...

think back to cinderella... childish i know... she had to dress and act a certain way but she forgot to stay true to herself...

we dont know she could have always loved designers... and she should have the freedom to wear whatever she wants... its a decision she gets to make...

 

[Vicomtesse]

She could of course do that. But I think also that she has to make herself famous first. We wouldn't be talking about her clothes that much if she kept on wearing unknown Danish designers, you know what I mean? I mean there are some princesses who don't really wear clothes from well-known designers, and its like we aren't really interested. We might say "o she's so elegant, she's the most elegant princess" but this doesn't translate to us buying clothes from the designer of that ballgown. Heck, we don't even ask who designed it! We just say it looks good and leave it at that. So at the end of the day those princesses might stick to designers from their own country, but because they haven't laid the ground work yet fashion-wise, they are ultimately ineffective as fashion ambassadors. (cf Q Rania - she wears quite a lot of designer clothes, and people like Valentino (and other designers whose clothes she has worn) hail her as an "icon"... I doubt that those designers would be praising her had she stuck with middle eastern designers... not many designers want to praise "lesser known rival's" creations).

And there is also the fact that at the end of the day, most of us are also suckers for brand names (e.g. this explains why when we post pictures of clothes we want Mary to wear, we stick to well-known names). Plus a big part of us being interested in the princess' dresses is the fairytale factor, by that I mean that we wish we could have what they have. The only real diffiuclty with us accessing those lovely designer clothes from well-known edsigners is the price, whereas with small-time Danish designers, we have to go to Denmark etc.. too "impossible", too many obstacles to take into account which is a no-no when you're dreaming of yourself wearing those clothes...so we don't spend that much time hankering for it.. .

So anyway, personally I think Mary is doing it now in order to put herself on the fashion world stage. Its like when you're starting a relationship, in the beginning you really want to impress and so you wear elegant clothes and clothes that will get you noticed. But later on, when she establishes a name for herself fashion-wise (by that I mean, people from America will start knowing about the CPss and consider her a good dresser) she should start wearing more and more Danish designs. I don't doubt that she will to be honest. Mary's not thick.

Maybe we would talk less about Mary's clothes and more about Mary's work if she actually worked more. That's one way to get around talking ONLY about her clothes.
That YOU can only talk about her clothes or judge her based on whether or not she's wearing well known designers doesn't mean that others can't get past that and talk about other things.
Why can't the clothes of Danish designers be as interesting as Prada or Versace or Valentino? I never heard of Natan before I read about Mathilde's style and here I see lots of discussion of Natan's clothes even though he isn't known at all in North America.
Maybe if Mary truly became as famous as Rania she could bolster clothing by Danish designers.
Nobody really knew about Narcisco Rodriguez until Caroline Bessette wore a dress from him on her wedding day. Fashion recognition has to start somewhere. So why not with the Crown Princess of Denmark to promote Danish design???
I wouldn't speak for EVERYBODY as being a sucker for brand names. Do you know me??? Do you know if I care about Louise Vuitton or Prada or Chanel or not??? Maybe YOU do but not EVERYBODY.
I won't be holding my breath for Mary to be established in America. Nobody batted an eye when Mary and Frederik got married.

 

[Jasl]

Maybe we would talk less about Mary's clothes and more about Mary's work if she actually worked more. That's one way to get around talking ONLY about her clothes.
That YOU can only talk about her clothes or judge her based on whether or not she's wearing well known designers doesn't mean that others can't get past that and talk about other things.....

I wouldn't speak for EVERYBODY as being a sucker for brand names. Do you know me??? Do you know if I care about Louise Vuitton or Prada or Chanel or not??? Maybe YOU do but not EVERYBODY.
I won't be holding my breath for Mary to be established in America. Nobody batted an eye when Mary and Frederik got married.

Sorry if I offended anyone. But this was a fashion thread so we talked about Mary's designers.

And in my post I actually said "most of us" love brand names, not "everyone". Maybe I should have put smilies because it wasn't supposed to be taken very seriously. Of course I don't really know everyone's preference, I meant it in the same way as would when I say "because we all loooove clothes" *wink*. Something like that...

 

[susan alicia]

Not many royales do have the budget for Haute couture but many are dressed in valentino evening gowns that are already very expensive like CP Maxima & CP Mette-marit.I do agree, mary wont be an international princess, but i think she can pull herself together and try to be one, but not with the pride she has.

Maxima received the evening dress she wore at the party for her wedding as a present from valentino. They did receive a bill for the wedding dress "2 for the price of1"

 

[bad_barbarella]

why should she have to wear danish designers... like i am a versace only girl and think that there is nothing wrong with being a sucker...

also why should a princess have to work... im mean stay at home hollywood wives dont...

 

[Guess Who]

also why should a princess have to work... im mean stay at home hollywood wives dont...

What do you mean why should a princess work?A princess should do things for her country and also reprsent it.You cant compare a hollywood star, because they get paid for what they do and they are called when they have to do something,but princess has to do things for the country, therefore you cant compare them and ask them to stay at home and just be a housewife.

 

[Jasl]

Well anyway, I wonder what Mary's going to wear to the New Year's Ball. The first gala event (events?) for the year so that should be interesting.

(P.s. I actually forgot about Mathilde when I wrote that thing about some princesses wearing clothes from designers from their country thing. Yes, Mathilde's an excellent abassador for Belgian fashion. CPss Mary, Mathilde and Mette Marit, those princesses are my favourites).