I like Caroline’s gown because 1) it’s not black, 2) I like the jewel colors, they make a great contrast to Charlene’s solid ruby or jewel color, 3) the look of the dress reminds me of the Riviera in the sixties and seventies when bold colors and prints were popular and evening dresses could take on a touch of the exotic and daring. It is a gown that should shimmer in the evening lights, either in a ballroom or by the swimming-pool. Granted Caroline should probably have left it to wear at the next Circus festival, or a less formal occasion. But if she is going to be experimental, better this African designer than one of Lagerfeld’s hallucinations in black, as in that supposedly Spanish theme a few years ago, where Caroline was dressed in black lacy rags stitched together as I recall. She looked like a witch but because it’s Princess Caroline, “only she could pull it off”. There was nothing to pull off. This refrain is back now and is inane. Italian ladies of a certain aristocratic heritage could pull it off, not because they are Italian or aristocratic but because they are Mediterranean with a more experimental tradition and flair than their counterparts in Spain or France. Lagerfeld will never understand the Riviera feel and Caroline does well to choose another style, which befits her dark hair and Italian face better. In fact she reminds me of Olimpia de Rotschild nee Aldobrandini when she was young. Granted also, Caroline may be a bit old to wear it, but her figure is great and it’s covered from head to foot. And myabe she's thinking "When I am old I shall wear purple" for those of you familiar with that book. Also, thank God, she doesn’t have to contain fake balloons which make it so hard to dress. (...) So, can’t a fifty-four year old woman wear a playful, colorful motif in August in Monaco especially when the crown jewel is now Charlene? And of course the blue in the dress sets off the now delicate blue of her eyes. I don’t rave often about Caroline’s style anymore (her wedding choices were so blah, one too old, one too young, I wouldn’t have known what to say), but for me this was a winner. The mood of the gown reminds me of her second Red Cross Ball in 1974 when she was 17. Back in those days, children attended too. What a loss for the image of Monaco. But it might have been to let the newly-minted Princess Charlene be in the spotlight.
I laugh because this was my reaction, word for word. I want to like it but I can not even. Just impossible .
iloveroyals: great post!
