Princess Mary's Daytime Fashion

[hillary_nugent]

Originally Posted by Vicomtesse

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.

ooOOooOOo that's harsh *ouch* hahahaha but don't forget this is a fashion thread dedicated to Mary's fashion so of course this thread will be all about superficiality and well...her clothes ^___^

its quite easy to make another thread you know dedicated to Mary's work ^__^

[bad_barbarella]

why should mary have to work... lol

[Jasl]

Originally Posted by Vicomtesse

I won't be holding my breath for Mary to be established in America. Nobody batted an eye when Mary and Frederik got married....

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.

I have reread the posts above and just wanted to say this: please, if one must slam and rant at another person, make sure that you're quoting that person correctly. As I've pointed out above, I never said "everybody".

Thanks.

Moving right along.... well it seems that one VERY influential fashionista did bat an eye when Frederik and Mary got married (although she's not American.. she's a Brit based in Paris. But as she said, Paris is the centre of fashion)! I'm talking of course about the International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes (lol, I say "of course" even though I just learnt who she was tonight... but she's absolutely HUGE in the fashion world).

From the International Herald Tribune. Thanks to potter from the CPMaryMB!!

Commoners turned royal fight back
By Suzy Menkes
Tuesday, December 21, 2004

PARIS There they are, in all their glory: the new European princesses. The sad departure of the future Queen Diana suggested that it was all over for monarchical glamour and that the Hollywood Princesses Nicole and Gwyneth had filled the vacant slot.

But now that celebrity has become commonplace, the commoners turned royal are fighting back.

Is there anyone more regal than the future Queen of Denmark? Mary Donaldson, who is Australian, has slid effortlessly into the royal role since she met her destiny, named Fred, in a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympic Games. Their wedding last summer, when the adoring Prince Frederick shed tears of joy, was the best Danish fairy tale that Hans Christian Andersen never wrote.

The same royal crowd showed up for the Spanish wedding of the television newscaster Letizia Ortiz and Prince Felipe. This was a wet blanket event, not just because Madrid was uncharacteristically pouring rain, but because the parents glowered and the public did not rate it as a romantic match.

France and Italy came up with a joint union between the French actress Clotilde Coureau and Prince Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy (no relation to the hotel chain), who is the grandson of the last king of Italy. Clotilde was heavily pregnant when they married in September, so it was Valentino to the rescue! The court couturier to European princesses (think Marie Chantal of Greece) produced a delicately shaped dress; add a large bouquet clutched to the stomach and the wedding photos will never embarrass Vittoria Cristina Adelaide Chiara Maria, born three months later.

And if you didn't know who Suzy Menkes was, then please read the excerpt below (from The New Yorker):

A Samurai in Paris: Suzy Menkes
From The New Yorker
March 17, 2001
By John Seabrook

It was just before noon on a chilly January day in Paris when Suzy Menkes, the International Herald Tribune's influential fashion editor, bustled into the newspaper's headquarters, in the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The evening before, Menkes had filed the last of three stories on the weeklong spring/summer couture shows--stories composed in virtuoso displays of deadline brinkmanship, begun on her laptop in a front-row seat beside the catwalk, finished in the back of a cab, as she and a photographer crept through the Paris traffic, and then transmitted from the cab to the Tribune using a wireless modem, in time to appear on the streets of Tokyo and Hong Kong four hours later......

Last year, Menkes produced about two hundred and ninety thousand words for the paper. She is only the Tribune's third fashion editor in forty years, and, carrying on the tradition of her predecessors, Eugenia Sheppard and Hebe Dorsey, she offers Trib readers verbal snapshots from the world of fashion, written in a staccato and tough-talking journalese--she's a Fleet Street Diana Vreeland. There are vivid descriptions of the clothes ("a masculine pants suit in a carapace of whiskey brown pearl buttons") and piquant judgments of their effect ("If you want a pick-me-up fashion cocktail of color in a tutti-frutti print, gaudy suede Puss-in-Boots and look-at-me accessories, this show was caricatural Versace"), and the occasional devastating put-down (as when Menkes wrote, of last spring's Jil Sander show, that the below-the-knee dresses "looked like something a woman who had lost her waist would choose from a mail-order catalogue"). Her byline is closely read both by fashion insiders--Domenico De Sole, the president of the Gucci Group, says that during the collections the workday always begins with "Did you see Suzy?"--and by the general public. Menkes gives you not just the clothes but the pounding music, the celebrities and society ladies in the front row, the breasts swaying on the runway, and the gleaming bare torso of John Galliano, the Dior designer, as, "dressed for the trapeze," he wriggles and prances down the catwalk at the end of his show.......

Menkes appreciates the humor in a prim and bookish-seeming British woman, whose personal tastes run to a quiet evening at the ballet or the opera, continually finding herself in the midst of "louche" (a favorite word) backstage gatherings of celebrities, half-naked models, and assorted fashion zanies, and unable to resist the revelry. "Like a slightly mad auntie, she is," the model Kate Moss says of Menkes. "Some of these fashion people can be a bit, you know"--she turned her head to one side and looked down her nose--"funny. But Suzy's never like that. When you see her backstage, you can always just have a nice chat about shoes with her." ........

For some designers, Menkes functions as a proud but demanding mother--one who wants you to succeed, and takes it personally when you let her down. Alber Elbaz, the head designer for Lanvin, says, "When I am designing an invitation for a fashion show, I will write Suzy's name on the trial proof. If her name looks good on it, I know I can send it." The night after the show, he has trouble sleeping, waiting for her review, which he will read at 6 a.m. "When we designers do a good collection, Suzy is so happy for us, and when we do a bad one she seems almost to get angry." Several years ago, Menkes wrote that the classic Chanel bag was over, and Chanel took out a full-page ad in the Trib to rebut her. Oscar de la Renta said, "I have gotten as mad at what she has written as anyone, and while I sometimes feel that she is off in her judgments of my collections, and she hurts my feelings--very deeply--in the end I must concede that her knowledge is vast." He added, "She doesn't base her reviews on what she likes--a lot of critics can't divorce themselves from their own taste." .....

We saw a few good shows, like the Dior presentation put on by Hedi Slimane, who Menkes feels is the "buzziest" young designer of the moment. Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH (MoÎt Hennessy Louis Vuitton), which owns Dior, embraced Menkes before the show, and the two chatted amicably. After Menkes's review of John Galliano's women's ready-to-wear collection for Dior in 2001, in which she wrote, "Isn't there enough aggression in the world without models snarling at the audience?" LVMH banned her from all its shows. (The ban had been lifted by the end of the week.) When I asked Suzy about Arnault's apparent change of heart, she reminded me that "this is fashion--people like to make dramas out of things." .....

[Napoleon]

is it possible that the consistent parade of prada is just a sign of a princess who is actually not obsessed with fashion? It is a label which is very ladylike, appropriate and smart, and even if it's not danish generally does the job of making her look very presentable. Maybe her fondness for Prada is just a way to deal with the high profile aspect of her role without endless fittings and consultations and searches for new labels and outfits.

For those who are critical of the cost aspect of royal wardrobes, it is also worth noting that Prada is not in the price league of some of the french couture houses.

[bad_barbarella]

so let me get this straight... you have to look good yet you cant be obsessed with fashion... what is so wrong with that we live in the 21st century if a woman wants to explore fashion to express herself she should have the freedom to without being hounded..

[Napoleon]

Originally Posted by bad_barbarella

so let me get this straight... you have to look good yet you cant be obsessed with fashion... what is so wrong with that we live in the 21st century if a woman wants to explore fashion to express herself she should have the freedom to without being hounded..

My post was in response to earlier criticism that Mary wears prada too much. But I agree you have picked up on the impossible conundrum - look nice but not flashy, look elegant but not fashion obsessed, you should wear good labels so we can enjoy looking at the outfit but don't be too extravagant, repeat outfits to show you are responsible but not too often or too obviously. it's rather an impossible standard to meet.

[Guess Who]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

is it possible that the consistent parade of prada is just a sign of a princess who is actually not obsessed with fashion? It is a label which is very ladylike, appropriate and smart, and even if it's not danish generally does the job of making her look very presentable.

Maybe is she looked at different danish designers stuff, she would at least find something that she can wear.Other designers such as valentino, Armani, YSL are very very ladylike, very royal and simple.You dont have to obsessed with fashion to have a variety of different brands in your closet.

[MarieLouise]

I agree that Mary has worn Prada a lot (personally I don't see this as a problem), but many of the past posts makes it out as though Mary never wears nor promote danish designers, and this simply isn't true. Mary has worn danish designers such as Julie Fagerholt, Day Birger et Mikkelsen and Malene Birger at many occations.

[Jasl]

Originally Posted by Guess Who

Maybe is she looked at different danish designers stuff, she would at least find something that she can wear.Other designers such as valentino, Armani, YSL are very very ladylike, very royal and simple.You dont have to obsessed with fashion to have a variety of different brands in your closet.

She also wears Uffe Frank, Kenth Fredin (Danish - designer of the engagement dress? or wait, maybe the engagement coat, and the green Luxembourg state visit dress etc), Britt Sisseck, Henriette Zobels Pure Heart, Nina Motzfeld, Christian Louboutin, MaxMara, Hugo Boss, Philip Treacy, Julie Fagerholt, Day Birger et Mikkelsen, Malene Birger, Valentino shoes (or Channel can't remember), Sass & Bide (Australian designers), etc etc as well. I mean, my two favourite coats (the highway opening coat and the engagement coat) aren't Prada. Even my favourite dresses (the Odense Olympic rings dress and the Town Hall pre-wedding gold dress with the flying hat) weren't Prada, they were Uffe Frank creations!

[bad_barbarella]

:) its so hard to look at both sides... im so glad im not her

[sommone]

I have to say that I love Mary's hats and shoes...most of her shoes anyhow. In general, I like the way she dresses 98% of the time. She's by far one of my favorites, and I have several.

[KSDiva]

I think she's a wonderful example of what at 30-something woman can wear and still look presentable. Anyone else at that age where the young miss section of the store looks too immature but then a walk across the aisle to the 'woman's' section leaves you feeling like a frumpy old lady? And you're only in your 30s? Geez. I applaud her for hanging in there with the business formal, ladylike appropriate attire that still has some youthful kick and fun to it. So she bombs occasionally, or gets in a designer rut...I sure wish I had her clothing problems! Her job? Not so much, shaking hands and smiling does not sound like fun to me!

In an earlier post "that skirt" it looked like an India-style sari skirt. She wore it many times. Anyone know the designer? Prada, perhaps? LOL!

[Jasl]

If you're referring to the skirt she wore with the black top in London, then yes, I believe its Prada. She also bought the matching boldero-inspired jacket, but wore it to a different event (to the pre-wedding dinner hosted by the Australian ambassador).

I like how she mixes and matches and recycles her clothing. Its very rare to see her wearing the exact same outfit from head to toe... she always manages to change it just a little bit.

[Larzen]

Max Mara Jacket

[Larzen]

Missoni dress

[Larzen]

Philip Treacy Hat, thanks to Alisa

[Larzen]

1 Coat by the italian label Marni
2 Bag by Marni in the same fabrick
3 Top by Marni in similar fabrick

[sommone]

Originally Posted by Larzen

Missoni dress

I'm not really crazy about this dress.