Best Royal Brides & Wedding Dresses

[CRIS]

Best:
Princess Letizia
Infanta Cristina

Worst:
Princess Mary

 

[Fashionista100]

My favorite wedding dresses:
Mette Marit of Norway
Maxima of Netherlands
Claire of Belgium
Diana of England (it was the 80's and the dress, but now looks out of date)
Victoria Lockwood (marriage to Earl Spencer, it was very different)
Sarah, Dutchess of York (she looked great)
Princess Margaret of Britian
Serena Stanthorpe (married Vicount lindley)
Marie Chantal
Camilla of Calabria
Theresa of Austria, I hope I got her name right. She had the winter wedding in the 90's I believe.

Worst
Mabel of the Netherlands
Letizia of Spain
Mary of Denmark ( I am a big fan of her, but the dress was a major dissapointment)
Martha Louise of Norway
Alexandra of Denmark
Emanuel of Italy's French bride. I can't remember her name at the moment
Angela Brown

I'm sure there are more on both sides. But it's early in the am for me and I can't remember everything.!

 

[Lady Jennifer]

Best
1. Lady Sarah Chatto
2. Infanta Cristina
3. Princess Mette-Marit
4. Princess Claire

Worst
1. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
2. Countess of Wessex
3. Mabel of the Netherlands
4. CP Mary of Denmark

 

[princess olga]

ooh, I just LOVE this topic!!

1. allright, to me, the ULTIMATE wedding dress perhaps of all time, was

PRINCESS GRACE'S.

Even now, it seems nothing compared to that dress.

My runners-up favorites:

2. QUEEN SILVIA OF SWEDEN. Loved the simplicity of the dress which beautifully set off her gorgeous veil.
3. pRINCESS ANNE OF UK. What's interesting is that MAXIMA'S dress looks like kindof a copy of that dress..hmmm..
4. qUEEN ZITA OF AUSTRIA (ok, or was it Italy?) This is/was a turn-of-last-century bride, I once came across a picture, totally gorgeous!!


Worst:
1. Princess Diana's. I love Diana, but that dress..cheesy. Even then. Of course, it spawned much of the poofy fashion for the cheesy '80s, LOL!
2. Fergie's: a weak copy of Diana's overdone dress.
3. Letizia's. The dress was ok actually, but it looked too much like one of Letizia's business jackets that was tied to a long skirt! Plus, she seemed to drown in the thing, one could hardly see her. Disappointing, yes.
4. Mary's. Weirdly farmergirl-ish. She did wear it well, though, she has a great figure, could pull off worse clothes.

And last, I have to come to Mabel's defense a bit: I thought her choice was pretty brave, she had guts to show up with such an onorthodox design! And the dress in itself was actually very pretty, but those bows were a bit too much for some people, which I can understand.

 

[Lady Jennifer]

I forgot to add Lady DavinaLewis (Windsor). I liked her dress. Also July 31 is her wedding anniv.

 

[Scott]

ooh, I just LOVE this topic!!

And last, I have to come to Mabel's defense a bit: I thought her choice was pretty brave, she had guts to show up with such an onorthodox design! And the dress in itself was actually very pretty, but those bows were a bit too much for some people, which I can understand.[/QUOTE]



I actually liked Mabel's dress except for the train. If it had been "bowless" it would IMO have been OK.

Scott

 

[Elsa M.]

Best:
1. Infanta Cristina of Spain (absolutely regal; the gown, veil and tiara were of a timeless beauty and elegance);
2. Clare of Belgium (although this one is a bit more reckoned - so, I'm not sure if it will be considered a classic in, say, 50 or 80 years - the dress was very charming and the veil is far the most beautiful I've ever seen);
3. Princess Letizia of Spain (another timeless classic; actually, a queen's dress, no matter how many years pass);
4. Archduchess Catharina of Austria (I absolutely loved the fur details on the sleeves and the clean cut of the ensemble, although I'm not that fan of the strappless dress down the coat).

Worst:
1. Mabel Wisse Smith (really too many bows…);
2. Princess Mary of Denmark (it's a very dated dress; the skirt was too odd and wrinkled);
3. all the gowns from the 80's.

 

[carlota]

Best:
1. Infanta Cristina of Spain (absolutely regal; the gown, veil and tiara were of a timeless beauty and elegance);
2. Clare of Belgium (although this one is a bit more reckoned - so, I'm not sure if it will be considered a classic in, say, 50 or 80 years - the dress was very charming and the veil is far the most beautiful I've ever seen);
3. Princess Letizia of Spain (another timeless classic; actually, a queen's dress, no matter how many years pass).

Worst:
1. Mabel Wisse Smith (really too many bows…);
2. Princess Mary of Denmark (it's a very dated dress; the skirt was too odd and wrinkled)

i agree with elsa. cristina and claire looked beautiful with those similar necklines althought i prefer cristina's more. about letizia it wasn't my all time favourite but it was a nice gown, the brodery and details were stunning.

i agree on the worst ones as well. mabel's was absolutely awful in my opinion. not regal or royal at all. about mary's, the top part was nice but the skirt looked really strange. didn't like the hairdo either.

i will add i the best ones: princess margaret rose, queen margrethe of denmark (my very favourite one!), princess maxima's valentino design, mette marit of norway (although i didn't like it at first as i thought it was quite disapointing for a crown princess, i like it even more day by day... a stunning train...), the princess royal anne, viscountess linley.

also, not my favourite one, but i admire the fact that she herself did it: sonja of norway's dress.

and in the worst ones: i absolutely admire rania's style but didn't like her wedding dress at all. it may have been nice at the moment but not any more- it now looks tacky. diana's isn't my cup of tea either: too fairytale-ish, the same problem as rania: not classy, may have looked good at that time but not now anymore, unlike for example queen margrethe's.

 

[Elsa M.]

and in the worst ones: i absolutely admire rania's style but didn't like her wedding dress at all. it may have been nice at the moment but not any more- it now looks tacky.

Yeah, I forgot that one... and I didn't like her hairdo either...

 

[Noelle9982]

Best:
1. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
2. Princess Grace of Monaco
3. Princess Claire

Worst:
1. Crown Princess Leticia...she looked beautiful but her whole look was kind of dissapointing. I felt like her dress didn't fit her quite right.

I think it must be so difficult to be a royal bride. I got married last year and I know how hard it was for me to choose my gown, everyone had an opinion! So I can hardly imagine how I'd feel if I were a royal bride with certain rules I needed to follow and thousands of years of history riding on my wedding day!

Noelle

 

[LaMinka]

also, not my favourite one, but i admire the fact that she herself did it: sonja of norway's dress

Maximas dress i think look a little like Sonjas dress. Did Sonja made the dress? Or she just design it?

 

[LaMinka]

I like:
1.Princess Mette-Marit
2.Princess Grace
3.Lady Sarah Chatto
4.Queen Sonja
5.Princess Maxima
6.Princess Martha-Louise

I dont like:
1.Princess Mary
2.Princess Mabel
3.Princess Diana
4.Princess Letizia
5.Duchess of York
6.Princess Alexandra (Denmak)

 

[jonatanka]

Best:
1. Letizia - very elegant and stylish, but I think-not very confortable :-(
2. M-M - simply, but elegant
3. Maxima

Worst:
1. Mary - in my opinion - it was something terrible
2. Diana - but in 1981, people think, that her wedding dress is beautiful
3. Camilla - her hat ( was it hat??? ) was terrible

 

[runaway princess]

Was it a hat?

It was actually feathers on top of her head....when I first saw it I thought it was palm leaves...wierd fashion sense

 

[Coralie]

-Grace Kelly
-Crown Princess Máxima
-Princess Martha Louise
-Crown Princess Mette-Marit
-Princess Laurentien
and (for this moment) last but not least; I absolutely adooored Lady Sarah's dress!


I didn't like Princess Mabels dress; expected much more of dress made by Victor&Rolf

 

[Little_star]

Best:

-Letizia
-Princess Grace,
-Camilla
-Rym Brahimi
-Cristina
-Mette-Marit

Worst:

-Diana
-Marie-Chantal
-Rania

 

[Roshanah]

Yeah, I forgot that one... and I didn't like her hairdo either...

QR (then PR) Both her Wedding dress and Hais styles were beautiful and carefully selected. However I have to admit that my favourite part was mostly the way in way her hair was arranged. It was inspired by Native-Brazillian hair designs. Her Wedding dress indeed was beautiful, It wasn't to my liking.

 

[princess olga]

ok people, I need to adjust my list of favorite royal brides a little bit if that's ok...

after reading all your comments, I have to agree on Claire of Belgium and Infanta Christina of Spain: gorgeous gorgeous dresses, absolute classics!

And one more thing:
one of the brides on my 'favorite' list was Silvia...but I've come to change my mind a bit about that after looking at some pictures. The dress didn't really do much for her, htat's absolutely true. I liked her because she radiated such happiness and I still like her veil very much.

So here's my adjusted list for 'most favorite brides':

1. Grace
2. Princess Anne in 1973. Why is she on no one else's list? Her dress was gorgeous that day.
3. Christina/Claire
4. Queen/Empress Zita of Austria. I don't have a picture ready, and I believe she married around 1905, but I remember reading an article about her once that was accompanied by a picture of her as a bride, and it just took my breath away, such a beautiful turn-of-last-century bride!

 

[ladybelline]

Queen/Empress Zita of Austria. I don't have a picture ready, and I believe she married around 1905, but I remember reading an article about her once that was accompanied by a picture of her as a bride, and it just took my breath away, such a beautiful turn-of-last-century bride!

Is it the dress you're reffering to, princess olga? Just found it on worldroots.com...

http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs9/karlaustria1887-10.jpg


My choices are :

1: Princess Martha Louise of Norway. I loved it as soon as I discovered it!!The tiara and veil were perfectly placed IMO, the A-line silhouette of the gown was gorgeous, and I loved the ending of the train in a gothic curb.

2. Mathilde of Belgium. Beautiful gown, wonderful lace veil and tiara.

3. Sophie of Wessex. Because it was both simple and elegant, with discrete embroidery, like a medieval princess.And her veil was so light, very romantic..

 

[selminha]

Best:
1- Crown Princess Mathilde of Belguim
2- Crown Princess Mary of Denamark
3- Crown Princess Letizia of Spain.

 

[LaMinka]

Of a older bride is Princess Grace and Queen Sonja my favorites! Sonja did design her wedding dress herself (Ordinary school and vocational training in dressmaking and tailoring, then diploma from Ecole Professionelle des Jeunes Filles in Lausanne, Switzerland) and Grace was just... perfect!

Of a younger bride is Mette-Marit and Maxima my favorites!

 

[Little_star]

Princess Grace and Queen Margethe both looked lovely on their wedding.

I also really liked Princess Letizia, Princess Rym, Farah Daghestanis' dress and Princess Alexandra of Denmark; her dress was quite big but she ust radiated happiness.

And a special Camilla who looked lovely Unlike most Royal brides she didn't have youth or beauty on her side and still managed to look elegant, graceful and stylish.

 

[carlota]

fabiola also looked so princessy...

i think camilla's choice was a really good one. the colour was perfect for a second wedding and the dress was marvellous.

 

[princess olga]

wonderful wonderful topic, even though as a 'commoner', 'in real life' I would rather favor simple Carolyn Bessette dresses I think.

But..if I were to wed royalty...and would go for tradition..here are the brides I would try to emulate, because of their amazing looks/outfits:

'old' bride:
*GRACE KELLY.

Hands down. THe best traditional bride of the 20th century.
Runners up are Fabiola and all three Danish brides, plus princess Irene of the Neth.

Modern brides are more difficult, because so many of them looked sooo stunning. But if I really really had to choose, it would be:

*CLAIRE OF BELGIUM.

First choice: Claire. Second choice: Claire. Third: why'd you have to guess? Clair e o f course. Why? Because when I first saw a picture of her as a bride, my very first thoughts were: "Now THIS is bridal perfection."

Couple of thoughts:

a lot of turn-of-the-20th-century brides were even more amazing than the modern ones, maybe we could make a separate thread for them. Just from the top of my head,
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Zita of Austria
Astrid of Belgium
and on and on.

Also, I'd love a thread just about bridal VEILS. What d you all think? As far as veils go, my favorites are:
Maxima
Silvia
Sophie Wessex (yes take a look at the ethereal quality of the thing, just amazing!)

 

[princess olga]

Thanks, ladybelline, but that picture is I think actually from their coronation perhaps or some other occasion.

Here is a link to a page I found with Zita's wedding picture:

http://www.geocities.com/veldes1/karl.html

you have to scroll down a bit though to see it.

 

[Marengo]

correct princess Olga, the first picture was for the picture, posing as a queen of Hungary. I have both pictures in a book about empress Zita. Such a lady, they don t make them like that anymore! The weddingicture is so nice as you can also clearly distiguish the other royals, like the old emperor, Archduchess Marie-Josepha etc.

-------

to Coralie: I recently coincidentely spoke Viktor (of Viktor and Rolf) and according to him Mabel insisted on the...uhm...extravagant..look of her skirt. They suggested something more conservative but Mabel wanted something typical V&R (which is nice). I might also add that the other clothing of V&R do not look to succesfull on her, while the clothing itself is nice on other people (f.e. that horrible top she wore duing the queesday concert at the Malieveld). Mabel looks best in classical outfits I think.

 

[Marengo]

My favorite wedding dresses:
Mette Marit of Norway
Maxima of Netherlands
Claire of Belgium
Diana of England (it was the 80's and the dress, but now looks out of date)
Victoria Lockwood (marriage to Earl Spencer, it was very different)
Sarah, Dutchess of York (she looked great)
Princess Margaret of Britian
Serena Stanthorpe (married Vicount lindley)
Marie Chantal
Camilla of Calabria
Theresa of Austria, I hope I got her name right. She had the winter wedding in the 90's I believe.

Worst
Mabel of the Netherlands
Letizia of Spain
Mary of Denmark ( I am a big fan of her, but the dress was a major dissapointment)
Martha Louise of Norway
Alexandra of Denmark
Emanuel of Italy's French bride. I can't remember her name at the moment
Angela Brown

I'm sure there are more on both sides. But it's early in the am for me and I can't remember everything.!

the hasburg winter wedding was Archduke Karl to Baroness Fransesca von Thyssen. She looked incredible indeed, very different from the other brides, and with all that snow & her father in a hungarian uniform etc it looked like a fairytale. I think that instead of flowers she carried a beautifull small bible in her hands.

 

[alenka]

My favorite
1. Crown princess Letizia
2. Infanta Christina
3. Crown princess Mette Marit

Worst
1. Mabel
2. Countess of Wessex
3. Martha Luise
4. Camilla

 

[mirsada]

Favorites
Princess Grace of Monaco
Princess Claire of Belgium
CP Maxima of the Netherlands
CP Mary of Demark-loved her veil

Worst
CP Marie-Chantal of Greece
Princess Kalina of Bulgaria-the veil was bad
Princess Diana

 

[Gabriella]

Favorites:
Lady Sarah Chatto (My all time favorite)
Infanta Cristina (just timeless and classic.)
Crown Princess Maxima (I loved the whole ensemble - gown, veil, train, bouquet)
Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Very original and something only she could pull off. She looked very lovely. I loved it; except for the bouquet which I despise.)

Least Favorites:
Princess Mabel (those bows are the stuff nightmares are made of !)
Princess Diana (despite the pooffiness, which can be ignored as it was the 80's, it was all of the wrinkles that did it in for me.)
Princess Astrid (The shoulders on that dress are like nothing I've ever seen)
Kalina of Bulgaria (The whole thing was just awful IMO)