Least Favourite Royal Wedding Dress

[Moonmaiden23]

Wow. To tell you the truth I never thought Mabel's gown was truly hideous....UNTIL I just saw that particular view from above. Now I know what the big deal is...that thing looks like big spiders or something.

AWFUL!!

 

[Nur]

My my she really is SO into bows isnt she?Her train looks ugly!

 

[suztav]

Marie Chantal --- Beautiful gown but not for her; it overwhelmed her petite figure and was way too heavy for July.

Kalina - Off-beat ... just like the bride

Serena Linley - I loved the gown but it was just too much gown for her; in addition, her hair was piled way tooo high.

Sarah Armstrong-Jones--- simply perfection

Diana- awful! Too much dress .. the wrinkles .. just dreadful.

Matilde - blah!

Laurentien - She had never looked better than she did on her wedding day. Fabulous!

Astrid --- Those sleeves? My God, they were wider than the church aisle!

Mabel --- The cut of the gown was quite elegant ... until you caught a look at all those bows and that train. It was a train wreck!

Mary - The whole looked worked on her.

Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg --- Her first wedding: too much dress and too much hair for a petite girl; Her second wedding: quite inappropriate!

Letizia- For someone who looked so elegant just the week before ... I can't begin to wonder what happened. Too much gown ... too high of a neckline on a petite girl with a very tall groom. Where were her fashion advisors? And, her hair? What was that?

Marie Terese - Well, it was the very early 80's and she was probably quite naive. After all, she still had one eyebrow. Thankfully, her taste has improved with age.

Tessy - I'm sorry but no bride -- especially one who has already given birth to a child -- should wear a strapless gown.

Francesca Habsbourg --- Loved, loved loved the whole ensemble. The coat was necessary because it was COLD. The small church where they were married was, I am sure, not heated. The dress under the coat looked beautiful --- lovely color and bead-work.

Mette Marit --- Simply perfection ... with the exception of that tiara which I really still don't like.

Martha Louise --- Her dress looked dirty. Blah!

Sophie --- Let me start with that black 'n white pearl jewelry designed by her groom. It was awful. The tiara was too heavy for such a simple veil. The gown was unexceptional.

Silvia - Simply stunning.

Grace -- of course, the most beautiful bride ever.

Autumn Kelly -- her hair and the fabulous tiara were the highlights. The gown was a bit off the rack.

 

[pamk]

The problem with Caroline of Monaco's first gown is that it made her look chubby, which she was far from. It made her look just dumpy and thick waisted. I remember waiting with baited breath to see her wedding gown-she was my style idol when I was a young girl-and I was sooo disappointed at the plain-ness of it all! She was so young and innocent looking and I suppose the gown was meant to reflect simplicity and elegance.

But except for the hemline, I found it to be a great big dud!

I think that Caroline was supposed to wear the flower circle headdress more as a wreath on top of her head, but the press got ahold of sketches of the wedding outfit just before the wedding and published them (in Women's Wear Daily). So the wreaths were changed and worn on the side of her head. She DID look like Princess Leia from "Star Wars!"
Beam me up, Scotty!

 

[kats]

Diana's dress was not the best, but she looked beautiful from the neck up.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I think that Caroline was supposed to wear the flower circle headdress more as a wreath on top of her head, but the press got ahold of sketches of the wedding outfit just before the wedding and published them (in Women's Wear Daily). So the wreaths were changed and worn on the side of her head. She DID look like Princess Leia from "Star Wars!"
Beam me up, Scotty!

Well, if that is what actually happened, what a SILLY thing to do! So what if WWD found out you were wearing a wreath...hello? Is it worth changing the whole thing so that you look like movie character from a sci-fi fantasy??

Caroline's saving grace on her wedding day was that she was the most beautiful Princess in Europe at that time. Her radiant face was bound to upstage any bridal fashion faux-pas.

Same thing with Lady Diana Spencer three years later...she was just so breathtaking lovely that it didn't matter that her gown was such a letdown(to me anyway)

 

[Lilla]

Diana's dress was not the best, but she looked beautiful from the neck up.

At the time - in the 80th - I found her weddinggown absolutly wonderfull. But it was fasion then. Today it is different. Her gown is just to much. Who knows - in 10 to 20 years it peerhaps will be back in fasion again.

 

[Duchess]

Serena Linley - I loved the gown and that it was similar to Margaret's. yes the hair was was too high.

Sarah Armstrong-Jones - absolutely my favorite royal gown. less is more and the dresses on the bridal party was perfect.

Diana- although looking back i don't like it, at the time it was the perfect fairy tale dress. wish she'd done something with her hair.

Sophie - thought she looked stunning, my second favorite royal gown, again less is more.

Grace - lovely for the era...she looked fabulous

Autumn Kelly - loved her gown but the bridal party were a disaster.

 

[MARG]

At the time - in the 80th - I found her weddinggown absolutly wonderfull. But it was fasion then. Today it is different. Her gown is just to much. Who knows - in 10 to 20 years it peerhaps will be back in fasion again.

The dress was larger than life! The sketches were good, and I am guessing the fittings looked great, very 80's, but great. What nobody had allowed for was squashing that whole merangue thingee into a coach and having it explode out on the church steps looking like a wrinkled wreck.

The veil looked good as did the tiara but, the hair was a disaster and the whole effect made her look overwhelmed.

 

[Nitefeatherz]

This topic is so negative- why focus on how bad someone looks on a day that should focus on the happiness of the couple in question? It's their wedding day and its supposed to be a happy occasion not a fashion show for the paparazzi. Wish the happy couples the best of luck and move on. 0-o

 

[Moonmaiden23]

This topic is so negative- why focus on how bad someone looks on a day that should focus on the happiness of the couple in question? It's their wedding day and its supposed to be a happy occasion not a fashion show for the paparazzi. Wish the happy couples the best of luck and move on. 0-o

Everything you say is true, however there are MANY threads that exist devoted to extolling and praising the Royals and the wedding fashions. This is a thread where we are discussing gowns and fashions we didn't necessarily like. It's why the Forums exist...and it's not like it's harming the Royals or anyone else.

I am not sure I see what the problem is.

 

[sneeuwklokje]

That's exactly right. I for one, don't like Maxima's weddinggown for one bit. Okay, the veil and tiara are marvelous, but the dress itself?? It's like a Nun's habit, very unlike Maxima and, dare I say, very Beatrix.

 

[James in London]

I enjoyed reading some of this, so might revive it...

Worst one for me has to be Marie Chantal's - it was so stiff and formal, and her hair so lacquered into a helmet, it was not nice at all, and gave no indication of the beautiful girl underneath.

Controversial perhaps, but I wasn't keen on Maxima's... Also - it was very stiff, and as if she was thinking 'I'm marrying a future King, I need to dress the part'. Not her at all. Her hair had also been beaten into sad submission. (Wonderful new tiara though).

And sadly Silvia - It was like a dressing gown, and whenever she raised her arm, the hem rose - considering it was Dior, it wasn't well made. Loved the veil with the cameos though. Actually, Silvia's and Maxima's were rather similar in their way...

I think the best brides are the ones whose personality shines through: Mette Marit, Beatrix, Margrethe - these are still big occasion dresses, but the women aren't being worn by them.

 

[iowabelle]

I'm not sure if it's been nominated before, but Astrid of Belgium's wedding dress is a horror. Although she's a lovely lady still, the dress was much worse than her contemporary's, Diana's. This dress boasted even puffier sleeves.

And oddly enough the bride wore big lilies in her hair, not one of the very nice Belgian tiaras, not sure how I feel about that.

Princess Paola's "hat" is also horrible. This poor mother of the bride looks like she's wearing a matching sweatband like a tennis player.

Even the guests look awful. Maybe Princess Astrid laughs now when she sees the photos of this example of 1980s excess.

 

[mrswhitham]

Do you know where a picture of it is? Thanks!

 

[Dierna23]

For me the worst dress is Mabel's. Completely tasteless IMO.

 

[Patra]

I have one thing to say to Mabel, "Put your hands up in the air where we can see them and slooooooowly back away from the bows"! Bows are best reserved for babies..........

 

[iowabelle]

Do you know where a picture of it is? Thanks!

For the entire ugliness please go to www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f31/p...chduke-lorenz-of-austria-este-1984-a-775.html. It's in the wedding section and is labelled Princess Astrid of Belgium and Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este.

And the sad thing is, I think Astrid is quite lovely and her mother, Paola, was a very youthful-looking mother of the bride. I think Queen Paola now shows the effects of too much sun, she used to resemble Grace Kelly when she was younger.

 

[MARG]

Controversial perhaps, but I wasn't keen on Maxima's... Also - it was very stiff, and as if she was thinking 'I'm marrying a future King, I need to dress the part'. Not her at all. Her hair had also been beaten into sad submission. (Wonderful new tiara though).

I think the best brides are the ones whose personality shines through: Mette Marit, Beatrix, Margrethe - these are still big occasion dresses, but the women aren't being worn by them.

I have an idea that the "little grey people of the palace" had their first and last input into anything Maxima wears!

 

[Skippy]

Princess Grace of Monaco and Princess Mette-Marit of Norway - both dresses looked way too simple for me.
Grace's dress was too stiff and Mette-Marit's too plain, I don't see anything special about it. And I don't like how Mette-Marit's tiara was at the front of her head and her veil totally at the back - it didn't match at all! I was so hugely disappointed when I saw M-M.

Then again, I dislike most brides these days. They almost all wear strapless and sleeveless gowns with hair like they just came out of bed and a bouquet like a leek. Where has style gone????

 

[Lighthouse]

The train on Princess Diana's wedding dress was ostentatious.

 

[MelinaB.]

Queen Rania's wedding dress was the worst I have seen among the royal ladies.
Such a pity, she's a stunningly beautiful woman.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

For the entire ugliness please go to www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f31/princess-astrid-of-belgium-and-archduke-lorenz-of-austria-este-1984-a-775.html. It's in the wedding section and is labelled Princess Astrid of Belgium and Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este.

And the sad thing is, I think Astrid is quite lovely and her mother, Paola, was a very youthful-looking mother of the bride. I think Queen Paola now shows the effects of too much sun, she used to resemble Grace Kelly when she was younger.

I thought I was the only one who noticed Queen Paola's passing resemblance to the late Princess of Monaco when both were young women. The effects of Paola's sun worshipping, smoking and late night party life style is now reflected in her face and complexion, but she is still a very attractive woman with a natural dignity. I wonder how Princess Grace would have looked in old age? Ah well...

And despite the fact that I think her gown made her look dumpy, Paola's face on her wedding day was the face of an angelic Venus-just so lovely.

 

[IloveCP]

Queen Raina looked like she was going to a costume party.

Mette Marits tiara was too small for me and I wish she wore a little bit of makeup but not too much.But I loved her dress.

Princess Marie was too tanned.

Princess Marys hair was too big,tiara was too small,and her dress was wrinkled at the bottom.

 

[Cinquefoil]

Here's my two cents.....
Princess Mabel...I mean ReAlLy?! It's almost like she allowed the designers & whomever else (if there was anyone else) who was consulting her, make a mockery out of her on such a special day. After such careful consideration, I agree with others that have said that the gown woud have looked SO much better and maybe even perhaps pretty without those doggone bows.

Queen Rania...it was just too busy, not the right fit or cut for her at all.

Princess Tatiana...looks off-the-rack and sorry to say but something about the entire wedding (inc bridesmaids) was just a bit, dare I say slutty

As for Queen Silvia & Princess Laurentien, overall the gowns seemed to be well made but ill-fitting to them both.

Astrid of Belgium, too much unnecessary sleeve indeed!

 

[Katrianna]

Well, Princess Astrid of Belgium was married in the 80's, a decade of obscenely awful styles. She wasn't the only Royal bride with the hideous large sleeves, Diana's were just as bad. Diana's dress was so wrinkled, it was a nightmare.

 

[auntie]

Oh well you are all a criticizing bunch, most of the brides mentioned above looked really nice, a mistake or 2 isn't uncommon in any brides, as long as the overall look is good, it deosn't really matter if the bride's dress was wrinkled at the bottom, or she had a tad too much or too little makeup!

 

[Skippy]

Well, Princess Astrid of Belgium was married in the 80's, a decade of obscenely awful styles. She wasn't the only Royal bride with the hideous large sleeves, Diana's were just as bad. Diana's dress was so wrinkled, it was a nightmare.

Diana's dress was only wrinkled when she came out of the carriage, inside St. Paul's Cathedral the wrinkles were gone.

 

[Cinquefoil]

Oh well you are all a criticizing bunch, most of the brides mentioned above looked really nice, a mistake or 2 isn't uncommon in any brides, as long as the overall look is good, it deosn't really matter if the bride's dress was wrinkled at the bottom, or she had a tad too much or too little makeup!

Not really criticizing, just saying.....I LOVE brides & weddings and the best ones are always the ones where the couple themselves are truthfully happy

I think perhaps it's just that "regular folks" like myself have the foolish notion that a Royal Bride with access to money & virtually any designer would look the absolute best they could.

 

[Queen Penelope]

Totally agree!! However, for me Mary's hair and tiara didn't bug me as much the heavy, flat pleating on the dress!!. Made it look rather unkempt.

I feel Marie wouldn't be Marie without a tan!!...but it wouldn't have hurt to miss a session or 5 at the tanning salon!!!

Love them both though!!