Royal brides who didn't look good on their special day!

[MARG]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

I see quite a lot of critics on the wedding dress worn by HRH Princess Mabel, Countess van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg.

And this was a surprise?

Originally Posted by Henri M.

But technically seen, it was a true masterpiece by the couturiers Viktor & Rolf, who had a hell of a job to make a fitting bodice with all these bows excactly sewed on the trimmings and without one single seam to be seen.

But isn't that what tailors dummies or manniquins are for!

Originally Posted by Henri M.

The Royal House stated that the wedding dress took more than 600 hours to create. There were 248 handmade bows which covered the points where the checkered pattern of the dress met. The dress was made of satin duchesse lyonnais and the bows from silk georgette.

To borrow from the question "It's good, but is it art?" One has to wonder who decided it wasn't a bridal gown after all but a masterpiece?

Originally Posted by Henri M.

If this gown was meant as a proof of craftmanship, then the couturiers passed with flying colours!

So let them take out an advertisement like everyone else. This was a wedding not an avante garde fashion show.

Originally Posted by Henri M.

But indeed, it is a most remarkable dress, but I think that in the endless row of white 'dream-brides' at least Princess Mabel managed it to be noticed.

No indeed, 'dream-bride is not the first word that springs to mind.

[Henri M.]

How many brides would have dared it to break so with any convention? And that during a princely marriage, aired live on television in various countries?

It was a true mastierpiece of art, it marked the bride's personality and when the train was removed the Princess looked like a most stylish 1960's bride. I have nearly forgotten most gowns. Except this one.
:)

[Larzen]

I agree, the dress was true couture, certainly better tailored and cut than many recent royal weddingdresses. Maybe not to everyones taste, but one cannot complain about the quality and craftmanship. If she had not had the bows on the train I would have liked it alot but the giant bows was overkill, the short veil was cute I thought (well a long veil would have covered all those bows:p ) the tiara was really ugly no matter the quality of the diamonds though, it looked like antlers.

I like when brides dare to be different and dont go right in the predictable "Satin and lace Princess dress" trap. I love Laura Pontes dress (Pretty alone about likeing that one it seems) so differnet, so personal and so I-dont-care-if-the-whole-royal-family-is-comming-to-my-wedding-I-will-wear-what-I-like, and the upside down tiara was just perfect for her.

I much rather see a personal dress like Laura than those IMO, ghastly Valentino creations of Clotilde and Marie Chantal (MC dress is certainly couture as well but she looked like a cream cake in it) and poor Princess Anette, she has the prettiest and sweetest face int he whole dutch royal family but that dress did her no favours what so ever. It looked like it was made of the same material as Dianas dress, because it was all wrinkled and crunched.

[juliana]

I too thought Mabel's dress quite lovely - but the overpowering bow thing on the train was rather strange- why not reverse the bows starting with the big bow at the top of the train and then gradually getting smaller like the dress. It was original though and the veil and bouquet were very nice too

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

How many brides would have dared it to break so with any convention? And that during a princely marriage, aired live on television in various countries?

It was a true mastierpiece of art, it marked the bride's personality and when the train was removed the Princess looked like a most stylish 1960's bride. I have nearly forgotten most gowns. Except this one.
:)

Well, the train wasn´t removed and all the craftmanship in the world can not make up for those horrible big bows on the train. BTW, Viktor and Rolf werent to pleased with the end result either, but Mabel wanted to keep it as it was...

Not everybody with a marked personallity has to wear such extravagant clothing. Martha-Louise found a nice middle way I think. And daring to break conventions just for the sake of it isn´t very healthy either.

How are the bows in line with the princess character? Maybe after each bow we unwrap we find another piece of surprising information on her?

Is she an HRH btw? Or just an HH (HRH would be insulting to Princesses Marilene and Annette IMO, who married WITH approval of the goverment and without loss of succession rights).

Originally Posted by Larzen

I agree, the dress was true couture, certainly better tailored and cut than many recent royal weddingdresses. Maybe not to everyones taste, but one cannot complain about the quality and craftmanship. If she had not had the bows on the train I would have liked it alot but the giant bows was overkill, the short veil was cute I thought (well a long veil would have covered all those bows:p ) the tiara was really ugly no matter the quality of the diamonds though.

The tiara was ugly on Mabel IMO, Maxima has worn it twice and it looked quite nice on her , I thought.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Is she an HRH btw? Or just an HH (HRH would be insulting to Princesses Marilene and Annette IMO, who married WITH approval of the goverment and without loss of succession rights).

The HRH and the HH have nothing to do with marrying with or without approval.

A hereditary successor who wants to remain in line of succession, must marry with an Act of Consent.
This must be requested by them to the Government, which will offer and defend such a Bill to the joint assembly of the First and Second Chamber of the States-General. By not doing so, Princess Irene, Princess Christina, Prince Friso, Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Prince Floris have lost their places in the line of hereditary succession.

Princess Irene, Princess Christina and Prince Friso are HRH by birth, being the child of a (future) Sovereign.

Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Prince Floris are a HH by birth, by virtue of their personal and non-hereditary title, granted to them by their grandmother Queen Juliana.

Upon ther marriages Mabel Wisse Smit, Laurentien Brinkhorst, Marilène van den Broek, Annette Sekrève, Aimée Söhngen and Anita van Eyck did not acquire any title or nobility. It is traditional that female spouses of titled persons can use their husband's style and title(s) en titre courteoisie.

Only Máxima Zorreguieta was really elevated into the royal rank, she is created a Princess in her own right, with her own arms, with her own personal standard, with her own income, with her own place in the Council of State, etc. She is the Second Lady and she will most likely act as a Regentess for a minor Queen Catharina-Amalia, might something unexpected happen to the Queen and the Prince of Orange.

There are five real Princesses in the Netherlands Royal House:

Queen Beatrix (by birth)
Princess Máxima (by elevation)
Princess Catharina-Amalia (by birth)
Princess Alexia (by birth)
Princess Margriet (by birth)

[bonnita]

mabel dress had a lovely cut tho, did she commiss the Bows specifiically?

The train wit Bows would have looked nice tho.

I also agree about Letizia gown being a disappointment esp after that red dress at the Danish wedding!

[Marengo]

The bows were the theme of that years Viktor & Rolf collection and Mabel liked the idea (and I have to confess that they look lovely, apart from the train).

[princess olga]

Originally Posted by Marengo

The bows were the theme of that years Viktor & Rolf collection and Mabel liked the idea (and I have to confess that they look lovely, apart from the train).

Couldn't agree more. If the bows on the train hadn't been so monstously huge, a ton of people who don't appreciate that dress today, might have otherwise. Apart from thetrain, I actually liked the dress, even though I'm not a bows fan. I loved the boat neck to start with, the cut of the dress was one of the best of recent years, and the color was "snow white", really realy white haha, and that looked so fresh! A ton of these bridal dresses these days are cream color or ivory, and while that can be lovely, I liked that Mabel chose the whitest of white, and it looked wonderful on her. Her bouquet was amazing too, her veil very fresh and reminiscent of the veil of Beatrix, which I appreciated as a gesture.

True the tiara was awful, what was she thinking?! But I also think that a lot of people who didn't like the dress, say that because it provides an opportunity to criticize the very polarizing persona that is Mabel....

Again, apart from the train, I thought she was one of the best royal brides of late. I thought she was much much better than Milk Maid Mary, what with her ill-fitting veil and the huge flap of napkin hanging from her waist, waiting to be utilized milking the royal cows in the stable. Mary's tiara was all but there: it was hardly visible. Of course, the poor girl didn't have a choice wearing it; it was a present of Margarethe: silent revenge of the mom in law? For some reason to this day I can't see any synergy between Margarethe and Mary.

And then Letizia, that gorgeous girl, but what a disaster as a bride! She looked like a tiny kid playing dress up in a grown up dress. The dress in and by itself was fine, but not for her! The collar seemed to do its best to cut off her tiny neck, her head all but tried to swim above the collar, without success. Her hair was horrible: it looked like either it had too much hair spray, or it hadn't been washed in weeks. Terrible.

And while I'm at it, one of my now favorite princesses was a weirdly terrible looking bride: Alexandra of Denmark. One word: That Afro on her head!! What was she thinking, that she was going to go to a seventies-style disco party in Studio 54 afterwards? It looked terrible. for some reason, while the gown was ok, it didn't suit her: it made what is a very petite woman, look pudgy. What was up with that?! And her veil with that white rim just looked tacky, instead of royal. A disappointment all around.

[bonnita]

Alexandra hair made her usually elegant face look so big! god, that hair!

[lise]

I loved the cut of Mabels dress. I also liked the veil and the tiara but the bows if only they were smaller.

I remeber finding pictures of princess Alexandras dress but I could get past the hair it was huge.

[galuhcandrakirana]

Alexandra's hair may be bit annoyed some people (including me) but Alexandra herself looked good in overall I think it was because of her radiant smile and all the happiness sparkle from her eyes. The couple looked very happy, that made them look good in their wedding. I like the moment when they were dancing in the wedding they looked soooo in love one each other. Her gown also wonderfull with thousands little pearls on it (a Princess gown on my dream, lot of pearls and gems stone ). For me Princess Alexandra wasn't seen as a bride who didn't look good in her wedding day .

[ikram]

i was quite disapointed by the look of letizia on her wedding day, she was so beautiful at her engagement and befor on screen

[ikram]

all ladies know that you dont have to mixt gold, with silver....here lalla salma is like usually......not very just...till today....she is not elegant yet...the worst look again is the photo with the awful moroccan green dress after Moulay AL Hassan birth

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by princess olga

I completely agree about the "perfection from the hips up." And as many of us have been saying, the cut and material of the gown were just perfect, too.
And anyway, thank goodness Mabel didn't have her mind set on that pink concoction on the left!

I agree 100%. The cut and fabric are marvelous. I'll even go as far in saying that the bows on the skirt are "okay." However, the train ruined it for me.

[unlikeanygirl]

Originally Posted by ikram

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/1124...2E169108F9C14D



all ladies know that you dont have to mixt gold, with silver....here lalla salma is like usually......not very just...till today....she is not elegant yet...the worst look again is the photo with the awful moroccan green dress after Moulay AL Hassan birth

I do not think the rule of not mixing gold and silver applies. You can definitely mix it so long as they look good. It all depends on how you mix them. Lots of pieces in eg. Tiffany, Cartier are a mixture of gold and silver and sometimes even rose gold.

In my opinion, she looks lovely. And that 'silver look' looks to be diamonds - large diamonds.

[TamaraKhan]

Originally Posted by unlikeanygirl

I do not think the rule of not mixing gold and silver applies. You can definitely mix it so long as they look good. It all depends on how you mix them. Lots of pieces in eg. Tiffany, Cartier are a mixture of gold and silver and sometimes even rose gold.

In my opinion, she looks lovely. And that 'silver look' looks to be diamonds - large diamonds.

I also don't see something wrong with Salma's looks at her wedding,she was stunning,and I like the traditional dress,nice combinaison,obviously,the white/yellow jewels she's wearing are from CHOPARD,it's identifiable from their greek pattern touch.

U are right unlikeanygirl about the mix thing of silver and gold colours thing,many famous designers use that on their collections,and it gives a beautiful result,i know something about it,as I have a Cartier Santos silver/gold watch and I won' change it for any other one.