WEDDING DRESSES PLUS | Search results for Dress With Sleeve For Wedding -->

ads

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Dress With Sleeve For Wedding. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Dress With Sleeve For Wedding. Sort by date Show all posts
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, wife of the late Prince Friso, one of King Willem-Alexander's brothers, celebrated her 50th birthday on Saturday. Seems like a perfect time to revisit her first big royal sartorial splash: her wedding gown. I can't think of another one that so accurately introduced a royal bride's style, because not only the designers but also the main motif and the general sense of quirkiness all became her signatures. That main motif is, of course, BOWS.

Embed from Getty Images
Mabel Wisse Smit married Prince Johan Friso on April 24, 2004 in a gown by Dutch couturiers Viktor & Rolf. She requested something memorable and was interested in a three-dimensional train detail. They came up with a dress that featured 248 handmade crepe georgette bows, a favorite detail of the design duo: 128 bows on the skirt, 85 on the bodice, and 35 on the train.

Blauw Bloed screencap
The bows are graduated in size, beginning with tiny bows at the shoulders and growing to massive bows at the end of the 3.15 meter (10'4") train.

Blauw Bloed screencap
The bateau neckline and belted waist give the dress a flattering shape and it's a true piece of couture art, very cleverly made so that the ribbon lattice pattern behind the bows covers the seams. The gown is crafted from snow white double-faced duchesse satin and took more than 600 hours to make.

Embed from Getty Images
The bride kept her veil short (wouldn't want to cover up any of those bows!), and topped it with a diamond tiara that borrows its larger stones from the top of the Dutch Sapphire Tiara. The tiara has an intriguingly two-dimensional look in a photo, with a lot of sparkle when seen in action. It has remained Mabel's top tiara pick in the years since.

The wedding dress was just the beginning of Princess Mabel's quirky royal sartorial statements, most also by Viktor & Rolf (and often featuring those beloved bows), but there's a lot more behind the fashion. Mabel herself is an accomplished and committed activist and philanthropist who has worked with organizations like The Elders and Girls Not Brides. Her marriage to Prince Friso began with controversy; the marriage was not submitted for the official parliament consent required for Prince Friso to retain his place in line to the throne because the couple were not entirely forthcoming in response to government inquiries about past contact between Mabel and Klaas Bruinsma, a drug lord and organized crime figure. Friso gave up his spot in the line of succession as well as his title as a Prince of the Netherlands when they married. He retained the Orange-Nassau title.

Sadly, tragedy was ahead: Prince Friso was trapped in an avalanche while skiing in Austria in 2012. He remained in a coma until he passed away the following year. Princess Mabel now continues her activist work while raising the couple's two daughters and seems to have a great support system in the Dutch royal family. She appears to be particularly close to her mother-in-law, Princess Beatrix.

Princess Mabel's wedding gown is currently on display in Rotterdam as part of an exhibition celebrating 25 years of Viktor & Rolf. As a premiere client (and a friend; she recently attended Rolf Snoeren's wedding), she opened the exhibition. She shared in her opening speech that Prince Friso, who was an engineer, had been fascinated by the construction of the gown.

On the left, the dress Princess Mabel wore to Prince Friso's memorial
Blauw Bloed screencap
The wedding dress is poignantly displayed at the exhibition alongside a dress of mourning, first worn by Mabel in a long length to King Willem-Alexander's inauguration and then made shorter for Friso's memorial service. It is another Viktor & Rolf design, the white sleeve and bow echoing the wedding dress that started it all.

Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists 25 Years is at The Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam through September 30, 2018.
August 13, 2018
Denmark is offering you another chance to check out some of Queen Margrethe's couture in the flesh fabric: 37 outfits and 42 hats are included in From the Queen's Wardrobe, on show in The Old Town in Aarhus until September 9th. Margrethe seems to be very generous in allowing her clothing to go on display regularly, as well she should be; these are works of art, with every bit of care taken in their design as any of her other artworks.

Queen Margrethe viewing the exhibition
She dropped by to open the exhibition herself recently, coming face to face with the fairytale gown she wore to celebrate her silver wedding anniversary with Prince Henrik. It must have been a poignant moment, walking through these gowns that represent so many happy memories with her late husband.

In Balmain
This white gown by Balmain, for example, was a wedding gift to Margrethe from Danish designer Erik Mortensen, who was working for the French house. Exquisitely embellished, this is couture at its finest.

For the Crown Prince's wedding
This is a modern favorite of mine, the floral gown with bow sleeves made by Mogens Eriksen for Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary's wedding in 2004. I do love a great floral gown. It was covered by a spectacular pink coat for the wedding ceremony (and that pink coat has since been made into a different dress). We covered Queen Margrethe's whole sparkling look on that day here.

And then there's that silver wedding dress, the most theatrical confection of tulle purchased by Margrethe and crafted by Jørgen Bender with close up-worthy details galore. (See more about the dress and event in our past post here.)



The Danish royal family shared even more examples in a gallery post from their Instagram. Has anyone ever loved tulle or a big sleeve more? She knows how to turn it up, that Daisy. Well worth seeing in person.

Photos: DR screencap/DR
April 06, 2018