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Royal Wedding 2018

5/24/2018

2 Comments

 
As you may recall from my post about ball gowns, I was looking forward to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, mostly for the clothes!  I said then of Ms. Markle's dress that I hoped I would "either love of hate it.  The worst would be boring."  As the date neared, I remembered that Royal weddings in England are generally an excuse for fantastic hats and fascinators, and I got excited about those, too. 
 
So the day came, and I gussied myself up with fantastic fifties hat and floral dress, and co-hosted a tea party for other Anglo-philes!  We shared the savory course at the table, then loaded up our tea-plates and moved to the TV to watch the recording! 
Picture
MENU
Savory:
tuna sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, mini-quiches

Scones:
scones with wine-soaked craisins, pastry-cups w/ vanilla pudding and raspberries, variety of jams and clotted cream

Sweets:
marzipan, chocolate truffles, vanilla meringues, Tim Tams, mini-cakes, shortbread cookies

Teas:
Lady Grey or Peach Medley.  With cream, non-dairy milks, honey, and sugar cubes.

THE FASHION

While there were many beautiful dresses and hats at the royal wedding, three stood out to me.  The first, absolute best, was the yellow outfit worn by Amal Clooney.  Dang, that was gorgeous!  The dress was designed by Stella McCartney.  I love the color, the simple shape enlivened by fan-shaped gathers at the sleeves, and the sash almost becoming a train.  She wore the hat with wonderful confidence.  Ten out of ten! 
Picture
Photo from Just Jared. Click to follow link.
Picture
Getty Images, found on Harper's Bazaar's website. Click to follow link.
Victoria Beckham was another standout, but not in a good way.  Is that a light black or a very dark navy?  Why does she go to weddings looking like a storm cloud?  Does she not like weddings?  Here's an image of how she dressed for William and Kate's wedding (left side) and for Harry and Meghan's wedding (right side).  Not even a smile!  And I know, I get it: public appearances can be stressful, and no-one is obligated to smile to decorate my world.  But it does make me wonder when a wedding guest looks so unhappy to be there. 
Picture
Getty Images, via Harper's Bazaar. Click to follow link.
And finally, there was the wedding dress, designed by Clare Waight Keller, the British artistic director of the French fashion house Givenchy.  It was pretty, but not memorably so.  I dislike the bateau neckline, and the raglan sleeves.  Some people online say it was too large for Meghan (though she wouldn't be the first bride to lose weight before a wedding, nor would she be unreasonable to want to be able to eat at her reception!), but I think the fit is classy.  It was a church wedding, so a clingy fit would have been inappropriate. I also noticed with interest that as she went down the steps when leaving the chapel, her train appeared to be stuffed or quilted in some way to give it body so it wouldn't crumple or flip on itself.  Well done, designer! 

The veil was beautiful, and I wish I could see close-up pictures of the embroidered flowers on it, which represent each of the commonwealth countries and the State of California (her home-state). 
Picture
photo by Andrew Matthews/WPA Pool/Getty Images, via Vanity Fair; click to follow link.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

Overall: my tea party was lovely and fun; the wedding was beautiful, joyful, and optimistic; and the clothes and hats were worth tuning in for!  Congrats to the happy couple, and thanks for sharing your day so that even a complete stranger thousands of miles away could see it! 
2 Comments
The Sister
5/31/2018 10:36:54 am

I agree with your assessments. Amal Clooney looked absolutely smashing; she rocked the color, the fit, the hat. Well done! Victoria Beckham looked bored. I do rather like her hat from William and Kate's wedding though... some of the hats were quite amusing, but I liked hers. Perhaps Ms. Beckham should have worn some jewelry to spice up her outfit? And a smile wouldn't go amiss. Is she accompanied by her brother (isn't he a soccer player?) or husband? Is it even the same guy in both pictures? At any rate, he looked so svelte! A man in a well-tailored suit is so attractive!

And I was unimpressed by Meghan's wedding dress. It certainly looks to be of excellent quality and workmanship, but it's so boring! The color, train, and veil are wins, but the rest of the dress is dull. No lace, beading, trim, ribbons, embroidery? I mean, she did look classic. But for such an event, and a once-in-a-lifetime (never mind once-in-a-generation!) event, you'd think a girl would get a little fancy.

But hey, your tea party looks so yummy! Why didn't you invite me?

Reply
Karen Roy link
5/31/2018 08:35:49 pm

I considered inviting you, but I didn't have the spare cash to pay your airfare!

I think the attractive man is Victoria Beckham's husband. He looks like he's really happy to be there! I can see where you got the brother vibe, though; because she looks like a recalcitrant little sister forced to attend and hold her big brother's hand. He's told their mom that he'll her from wandering into the street, and she's resigned to it. :D

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    Karen Roy

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