sabato 5 dicembre 2015

Charcoal Grey Coat and Dress with Trimmings and Embroidery in Shades of Grey, Angela Kelly Hat

This outfit is another example of how much carefully planning and consideration goes into the Queen's wardrobe choices. In this case, the dress was made to coordinate with two ensambles, to match the tone of two dramatically different events the same day, thus allowing Her Majesty to simply change her coat and hat and quickly achieve a polar opposite feel in her general appearance.

This dress, which appears to be made of a lightweight wool crepe in charcoal grey and is embellished with a central vertical band of trimmings in shades of grey, was first seen on 26 June 2015 for a walkabout in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz on the last day of the Queen's visit to Germany. It was an occasion that called for a bright, highly-visible in the crowd look, and Her Majesty achieved this perfectly with a pale primrose yellow coat and hat (discussed here). The whole look was tied together thanks to charcoal accents on both pieces:


The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh then departed Berlin on their way to the former concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. The year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by British and Canadian troops. This was an altogether more sombre engagement and the Queen was seen disembarking the plane having swapped yellow in favour of a total grey look. Over her grey dress, she had put on a collarless coat in the same fabric, with hidden buttons tonal embellishments that made the piece very interesting. Alongside grey trimmings at the cuffs, pockets and down the centre, the fabric was dotted with minute (embroidered?) squares  that caught the light at different angles, thus providing a lot of movement to the coat (Daily Mail article here).
The look was topped off with a cloche type hat by Angela Kelly, covered in charcoal crepe and ice blue satin and finished with an ice blue ribbon and flat bow around the crown. The Queen also swapped brooches, opting for the delicate Bronte Porcelain one:







On 8 February 2016, the Queen repeated the all-grey version of the outfit for her train journey from King's Lynn to London at the end of her Christmas holidays at Sandringham (Daily Mail article here). She accessorized with a black fur scarf, Pearl Trefoil brooch and the customary silk scarf she usually selects for this kind of occasion:


Although the exact date is unconfirmed, it would appear the Queen visited her Royal Ascot Gold Cup winner Estimate's first foal just before leaving Norfolk (Daily Telegraph article here). We know the visit happened in the first week of February and the outfit is exactly the same, down to the same silk scarf:


The Queen repeated the whole look on 30 June 2016, to attend a service and vigil at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme (Daily Mail article here). This time she wore the Cullinan V brooch:





On 13 March 2017, the Queen returned to the outfit's original yellow incarantion and wore it to the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey (Daily Mail article here). She paired it with the Australian wattle brooch:




Pink Bouclé Outfit with Lace Inserts and Silk Peony Trim

The Queen debuted this pale dusty pink outfit for the renaming of the Marché aux Fleurs in Paris in her honour as Marché aux Fleurs - Reine Elisabeth II, on 7 June 2014, the last day of her State visit to France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings (Daily Mail article here). The outfit is comprised of a dress and collarless jacket in a pale dusty pink, gold-speckled bouclé fabric with white lace bands inserted across the waist and cuffs.
The hat is an Angela Kelly creation, in white straw trimmed with a large band of the same bouclé fabric and a pink silk peony on one side. For the occasion, the Queen finished off her look with the appropriately floral Irish Blossom diamond brooch:


With French President François Hollande and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.





On 5 March 2015, the Queen recycled the suit to bid farewell to the President of the United Mexican States, Señor Enrique Peña Nieto, and Señora Angélica Rivera de Peña at the end of their State Visit to the United Kingdom. The Cullinan VI & VII brooches were worn:


The whole look was repeated on 15 August 2015, to attend a service at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of hostilities with Japan in WWII, or VJ70 (Daily Mail article here). This time the Queen accessorized with the Cullinan V brooch:





On 4 May 2016, the Queen wore the dress on its own, again with the Cullinan V brooch, to receive Baroness Scotland at Buckingham Palace, on her appointment as Commonwealth Secretary General. Note that the dress features the same lace inlays at the cuffs and waist as the jacket:


On 5 April 2017, the Queen wore the dress and jacket to a ceremony at Windsor Castle during which she presented the Royal Lancers with a Guidon, or heraldic banner. Predictably, the Royal Lancers badge was worn as a brooch. After the presentation the Queen, the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, granted The Royal Lancers with the honorific suffix 'Queen Elizabeths Own' in recognition of their service to Her Majesty and to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Daily Mail article here):


sabato 28 novembre 2015

Turquoise Stewart Parvin Outfit and Angela Kelly Floral-Trimmed Hat

For her fourth State visit to Malta in November 2015, to coincide with the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Queen debuted a series of new outfits (discussed here and here), including this bright turquoise one by Stewart Parvin, set off with a hat by Angela Kelly, worn on the last day of the visit, 28 November 2015, and accessorized with her turquoise and diamond brooch.
Comprised of a collarless coat with patch pockets (a style of which HM seems to be particularly fond), a printed silk dress and a hat with a gently sloped crown covered in the same fabric as the coat and an upturned brim in matching turquoise straw, trimmed with a small posy of white and blue flowers tied together with a blue silk ribbon bow.

On the last day of their visit to the island where they spent the early days of their married life, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh undertook a series of engagemnts, including a tree-planting ceremony, a visit to the National Agency for Malta's Cultural Heritage, where they viewed items being preserved for future generations, a tour of HMS Bulwark at Customs Wharf and a game of polo at Marsa racecourse (Daily Mail article here):



 



On 6 July 2016, the Queen repeated the look on a visit to Dundee during the annual Holyrood Week, a series of engagements in Scotland (Daily Mail article here). She wore one of Queen Victoria's Bow brooches:





giovedì 29 ottobre 2015

Pale Heather Rachel Trevor Morgan Straw Hat and Stewart Parvin Outfit

For the ceremonial welcome of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan at Horse Guards on 20 October 2015, the Queen selected a new ensamble, comprised  of a collarless honeycomb coat with patch pockets and large lilac buttons, a streamlined heather-coloured dress, both by Stewart Parvin, and a hat in heather straw with minimal green shading on the brim, trimmed with three large straw roses and several straw looped ribbons (Daily Mail article here, scroll right down for pics of the ceremonial welcome). The Queen wore her modern yellow gold, ruby and diamond brooch:





The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Chinese Presidential couple viewing a display of Chinese items from the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace at the start of the State visit:



On 3 December 2015, the Queen wore what definitly looks like the matching dress (compare the central folded pleat, as seen directly above, for reference) to receive ambassadors at Buckingham Palace. She wore the Amethyst Bouquet brooch. Below she is seen with Her Excellency Mrs Teresita de Jesus Vincente Sotolongo, ambassador of Cuba, as she presents her credentials:


The dress (again, notice the central box pleat) was worn again on its own for the filming of BBC 1's documentary "Elizabeth at 90 - A Family Tribute", which was aired on 21 April 2016, the Queen's 90th birthday (Daily Mail article here). Her Majesty wore the Jardine Star brooch:


The Queen repeated the whole outfit on 1 July 2016, when she arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh at the start of her annual week-long stay. Her Majesty was presented with the Keys of the City which she returned in the traditional Ceremony of the Keys. A Guard of Honor mounted in the Forecourt of the Palace was reviewed (Daily Mail article here). Upon arrival at Edinburgh Waverley Station the Queen wore the Kent amethyst brooch; later for the Ceremony of the Keys she swapped in favour of the Royal Regiment of Scotland badge:



On 11 April 2017, the Queen repeated the outfit on a visit to Bedfordshire, during which there was time to feed the elephants at Whipsnade Zoo (Daily Mail article here). The Queen wore her daffodil spray brooch: