Royal wedding

Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian wedding dress market

December 17, 2012 3:52 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The news that Silvio Berlusconi, once-and-possible-future-Italian-PM-candidate and always colourful character, is engaged to be married to his 27-year-old girlfriend begs the usual question: not “Wait, isn’t he still married to his second wife?” (yes, they are in the midst of their divorce), but rather, “what will she wear?” Presumably, it would be useful for a woman marrying a political player to dress with patriotism in mind – sic Kate Middleton — but this presents an interesting conundrum, because of all the big four fashion capitals, Italy has been the slowest to embrace that emerging and potentially very lucrative market known as wedding dresses. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Royal wedding, Womenswear |
From FT.com April 28, 2012

Recently, a woman in the midst of a career change came to see me. This former banker, who took time off to get married and have children, was on the verge of beginning a new life in the high-end fragrance business. Her launch product is a limited edition perfume called “Tiara” that will sell for $1,200 and features particularly glitzy packaging: nestling inside a white resin box is a glass vial shaped like a cupcake, “crowned” by a special silvery top studded with sapphire blue Swarovski ovals. The look was, she said, inspired by the late Princess Diana’s engagement ring, as now worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. Read more

Posted in Beauty, Couture, Fashion, Jewellery, Luxury goods, Marketing, Royal wedding, Womenswear |

The Duchess of Cambridge dresses for England

January 9, 2012 3:59 pm by Vanessa Friedman

This morning, looking at pictures of Kate Middleton in the black and white lace Alice Temperley gown she wore for her first royal film premier yesterday (Steven Speilberg’s “War Horse”), I was struck by the fact that it seems the Duchess of Cambridge only wears British designers for dress-up. There’s an interesting choice here.  Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Royal wedding, Womenswear |

Winning winners at the British Fashion awards

November 29, 2011 2:52 pm by Carola Long
British Fashion Awards 2011 - London. Sarah Burton with the Designer of the Year award. Credit: Ian West/PA Wire

Sarah Burton, Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards 2011. Ian West/PA Wire

Take a wild guess who won the designer of the year award at the British Fashion Awards last night. Yup, it was Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. A well deserved win, given her acclaimed royal wedding dress and the sensitive way in which she has interpreted Alexander McQueen’s legacy, but not really a surprise. It was the first of many not-really-a-surprises at the awards, held in London’s Savoy hotel, which is probably a good thing, indicating that there is a consensus behind which British names are ones to be confident about.

Mary Katrantzou, who won the Emerging Talent – Womenswear award, is fast becoming a highlight – if not the highlight – of London Fashion Week. Not only are her bold and unusual prints arresting, they are also tailored to be highly wearable and fairly commercial. The question of when a designer is no longer deemed to be emerging can be a problematic one though; there’s often no clear moment when they become – like a butterfly from a chrysalis – fully formed. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods, Menswear, Royal wedding, Womenswear |

Is Kate Middleton best-dressed or best-addressed?

November 1, 2011 2:27 am by Vanessa Friedman

It’s November — which in magazine-calendar-speak means December issues, which in turn means Best-Dressed Lists. Yahoo! First out of the blocks is Harper’s Bazaar UK, and guess who tops the list? Yes, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is perhaps the most unsurprising choice ever. Because really, let’s be honest: best-dressed lists are not just about being best-dressed, and the Duchess isn’t the best dressed woman in the country.

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Posted in Fashion, Royal wedding, Womenswear |
From FT.com August 12, 2011

August in the UK is the silly season (well, not so much this year – this year, things are looking rather serious – but traditionally). It’s when everyone goes on holiday and the definition of “news” gets stretched but, even by those standards, among the silliest, as well as the strangest, events of this summer is the elevation of Pippa Middleton to style icon status. Every month I think it will go away – and every month I discover I am wrong. Read more

Posted in Fashion, Royal wedding |
From FT.com June 24, 2011

I have weddings on the brain this week. Not just because my parents have been married 50 years today – mazel tov – but because we are approaching the second big wedding event of the summer: the nuptials of the other Kate the Great, and all the designer-related opportunities therein. Whether Kate Moss marries her fiancé, Kills guitarist Jamie Hince, next Saturday as announced or this coming Friday as rumoured (to throw off all those photographers, who aren’t Mario Testino, hiding in the bushes), or some other time entirely (always possible), you can be sure of one thing: whatever she wears will set wedding dress trends for the foreseeable future. Read more

Posted in Couture, Fashion, Royal wedding, Womenswear |

The investment value of fashion absurdity

May 23, 2011 4:25 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The news that the strange and controversial Philip Treacy creation sported by Princess Beatrice at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has been sold on eBay for almost gbp 80,000 is both generally shocking (although very nice for UNICEF, who gets the money) and also shockingly educational.

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Posted in Fashion, Royal wedding, Womenswear |

Queen Elizabeth II dresses for Ireland

May 18, 2011 4:03 pm by Vanessa Friedman

And so the Queen has come to Ireland for the first time in almost 60 years — and she has done so in her usual, thought-through finery.

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Royal wedding, Womenswear |
From FT.com April 29, 2011

And so we have ourselves a new style icon. On Friday Catherine Middleton became a princess, walking through the doors of Westminister Abbey not just into royal history, but sartorial history too – whether she likes it or not, and whether the international fashion police like what she wore or not. Not that she has much choice in the matter. When you are a public figure, especially a female public figure, you are judged on what you wear. Read more

Posted in Fashion, Royal wedding, Womenswear |
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