Royal style and gossip: new year, new thread

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Previous thread.

And let's stick to critiquing the outfits rather than the wearer!

I can see the appeal of Marlborough. Eton is quite public and the boys are seen in the streets wearing their uniform. Mind you, William survived it, so you never know.

I've spent the morning finding out more about HM's Lascelles cousins. Fairly easy to do as they're all very active on social media, including the Earl of Harewood himself! They look like fun and seen worlds away from the likes of the awful Manners sisters etc.

Zara’s manicure is fabulous. I wouldn’t expect anything else, she’s a hands on gal.

Belated Merry Christmas everyone! Have been reading, but for some reason I can't post from my phone at the moment so had to wait until I had my computer.

I suspect I'm the only one who feels this but I really don't like Kate in red. That similar Catherine Walker coat dress in green was so much more flattering on her. I felt the same about the red dress she wore to the Chinese state dinner - beautiful and she looked gorgeous but the colour doesn't make her glow like others do.

On the cost thing, I am a bit confused - no one ever mentions the cost of her 300 Catherine Walker coat dresses, but surely they must be very expensive as they're custom made designer stuff?

I thought Eugenie looked gorgeous and happy but.... honestly, she has a beautiful figure so wearing high necked things like that is just so unflattering. Both her and beatrice need to embrace their curvier figures and stop with the high neck/highly fitted numbers that don't suit them.

Beatrice and Eugenie's clothes rarely fit well. That's a lesson they could learn from Kate. She has very good tailoring. Everything fits well. Beatrice's coat and Eugenie's dress were probably expensive, but looked cheap because they didn't hang well, especially Beatrice's coat.

I think B and E need to hire a personal stylist and learn how to dress for their body shapes. I liked Bea’s navy coat and would wear it myself but it just didn’t fit her well.

Thank you everyone for all the links & chat!

The papers are not going to let the alleged feud go easily.

I did feel a bit for prince Charles having to walk on his own to church just so the ‘fab 4’ could walk together to dispel myth rumours!

QueenoftheAndals I too went down a rabbit hole on the internet reading about the Princess Mary's family, the Lascelles/ Harewoods.
Sad that the eldest son doesn't inherit the title because his parents weren't married st the time. On the other hand he might consider himself lucky not inheriting the title and all that goes with it.

With B & E I think it's also style and texture. There was a thread on here a little while ago about how to dress for curvier figures, particularly big breasts, and most of us were agreed that you need to drop the neckline and think carefully about fabric. Neither of which are tricks E and B have cracked. (or at least, not for official events. Some of E's instagram pics have her much better dressed).

Necklines can be so tricky. I’m a pear shape and tend to wear high necklines. I’m not skinny by any stretch of the imagination (I’m a 10ish on top) but have protruding collar bones and if I wear too low a neckline I look scrawny and a V neck makes me look like I forgot my boobs.

They should teach this kind of thing at school.

I love the idea of teaching girls how to dress at school! Wow, that would have been a lesson I actually listened to! Other classes would include how to manage money, how to look after a baby, self defence classes... the list goes on. i have hardly used anything i learned in school in life. All the important stuff however...

@beanaseireann The current heir's son was also born before his marriage (to someone else) and he only has a legitimate daughter. But he's only in his 30d so plenty of time to have more I guess.

Beatrice and Eugenie (and Fergie, for that matter) all looked fabulous here. Beatrice a dress is stunning and I think it suits her.

I get the impression that they wear what they like rather than what "suits" them.or what they should wear, and I am here for that attitude.

The current heir is a chef, his dad a film producer and his uncle a music producer.

@certainlymerry - off topic, but you can't seriously expect schools just teach practical tips??!! The idea is to educate so that decisions can be made! If you can read, reflect, analyse, calculate and evaluate, it should help you through life!!

I bet B and E are absolutely tiny in real life. I've never seen them in person to know

I would be dismayed if girls were taught "how to dress" and "how to look after a baby" at school. I hope guess that post was tongue in cheek

Well actually, if you're going to teach dressing lifesckills, I'd say it shoudl apply to both girls and boys. Personal man (usually young) pet peeve is the slightly overweight/larger bum or waist wearing ultra skinny jeans. I get that skinny jeans are fashionable, but boys and girls both need to learn to make fashion work for them.

The skill I'm worried DC are losing is how to polish shoes! DS is 7 and his shoes for school are all basically canvas/trainer types so they don't get polished. What happens when he's got his first job and suddenly needs shoes that actually require polishing?! [clutches pearls]

Fashion is for fun, if you like it and follow it all power to you, if you wish to follow certain fashion rules go nuts. But no one "needs" to do anything fashion related, the York princesses don't need more flattering necklines, Meghan doesn't need jewel tones. Not everyone likes fashion and not all fashion lovers like the same concepts. My favourite part of fashion is seeing people's individual tastes.

How to dress shouldn't be on the curriculum unless you choose to go to some sort of finishing school. Shoe polishing is taught at home.

@afifth - agree re shoe polishing. My post was unclear. My point is that we don't polish DS's shoes as they're basically trainers. So he's not learning. It was a general comment about dressing skills the DC aren't learning.

But I disagree that people shouldn't learn the basics of dressing - at home preferably, but perhaps at school as a secondary support. I think it was pretty standard in the past to learn the basics of dressing and grooming, including what is appropriate when. Admittedly, dressing for your shape was probably less part of the standard discussions within families, but it should have been. I have pretty good skin considering my age - that's because my mother was insistent on cleansing and moisturising from a young age. I'm doing the same with DC. DD (3) got a play make up set for Christmas and we had a long chat about the importance of taking off your make up before bed!

I have nothing to add so place-marking

WindyWednesday

Zara’s manicure is fabulous. I wouldn’t expect anything else, she’s a hands on gal.

I think basic self defence and basic resuscitation should be taught to everyone and revisted yearly. Do the still teach how to ride your bike on the road like we did in the 70’s?

I have seen Beatrice and Eugenie in real life and they are really quite slender. I think the trouble is thick fabrics with no drape in them which are bulky. Tailoring doesn’t suit them they should adopt a softer sillouette. Kate must be really thin to photograph the way she does. She’s starting to look quant. I agree with the PP and dislike the red although it is Christmassy. I’m not a fan of the 40s fashion either.