Royal Style: Make Do and Mend, or Go Big and Spend?.

[Maireas]

New thread!
Thanks for the title, Deftly!

Ohh I fancy an addition to my collection too!

@Maireas please may I have Camilla's set of two pansies?

I seem to recall the queen mother and her MIL didn't get on that well. Can't remember why

I like the way Camilla is wearing the pansy brooches in that picture. Why is Princess Pushy wearing hers nearly on her shoulder?

I’ve seen brooches worn like that before, I think it’s just something some people do, especially with big ones.

Maybe with the bigger brooches, wearing them higher up means that more of the weight is carriered on the shoulder, so it pulls the clothes less? Total speculation on my part, I can only dream of wearing something so big and sparkly!

Those jewels are something else. But I'm very glad that we've come a long way in foundation formulas since that photo was taken!

@KillingMeDeftly It makes you want to shriek ‘Blend, blend!’ doesn’t it? Totally the wrong shade, bless her, and applied with a trowel 😳

Whose foundation @Spudlet ?
I agree re Princess Pushy, @JustWhattheDoctorOrdered, it's a very odd place for the brooch.
It is a gorgeous brooch, though.

I think it's face powder from a compact with a puff applicator, not foundation. My nan used to smother her face in it, it used to be quite a normal look for older women didn't it?
And because photos were only really seen in the newspaper, noone could see them clearly anyway until now!

The face powder had a really distinctive smell too that's giving me memory flashbacks!

Ah the late Queen Elizabeth 2 as posted in @TangledWebOfDeception's photo.
I was looking at the Camilla and PMofK photos and couldn't see anything wrong re foundation.

Gosh, the pansy brooches are lovely.

I too love amethyst stones - such pretty colours.

We have certainly come a long way with regard to foundation! I remember having a makeover aged 18 and she turned me orange, insisting the foundation needed to be 3 shades darker to 'add warmth'! Thank god for modern formulations which intend to match skin tone.

That photo of HMQ is apparently from 1985 so she would've been 58/59. Roughly the same age as Sophie is now but the powder makes her look much older.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11627381/Queen-Letizia-Spain-looks-stylish-brocade-pencil-skirt-Madrid.htm
Leti looks good in a big Other Stories coat, Mango dress...and low, block heeled boots!
I think it's a great look and I also like her hair up.

The Town & Country link also has a pic of the Duchess of Windsor in this immense amethyst and turquoise necklace. It was sold in an auction 10 years ago for $45k. What happened to the rest of Wallis's jewellery? Was it all auctioned off?

My Nan, who was a similar age to HMQ wore Max Factor Pancake and Pan Stik all her life. Amazingly you can still buy it!
My younger brother always knew when I was going out because I had "that orange stuff on your face" (teen in the late 80's)
Thankfully make up technology has come a long way

Ah yes@LadyEloise1 - it was the picture of HMQ that I was looking at. Things have definitely moved in now, both in terms of makeup and photography! I used to slather my poor spotty face in layers of caked foundation and concealer as a teen in the nineties as well - it was an unfortunate time 😅 HMQ also moved on of course - her makeup was much better in her eighties and nineties than it was in her fifties, tbh.

I can’t wear concealer or foundation because I have such a horror of it looking awful like that or splotchy/unblended/the wrong shade/etc. Plus I can’t stand the way it feels (probably because I’m not used to it).

I’ve been fine without as I’ve always had very good skin but I’m 47 now and starting to look slightly the worse for wear...on the one hand I really don’t mind, but I would like to be able to wear just the merest layer to help my face look more even toned.

Any suggestions for good but reasonably priced products I could try? I’m on a low spend drive this year. Also what do people do about their clothing? I can’t stand make up on collars etc <shudders>

Yes a huge auction after she died. Lots of cat motifs iirc.

www.thejewelleryeditor.com/whats-on/auctions/duchess-of-windsor-jewel-auction/

She had some striking pieces. I’m looking forward to perusing that link.

I remember after the initial auction in 1987 my mother wearing all manner of cat brooches. I think it must have launched a fashion for them.

@TangledWebOfDeception I've found L'Oréal's True Match tinted serum very good. It gives just a light wash of coverage and doesn't look or feel like foundation. It's usually on special somewhere for less than a tenner so it doesn't break the bank. The only way it could be better is if it included SPF.

This sounds great.

Like you I don't like using foundation @TangledWebOfDeception, but I do use tinted moisturiser. At the moment I'm using an Origins one (Ginzing). It's SPF40 which is useful in summer, though probably less so for someone doing an indoor job in the NW of England in January! It sinks in well and leaves a nice glowy feeling I think.

Off to look at that auction link.

Thank you @KillingMeDeftly and @MotherofPearl.

I’ve tried BB/CC/tinted moisturiser in the past but I still get paranoid that the shade is wrong or I somehow haven’t blended well enough or there’s a distinct difference between face and neck, etc etc. Of course I can bring it down to the neck to avoid that but then I worry about transfer onto my clothing. I obviously have issues! 😄

I like the sound of a tinted serum. Is it different to moisturiser? I sometimes find moisturisers too heavy and greasy.

I liked it when I didn’t have to worry about all this!