Royal Style: Spring Forward! Bling Forward, too..

[Maireas]

Welcome to style mavens old and new to continue our chats.
Hopefully more bling if there's another banquet on the horizon?

Excellent 👌

I love that green dress. It’s beautiful. And feels a bit more modern.

Yes, it's lovely and I think the colour is good. I agree with Deftly, it's very Rania!

I have no idea whether she knows what she’s talking about or not- but I found this interesting.https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNR9xwmPp/

Yes, had just seen that.

Pictures:

Awful outfit. She could have, and should have, worn something from Kemi Telford. One of her more structured dresses in a gorgeous print.

Green gown is ok, but just looks a bit odd. Her hair needs to be up, and needs a chop.

I like the green evening dress. I always wonder how warm it is the hall because they all tend to wear long sleeves. I like Catherine's hair down with long dresses, it's probably quicker too.

Andrew Gn, the designer of the green dress, has contacted a couple of the royal fashion accounts to confirm he made this dress for Kate back in 2022 before he retired in 2023. Interesting news! I wonder if she had any particular events in mind, or just commissions dresses that would be good options for state dinners (good backdrops for orders and sashes, in block colours) as and when she comes across them?

Could be, Serenster. She wanted something in green, with long sleeves and a high neck and this fitted the bill?
I love that Anne's evening coat is 57 years old. It pre-dates decimal currency!

Kate might have worn it before at a private family event eg Christmas at Sandringham when the late queen was alive. She liked formalities didn’t she?

Think @locketrocket said it, Kate's grey outfit did look a bit cabin crew. The green gown is a lovely colour. I wasn't sure on first glance, but on second look, yes, think it is very pretty.
Char, nooo! The '80's want their metallic lame outfit back!

I think Catherine's hair always looks better when it's held away from her face, hanging down like curtains is unflattering. Personally, I'd chop 6 inches off and tone down the curls as well!

I’m not keen on Kate’s dress and her hair needs an inch or two chopped off but she does look elegant.
How do you pronounce Andrew Gn’s surname please ?
Good spot by @Chouxre K&C wearing green and white, the colours on the Nigerian flag.

It's pronounced Gin with a hard G. Not Gin like gin and tonic!

I don’t love the colour of that dress, but everything about it screams real class.

It’s understated and timeless, looks comfortable, the fabric looks expensive and the tailoring is perfect, the skirt almost floats as she walks. Everything about it is perfect in so many ways.

What is this weird obsession with Catherine’s hair being chopped off?
I’ve seen this multiple times on these threads!
yet I have never seen another woman with long hair being criticised this way .
its very odd.

It's a very common theme on here, @therealslimjeffy . I think she's just enjoying having very long hair at the moment, even if it's sort of counter to royal ladies' styles, especially the over 40s.

Yes I’ve noticed this previously on your threads @Maireas, I find it strange and very odd that no other women apparently need to chop “at least 6 inches “ off their hair !
a woman’s hair is a very personal choice and statement about themselves, I find it uncomfortable that Catherine who’s hair has not really changed since she was younger, now suddenly is too long and open to criticism about it , particularly in the light that many women loose their hair or it gets thinner with cancer treatment 🤷‍♀️

That's what I feel about her hair. My sister has just lost all her hair as a result of chemo. I can understand if Kate not only wants to keep long hair, but emphasise and celebrate it.
Also, culturally, there has been a practice of older women cutting off long hair, traditionally associated with youth. Perhaps those two issues are driving this narrative.

If I had hair like Catherine’s, I would keep it long. And even if you don’t lose your hair through chemo, you cherish it more, iyswim. My friend didn’t lose her hair during treatment and she’s definitely in the Catherine camp.

Yes, good point.

While I don't think she should chop it off for any reasons of age, propriety, custom, whatever and I totally get the cherishing thing having lost most of mine to alopecia at one point, I do think it would suit her better a few inches shorter, at about bra strap length, as she had it pre-cancer. It must be very heavy when it's up as well. But if I had hair as luscious as hers I'd probably want to max out on length for as long as I could as it does seem to get harder to keep it long as you age and it dries out, turns grey etc. I think with the green evening dress the effect of long hair worn down and forward, the sash and the big sleeves did look a little cluttered, but it is a beautiful dress and very appropriate. Overall I think on formal occasions Kate looks breathtaking with her hair up, whereas down is more suited to daytime / more casual occasions.

I just wanted to touch on your second point @Maireas, this apparent tradition of older women cutting off their long hair, is rather short lived, it wasn’t what women traditionally did previously, I’m unsure when and where it started? , I know that some women do find their hair becoming thinner with age and deciding to cut it shorter but as always this doesn’t apply to all women and in Catherine’s case her hair is still as thick as ever.
I can’t help but think of a time when cutting women’s hair was actually a punishment! 🤷‍♀️

I’m late 50s and certainly women cutting their hair short once they were past about 35 seemed to be a thing when I was younger (around that age), but there have been HUGE leaps in hair care technology since then, with colouring, conditioning, styling appliances, products etc, it is far easier to keep hair in good condition than it was. Most women I know my age or older have shorter hair, typically shoulder length or above but gone are the days of them all having it properly short.

It was and still is perfect! She was a stunner - now just in a different way 😊