The Duchess of Edinburgh

[YaMuvva]

Does anyone else think Sophie DofE looks different like she’s had a ‘glow up’? She was always attractive but the picture the RF put out today she looks amazing! Did she always look like this? Has she had a Spray tan?

Still looked fashionable at the time!
It's funny, isn't it - my daughter was horrified at the fashion for strapless wedding dresses which seemed to last forever from about 2001- She said most people don't suit strapless, why did they wear them?....

Celine Dion 1988 - trigger warning stuff!

https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/30-days-of-celine-dion-eurovision-winner-made-in-quebec

Ah. There will be trigger warnings for what some people wore in 2024, from future generations!
"Why on earth did you wear that?!"

I can assure you I lived through the eighties, and have the horror show photos to prove it! I’m not talking about her predictably awful eighties looks, anyway, more the dreadful 90s looks, like the ‘revenge dress’. She had a lovely clothes-horse-y body for dressing, but her clothes usually didn’t take advantage of it, and apart from when she wore full-length evening dresses, her skirts were always the wrong length.

This is a question I have always asked myself — they suit only the small-breasted, narrow-shouldered and thin-armed, and even then they don’t suit all of those women. I can only assume that strapless dresses came to be seen as ‘the wedding dress look’, as though it was semi-compulsory, and I’ve certainly seen questions on here asking if a wedding dress with sleeves looked ‘frumpy’ or ‘mumsy’…?

We buy and wear whatever's on sale at the time. I don't know whether the pie-crust collar was designed and then Diana wore it first or whether a designer specifically made one for Diana and then they were on the rails. Even I had a pie-crust collar - beige, obviously, and my double chin was much younger than it is now.
In the history of fashion I expect pie-crust necklines have been the mode several times over but I'm talking about that specific time in the Diana era.
I liked maxi-coats! I do see Sophie wearing a long coat now and again, don't I?

😁The sixteen-year-olds will be 66 one day! There are also odd moments when we look at the pictures and think, "Oh, I didn't look too bad in that."

🤣

I have huge amount of respect for her, she visited my DC school and spent extra time with him, being able to engage with a teen boy with ASD who you have never met before, and will probably never see again (who generally avoids people) and create such a positive experience that he actually tells mum all about it when he gets home... She must have some magic about her :)

Too true. My friend got married in 2006 and could not find anything that wasn't strapless. She gave up in the end, bought a strapless dress and a little bolero jacket and stitched it on.
How many wedding pictures with these unflattering styles - just because it became the fashion!

I know! I had a yellow ra-ra skirt which I teamed with a violet slash necked top and white court shoes. Oh yes, and I had a curly perm with frosted tips. I had frosted eye shadow, too!

That’s a lovely story. She seems to have a genuine warmth to her. I remember her tears at deaths of DofE and the late Queen.

I agree. I really didn’t like the Versace dresses she took to wearing and the navy nighty dress was horrible

Has anyone posted a link to Diana’s standby wedding dress yet? There’s a video of Elizabeth Emmanuel talking about the dresses that show both dresses. And if you scroll down even further you’ll see a big larger still photo of Elizabeth with the second dress: personally I prefer the dress she wore over the second one.

I did like the Versace clothing Diana wore back in the early 90s. Not so sure I like it now, though, when I look at it. But they were a welcome relief at the time from doily neck dresses, and then the late 80s ‘big’ clothing.

Elizabeth Emmanuel and the wedding dresses

If someone has posted this, my apologies. I may have missed a page of the threads

The thing with Diana is that her style wasn't really revolutionary. She followed trends and that's what she would wear.

I think what gave her a style icon status is her style post separation.

It wasn't innovative, revolutionary or creative. It was more the act of dressing like a commoner as a royal

Thank you, @Wickedlywearynamechange !
That's really interesting. At the time I would have thought that second one was gorgeous, too!
The Emanuels were under huge pressure and were just a young couple. What responsibility. The press would go through their bins looking for scraps of material, so they burned off cuts.

I like Sophie, she's made sacrifices, I doubt it was easy having to give up her career but fair play she's been a dutiful Royal for over 20 years and seems to be content with her charity work and family life. I think Edward and Sophie went into oblivion purposely back in the day, the downfall of their careers was tabloid fodder must have been extremely difficult and evidently they had a very long road to having children. I am glad we are seeing more of them now those days are long behind them.

She really changed Edward imo, he was an arrogant prat before they met, and these days he comes across down to earth and respectful. I also think her confidence has helped Edward come out of his shell (bless he always a bit awkward and shy). Their happy marriage must have been nice for the Queen and Philip after the painful divorces of their older children.

Indeed, @FlatWhiteLover - it's their Silver Wedding anniversary in June.
I saw an interview with Edward recently, talking to Alan Tichmarsh. It was about the DoE awards, among other things. He was very pleasant and low key, paying tribute to his late father for the scheme and all those who work hard to support young people. I was pleasantly surprised.

I had a pie crust white cotton blouse before Diana, courtesy of Laura Ashley! I seem to remember hers came from there too. They were actually very pretty and quite flattering.

Some of the full on 80s looks she wore less so retrospectively, but that was the era and it was maximalist. Still really love a lot of her later evening dresses though and I think her style would have obviously carried on evolving.

IMO Sophie looks great in most of her choices and IIRC they are generally British designers.

ETA anyone else remember those shoulder pad inserts with velcro that you could use on any clothes that didn't have sufficient padding?

I used to love Laura Ashley. I bought those pie crust blouses, and their patterns and colours were so cheerful. Always good quality cotton.
I remember those removable shoulder pads! You'd get them in everything - sweaters and cardigans, too!
Diana really was considered to be stylish - all the magazines feted her clothing choices.

I love Sophie, and in recent years she's really stepped up and come into her own.

Sophie looks positively glowing at the moment.
She has definitely come into her own recently.
She had such an awful experience when Louise was born, I had a placental abruption myself only a couple of years afterwards and it took me years to get over it emotionally.
I remember her going back a few years ago to the hospital where Louise was born and she cried.

I liked that outfit however photos from that day are now frequently posted on SM as “ moonbump proof”

Really? I just ignore that nonsense.

I don’t believe it either but it’s hard to miss the frequent photos !