R---- W------ Blues

Okay, enough with the royal wedding, RIGHT? This is (probably) it, and then I'll move on to something new.

Remember the young woman who went on a hunger strike for a Royal Wedding invitation?



She made it to England, but was denied entry. She didn't sound terribly stable, so I'm not surprised.


It's always shocking to see the terrible things that people will tattoo on their bodies. Check out this hideous Royal Wedding tattoo.



I don't get it at all.


Finally, if you're wondering how the ga-ga-gorgeous gown was kept a secret, especially when so many people hand-crafted it, now we know: they lied.



The lace-makers were told that Kate's lace was actually for a dress for a British period costume drama. McQueen seamstresses were also told that they were doing a dress for a film, and when Sarah Burton went to Buckingham Palace to assemble the dress, she worked with helpers who had all signed secrecy agreements.

No more about the Royal Wedding y/y?

-KB

The Royal Wedding - late!

I totally spaced on my post about the Royal wedding! It's pretty obvious that I wasn't super into the hype surrounding it, but when I saw that gown I fell in love with Kate Middleton. She's gorgeous, poised, and confident. Love or not, I fast forwarded through 95% of the event, pausing only to watch their vows, marvel at William's enormous bald "spot", and watch them ride stiffly in a carriage. Because I paid so little attention, I thought the reception would be televised as well, so I was really disappointed when I didn't get to see their cake until the next day.

You've seen these, but here they are again.


This dress was so gorgeous. I literally gasped because I was so shocked that it wasn't ugly. The gown is timeless and traditional - we'll still be looking at pictures of her in 50 years and saying how beautiful she was. I think we can say good bye to the strapless wedding gown trend of the last decade or so. Strapless gown brides (myself included) prepare to look dated! If I was planning my wedding, I would now want lace sleeves. While I hate veils, I loved this veil. It wasn't bunched up at the top or fussy - she was just draped in silk. And putting her sister in white? Classy, IMO. And why am I detecting more love from her for her sister than I do in any of her interactions with William?



On top of looking good, she's seemed quietly confident. I'm sure she was OMFGing inside, but she did a good job of hiding it. THAT EMBROIDERY! Love. And did you notice her brief-yet-beautiful bouquet? It's a far cry from Princess Diana (or Posh Spice's) nightmare of a trailing bouquet.


Another picture. They look as happy as reserved English people can look.


Here's what I care about -the royal wedding cake. "Garland on the cake matched architectural garland in the room, and each of the many varieties of flowers decorating the cake carried a specific meaning. The wedding cake was made up of 17 individual fruitcakes, with 12 forming the base. The cake was then decorated with cream and white icing using the Joseph Lambeth technique." FRUITCAKE? That's just wrong. It is very pretty, but NO FRUITCAKE.



And here's the meme heard round the world. HAHAHA, poor kid.

It was fun for a minute, but now it's gone...until Harry gets married. I think it would be awesome if he ran off to Vegas and eloped. He seems like the type that might.

-KB

Pic source 1, 2

Time for the royal wedding!

I'm awake, I'm awake! Time to watch the royal repeats. So far I'm in LOVE with the gown! Can't wait to see all the other details.

Royal wedding style though the decades

Here's an interesting look at royal wedding style though the ages.

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1923


A traditional full-length gown with a court train was the order of the day for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's marriage to the Duke of York, later George VI. Designed by Madame Handley, the dress was on trend for the 1920s with its unshaped lace bodice - a style made popular by Coco Chanel. This gown is so trendy it hurts.

Wallis Simpson, 1937


The marriage of Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward wasn't a royal wedding as such as the prince had decided to abdicate the throne in order to marry divorcee Mrs Simpson. The bride wore a simple blue dress with a fitted waistband, gathered bodice all finished off with a neat hat - the style was widely copied for its simplicity. I love this dress! The buttoned waist and the flowy, elegant skirt is gorgeous.

Queen Elizabeth II, 1947


Queen Elizabeth II's wedding day at Westminster Abbey was a grand affair - and the royal wedding dress was certainly fit for the occasion. The Queen's dressmaker Norman Hartnell had the honour of designing the ivory duchesse satin gown adorned with crystals, 10,000 tiny pearls and appliqué tulle embroidery. The 15-foot train was also embroidered with pearls and crystals as well as appliqué duchesse satin and was inspired by Botticelli's Primavera, to signify hope after the war. LOVE!!!! The floral lace train is gorgeous.

Grace Kelly, 1956


MGM wardrobe designer Helen Rose had the honour of creating Grace Kelly's wedding gown in the 50s - the dress featured a full skirt of ivory peau de soie and a fitted bodice made of Brussels lace and embroidered with seed pearls. Grace's veil was adorned with lace lovebirds and the gown remains one of the most celebrated in history. She's so gorgeous. The bustle type poofy skirt is so pretty.

Princess Margaret, 1960


Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, Princess Margaret, was the subject of the world's first televised royal wedding and she chose a simple gown by her favourite designer Norman Hartnell for the occasion. The bride wore a white silk organza dress with a short train, a Claude St Cyr of Paris veil and the Poltimore tiara, purchased at auction. The full skirt is so fairy tale princess, and the crown seems pretty on her. Normally I hate tiaras at weddings, but since she's ACTUAL royalty it makes sense.

Lady Diana Spencer, 1981


Lady Diana Spencer's marriage to Prince Charles had people around the world glued to their tellies and the late princess certainly looked the part. The bride wore a silk taffeta gown designed by Brits Elizabeth and David Emanuel - complete with enormous puff sleeves, 10,000 hand-stitched pearls and a record-breaking 25-foot train, the outfit is certainly a memorable one! It's not a popular opinion, but I hate this gown and pretty much every other gown from the '80s.

Sarah Ferguson, 1986

Sarah Ferguson's duchesse satin gown was an elaborate affair (it was the 80s after all!) - the 17-foot train featured an anchor to represent Prince Andrew's time in the navy and an 'A' was also embroidered onto it to reflect her love for her husband. Ditto Fergie. Sorry.

Sophie Rhys-Jones, 1999


Sophie Rhys-Jones looked stunning in this silk organza coatdress by Samantha Shaw - the outfit was embroidered with 325,000 pearl and cut glass beads. Prince Edward also had a hand in the outfit - he designed the black and white pearl necklace that Sophie wore on the day. This is a little too matronly for me, but it's elegant enough.

Camilla Parker Bowles, 2005

It was Prince Charles' second wedding, but his second bride looked fantastic in this outfit designed by Robinson Valentine. Camilla accessorised the full-length coat and chiffon dress with pale beige suede shoes by LK Bennett and a plummage and lace detail portrait hat by Philip Treacy. She looks good for her. I like the long duster.

Which is your favorite? Mine is Grace Kelly, or if we're talking about English royalty, Princess Margaret. Everything about her screams royal wedding, and I mean that in the best way possible.

-KB

Royal-tea

The royal wedding stuff is snooze-tastic, but this is funny.

For just £9.99 (+s&h) this beautiful commemorative mug can be yours. It celebrates the royal wedding of Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton.




Notice the exquisite detail; the fine writing, the gilt edges, and beautiful craftsmanship.



You'll also appreciate these beautiful photos of Prince Harry and Kate.


Somewhere in the world is an office full of people who are so far removed from royal/celebrity gossip, that they don't know the difference between Princes Harry and William. I am going to guess that somewhere is in China.

Get yours before the irony runs out.

Hunger strike for a royal wedding invitation

A 19-year old woman from Mexico City, Mexico was on a hunger strike in an attempt to get enough attention to snag an invitation to Prince William and Kate's wedding. She parked herself outside of the British Embassy, saying she wouldn't budge until she got an invitation.

"I have been a fan of Lady Di since I was a little girl," said Estibalis Chavez, who set up a tent outside the British embassy in Mexico City. "My mother was also a fan... I promised myself I would go to the next royal wedding."

Photo Source

The young woman said she has been asking for an invitation to the April 29 ceremony at Westminster Abbey but that the embassy has told her it was impossible.

"I intend to fight until the very end... there is no turning back," she said.

There don't seem to be any current updates on her situation, but hopefully someone will talk her down and make her realize that Prince William and Kate are busy. I have a theory that anyone who draws pictures of their celebrity infatuations are straight-up crazy, and based on this story, I'm probably not wrong.

-KB

British royalty to share their photos on Flickr

It's undoubtedly a publicity stunt to make the monarchy seem more accessible, but the Royal Family will allow their personal family photos to be published to Flickr, and people will be allowed to use them. (Lewd and poorly 'shopped pictures of me and Prince William and Prince Harry! Yay!)

To this day, people are still obsessed with the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana, so I'm sure this has been a popular hangout for those interested in the jetsetting lives of the figureheads. Zing.






There's not much of interest in the wedding photos, but it's kind of fun to look through the older ones to see how style has changed. I always forget how beautiful the Queen was.



-KB

Princess Diana's wedding champagne auctioned off

I really do love weddings, and I frequently like celebrity weddings because they are splashy and luxe, but I do not like Princess Diana and Prince Charles wedding stories. I genuinely don't understand the fascination with their wedding day. As I've already mentioned, I didn't like her dress, and I didn't think their cake looked nice or tasty, so you can guess that I rolled my eyes when I read this article:

A bottle of champagne from Britain's Prince Charles' wedding to Diana is expected to fetch £1,200 [roughly $2000 US] at auction. Princess Diana had given the 1961 vintage Dom Perignon to Brian Ames, manager of exclusive London store Harrods, as a 50th birthday present in 1988, seven years after she married the heir to the throne.


My own photo of the Moet and Chandon gift shop. The largest bottle (I believe a Nebuchadnezzar) was $2000. I'd much rather have the giant bottle than an old, potentially undrinkable bottle.

Its 1961 vintage was selected as it was the year of the bride's birth. James Grinter of auction house Reeman Dansie, said: "It is very rare to find a Royal Wedding bottle of 1961 Dom Perignon because it was a strictly limited release and even rarer to find it still sealed in its original box."

It is understood that just 99 bottles of the vintage - regarded as one of the finest ever produced - were shipped across from the France's Champagne region for the wedding. All are believed to have been consumed at the Buckingham Palace reception after the wedding, watched by an estimated 1,000 million people worldwide. [By 1,000 million do they mean a billion? Numbers aren't really my strong point, but that seems impossible somehow.]

A little research calls up the fact that many bottles of this vintage are worthless or sold only for collecting because they might have been stored improperly. A bottle in good condition can go for $1000US, so the Princess Diana factor adds at least $1000 to the value. The article doesn't state the condition of the bottle up for auction.

I love champagne, but $2000 for a bottle that I potentially can't drink? No thank you! Also, not to brag (okay, maybe a little) but earlier this year I visited Moet and Chandon in Epernay and it was worth the trip. If you love champagne as much as I do, you'll appreciate the chance to get tipsy before lunch in an incredibly beautiful French countryside.


-Kay

p.s. Just so you know, I'm a hypocrite. If someone offered me something that Lucille Ball had at her wedding, I would consider paying $2000 for it because I love her.

Royal wedding cakes

After Monday's royal cake snark, I thought I would take a look at some royal wedding cake photos. My knowledge of royals is limited to the UK, so if you want to take a look at some other wedding cakes have a peek here and here.


From the wedding of Prince Andrew and "Fergie"



Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly with their wedding cake

More detail of the cake. The bottom tier looks like little shops on a cobbled European street. Or maybe that's just my vivid imagination.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding cake with the baker David Avery. According to this article two identical wedding cakes were made in case of an accident, and the cakes took 14 weeks from start to finish. Wow!

If you're really curious about that old piece of Charles and Diana's wedding cake that sold for $1600, here it is.



It's nice, I guess. I can only imagine the work that went in to each piece of cake.

I'm not as impressed by these royal cakes as I thought I'd be. They're all too much; none of them looks particularly beautiful or appetizing, they just look ornate for the sake of being ornate. Oh well, as long as the royals liked them...

-Kay

Monday morning snark

Really, England? REALLY?

A slice of Prince Charles and Camilla's wedding cake is to be auctioned today [last Monday] - but could fetch 15 times less than a piece from his marriage to Diana.

The cake, still in its unique presentation box from the big day in 2005, is valued at £60 to £80. [$90-$130] A piece of wedding cake from Charles' marriage to Diana sold at auction last year for £1,000. [$1600]

The 28-year-old square piece [of cake from the Lady Diana wedding] was snapped up by an anonymous buyer even though only the marzipan and icing remained. [meaning it was half-eaten?!]

Who in their right mind would pay $1600, or even $100 for old cake? Gross and wasteful. How do you even store that? How do you (ew!) display your prized piece of half-eaten cake?

Kay

Dear Prince Charles and Lady Camilla,

I am very sorry about the picture above. I know it goes beyond snark and into the category of mean, but it really made me laugh when I saw it. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, and I really hope that you have a sense of humor.

Sincerely and apologetically,

Kay Banks.