Princess Beatrice, married in vintage

Circa Vintage Clothing

Circa Vintage Clothing

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I'm delighted to see that Princess Beatrice choose a vintage gown for her wedding on Friday - one of her grandmother's Norman Hartnell frocks! It's a beautiful dress, I haven't seen it before, but I commend her unusual choice.

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Image source

Apparently 'Beatrice's dress, on loan from the Queen, "is made from Peau De Soie taffeta in shades of ivory, trimmed with ivory Duchess satin, with organza sleeves," a statement from the palace explains. "It is encrusted with diamanté and has a geometric checkered bodice." The monarch's trust dressmaker Angela Kelly and designer Stewart Parvin, who specializes in bridal design, remodeled and fitted the vintage garment especially for Beatrice. (Source here).

Here is the Queen wearing it in 1962, you can see how sleeves have been added, perhaps to accommodate the church wedding.

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I also adore Beatrice's choice of tiara, the Queen Mary Diamond Fringe tiara, which the Queen wore for her own wedding in 1947, as did Princess Anne in 1973. I presented a lecture recently on royal wedding fashion and it's probably my favourite tiara so I'm glad to see it again.

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What a lovely thing to do with this beautiful vintage gown that has special meaning since it belonged to her Grandmother! And, thank you, Nicole, for posting this about the gown Princess Beatrice chose to wear for her wedding day. Good to see this photograph of The Queen and Prince Phillip out for such a happy occasion.
 
Retro Ruth said:
It looks they've changed the hem on the Norman Hartnell dress as well adding the sleeves. The original looks like a puff ball hem. It's sacriligeous to say so, but I prefer the new hem.
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Well spotted, Ruth. Beatrice is 4-5 inches taller than her grandmother so they added some fabric. I agree that it's an improvement. Those puffballs were out of fashion even when the Queen wore it in '62.
 
The Vintage Vendeuse said:
Lovely gown and well done adaptation of it! Thanks for the photos and info, Nicole.

I must admit that I was underwhelmed by Kate's choice at her own wedding. Pretty, but it looked more like something off the rack at the local bridal store.
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Donna, I agree. Catherine is quite conservative in her tastes, and lacks a sense of grandeur and glamour that you can see in Meghan. Her choices are safe and mainstream but I do wish she'd be more....elegant....classic....extravagant...inspiring at times. Wedding dresses send strong messages to the world and I think Kate was mindful that she will (all things going to plan) be Queen one day. I thought her dress was acceptable, but could have been so much more. The fact that most of us focused more on her chic sister as bridesmaid speaks volumes.

I was particularly disappointed that she chose to do her own make up. A mistake, I think. It was not only of its time but inexpertly applied. There's no way I would have passed up the opportunity for a professional at that moment, with literally billions of people looking at your face.
 
I never really even noticed her make up before. But now as I look closer, I agree it is a bit......not quite well done and slightly garish. I loved her dress's bodice and the fine lace, but agree that the dress needed a bit more oomph overall. She is however, very beautiful and it would be lovely if she were one day Queen. Better than Camilla!!

Now I can think of Beatrice in that stunning vintage gown, and finally get that toilet seat :hysterical:hat out of my brain!!!
 
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