THE VOWS
The language of the Church of England liturgy of the marriage vows is beautiful. In the splendid surroundings of Westminster Abbey, the ceremony was, indeed, impressive. The Archbishop of Canterbury's vestments were on the splendid side, too. Lapin informs me that the maker is Watts & Co. Unfortunately, the archbishop had hat hair when he removed his mitre.
THE BALCONY KISS
Kate looked lovely. Her dress and veil, designed by Sarah Burton of British designer Andrew McQueen's fashion house, were traditional, simple (for a royal bride), and beautiful. William looked....colorful. Queen Elizabeth, whom I admire for performing her duties with grace and dignity, wore an outfit the color of which I can only describe as ghastly yellow. Ow! My eyes! Sorry about the sour note, but that was my reaction. Further sour note: Camilla's hat looked as if it were swallowing her. What is it with the mostly unattractive hats worn by the ladies?
I've not seen the entire coverage of the royal wedding, only these two videos. I'll watch Barbara Walters wrap-up on "60 Minutes" this evening at a more reasonable hour.
The best commentary on the wedding so far is Fr Christian's on-the-scene live-blogging of the event at GAFCON, which starts here.
I'm watching the rerun from BBC America. I love all the flying saucers on the ladies' heads. Some are horizontal. Many others seem to have lost their gyros and gone off half cocked. Surely helped the economy.
ReplyDeleteI didn´t like the little talkie by the Bishop of London-- seemed excluding to me (while pandering to someone who may be named Rowan).
ReplyDeleteThe rest, a JOY (I agree with the queens yellow-- not flattering but such a wonderful style with tucking on the dress itself)! Kate and William inspired the world with true love-- most all of us know the ¨look of love¨ and they had it.
Alexander McQueen (who a few months ago committed suicide apparently after being greatly saddened over the loss of his Mother).
Piskie, I saw a good many strange hats, indeed.
ReplyDeleteLeonardo, do you know if the words of the Bishop of London were from the prayer book or written for the occasion?
Alas, I did not know that Alexander McQueen had committed suicide.
Here is the whole thing. The prayer at the end of the sermon was written by the couple. I loved the Catherine of Siena quote. Wedding sermons are notoriously hard - not much new to say and no one wants to listen anyway. I thought he did a great job. As to the queen's yellow - I thought she looked great. But the best dressed guest was Kate's mother - and the best hat was the no hat by Cameron's wife. The hats were hilarious on the most part. Well it was a party and they definitely had on party hats (as one person said one of them looked like a Skee Ball game!) and it was full employment for the milliners.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching on The Royal Channel on YouTube, but there does not seem to be any way to stop the video for bathroom breaks. Prince Harry the Red is too cute. He's more muscular than his brother, or perhaps it's the uniform.
ReplyDeleteI spotted Elton John and more strange hats. The Queen's yellow looks better and less blinding out of the sunlight as seen on the balcony of the palace, and I like the styling of her outfit very much. Kate looks more like her father, and I agree that the bride's mother looks fabulous.
I haven't seen the part with the sermon or the prayer yet.
...except that the bride's mother's hat resembles too much a flying saucer, as do many of the other hats.
ReplyDeleteYes, Prince Harry is a fine looking athletic fellow--he walks with a certain/natural masculine gait that´s quite riveting.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the Queens mellow yellow was a hue short of being deadly flat--the suit was stunning and her hat perfect--shoes bordering on corrective and matching bag something from the far past stylings of Morris Moscowitz (or that Old Ladies English brand found at Harrods)...not understated just old/tired and framed. Speaking of which I think the Queen seemed less perky than usual-- quite contemplative/serious yet somehow still attractive.
I thought of William's mum, Diana, who was present only in spirit and in the hearts of those who love her and said a prayer for her and for those who miss her.
ReplyDeleteThe Telegraph's worst-dressed picture essay has its moments. Seems Princess Eugenie of York may have inherited her mother's "inappropriate" gene.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the ¨Lady in Red¨ with matching asymmetrical hat who entered with the less-noble group at the first seatings? She was a gorgeous young thing who wore that ¨coming in for a landing¨ style hat really well and it was also beautiful as was the dress--made me wonder if there was a ¨message¨ in her madness with all red...nobody knows where the nose goes (my friend Charles Benjamin used to say).
ReplyDeleteWell there is no accounting for tastes I suppose. I thought the queen's yellow was a happy, creamy color, a sunshiny choice that struck just the right note, visually. And Camilla's hat I saw as becoming, fashionable but modest; say what you will about her, she always dresses nicely without calling attention to herself.
ReplyDeleteThe York girls, though - now that's another story but then who would argue against a woman's right to choose . . . to wear something frivolous on her head?
Overall, a fairly simple but pretty wedding, not overdone or underdone but just about right for the couple in question; and done with dignity and precision as only the British can do.
Leonardo - do you have a link for the Lady in Red?
ReplyDeleteLapin, weird. I will never forget the large embroidered "A" for Andrew on Fergie's train. From this American, "Whaaat!"
ReplyDeleteLeonardo, maybe it's my new implanted lenses, but I don't see how you can call the Queen's dress mellow yellow, though I admire her courage in choosing to wear a bright color.
With Ann, I'd like to see the lady in red.
Russ, chacun à son goût. :-)
Persimmon. I believe that's the color of the Queen's dress. I thought she looked lovely in it. She simply could not stop smiling. Who could?
ReplyDelete'Twas quite grand.
Elizabeth, I never knew persimmon was yellow. I thought it was more the color of the ripe fruit from which the the color takes its name.
ReplyDeleteThe Queen smiled averagely, or so it seemed to me. There were a number of shots of her not smiling.
The wedding was splendid royal pageantry, as only the English can do it. Of course, they've had centuries of practice.
It is said that the queen wears what she likes and doesn't pay any attention to what others wear. Good for her.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, I agree. Good for her.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as y'all enjoyed it so much I-tunes have literally just made the live album available for download.
ReplyDeletehttp://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id435131700
theme, thanks for letting us former colonists know. The music in the ceremony in Westminster Abbey was lovely, and I appreciate the link - truly.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mimi, this was fun to do a little ¨mellow yellow¨ (or not) post mortem (persimmons are generally light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in color)...and then there was the ¨Lady in Red¨ --she was fabulous but, alas, no proof of her fabulousness even though I viewed her on CNN International--perhaps I made it up to startle myself into being fully awake -- you know how it can be with retired, now provincial, fashionistas when we are disconnected from the market forecasts/creative flow and twice annual trips to Europe, Premiere Vision, Pret a Porter and Mipel/Milano...I feel an attack of the ¨has beens¨ coming on.
ReplyDeleteHello YELLOW (wish hers had a little more verve it may have made her a tad more cheerie).
Leonardo, I had fun with this post, too, with all the clothes talk. I should let you dress me. Wait! Not literally put on my clothes, but choose my clothes. I seem to be stuck in a past time of no style at all. Trust me. I once had style. I was selected as one of the ten best-dressed co-eds at Loyola University one year, and I had very little money to spend on clothes. In my small world, I was greatly honored and astonished, above all.
ReplyDeleteTell you what. I´m coming stateside this Summer for a few weeks and I´ll mail you a little surprise from South of the border(s) after I get there...I´ll contact you as to where and when (I think you have my email address?)! Nothing like a surprise to put a little COLOR in ones day-- no brooding looks for you!
ReplyDeleteOooh, Leonardo, my heart goes pitter-patter in anticipation of the surprise.
ReplyDeleteComplaints about the Queen's shoes? If I had to stand as much as she does on those floors at her age, I'd wear them too. In fact, I haven't worn pumps in years. I watched the ceremony on BBC
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13244592. From entrances of the wedding party to the procession out the door!
susan, I agree about the shoes. If they're not comfortable, I'm not buying. I haven't worn anything higher than a one and one half inch heel, and a wide heel at that, in years. I wear pumps only on extreme occasions, but the heel rule remains the same.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if you've seen the clip of the cartwheeling canon? It seems to have made the news and looks like it will going the rounds of the Internet?
ReplyDelete(I have no idea if he was a canon, but the other choice was cartwheeling curate and I doubt they have many curates at the Abbey.)
And, as a shoe salesperson, I vehemently deplore your insistence on sensible shoes. If all women were like you, we wouldn't be able to see those modish high heels to the younger women and then sell the orthopedic comfort shoes to the older women whose feet were irreparably damaged by wearing too many high heels in earlier life. You'd be putting us out of business! :)
He is a verger not a canon
ReplyDeletekishnevi, the cartwheeling verger video is at The Lead, along with the sermon, which I have not yet heard in its entirety, since the phone rang right at the beginning, and I could find no way to pause the BBC replay.
ReplyDeleteAs to the shoes, I did my share of walking, standing, and dancing in high heels. My feet should be in worse shape than they are, but now I go for comfort.
I do not insist that all women should wear sensible shoes, kishnevi. If I were young, I would probably wear higher heels than I do now, but please do not deny sensible shoes to those of us over 65. I am sure there are enough young women to keep you busy.
ReplyDelete