Sunday 20 March 2016

5 gowns from a fairytale ball

Royals at a ball is always a bit of a fairytale and last night's Rose Ball in Monaco is among the most glamourous and glitzy of them all. This year saw many of the country's Royal Family in attendance but there was one notable absence.


Princess Charlene missed the Rose Ball - her second absence in a row from the event

Just like last year Princess Charlene took a pass bt even in her absence. the Rose Ball in aid of the Princess Grace Foundation still gave us some thrilling frocks to look at - and a couple of moments when we wondered just what on earth they were wearing. Sit back and enjoy five looks from a ball of roses.





The winner of the fairytale, Cinderella, take me to the ball right now gown is Beatrice Borromeo. In her first appearance at the Rose Ball as a married woman she stunned and then some with this red princess gown that was so gorgeous no one could take their eyes off it and so big no one else could get in a picture with her. This is a proper ball gown, reminiscent of Crown Princess Victoria's fabulous dress for the 2014 Nobel Prize ceremony, and it won the style stakes in Monaco hands down last night.



 


Not far behind though was her mother in law, Princess Caroline, who went simple and won, like she does every time. Her cream dress with black trimming started with a dreamy draped top that fell into a fitted skirt with an eye catching fold design and ended with a soft flounce. It was about as elegant as it gets and with Caroline taking the role of leading lady in the absence of Charlene, it was a gown more than ready for its close up.



Princess Alexandra of Hanover chose a pale pink gown that did the job and gave a hint that she might just be following in mum's footsteps when it comes to style statements. The shell pink/ black colour combo is a fashion classic while the sheer cap sleeves are rather pretty. There is a bit too much volume for anyone to manage successfully and while the high empire line belt takes some getting used to, for me it shows a princess not afraid to take fashion risks which is always a good thing. 

 


It was a tale of two halves for Tatiana Santo Domingo who chose a purple dress with potential which just fell wide of the mark. The skirt was a cracker with lovely layers falling into a frock made for dancing. But the top was a bit of a disaster with odd ruching, lots of ribbons and a corsage of flowers that needed to make a move elsewhere and fast. She didn't need to worry, there was far more of a fashion faux pas to come.




Charlotte Casiraghi went for a  look that, on paper, was probably a radical fashion forward take on the traditional ball gown. Unfortunately, in reality, it looked like she'd got ready for a fancy dress party in the dark. We got a white satin trouser all in one which is always difficult to wear but when you add in a sheer cape with a sparking tie, you are setting yourself a fashion ambition that few are going to be able to manage. Charlotte didn't. Ten out of ten for effort but let's keep everything crossed next year for a return to ballgown tradition.

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