Of course, Meghan looked stunning in her Givenchy gown. Yes, the Duchess of Cambridge looked stunning in the creamy-yellow Alexander McQueen ensemble. And there was no bizarre, headline-grabbing head-wear for Eugenie and Beatrice at this cousin’s wedding.
As the foremost fashion site for women over 50, however, SoSensational is far more interested in the wedding guest outfits for older women chosen by those attending Meghan and Harry’s nuptials.
Mother of the Bride
When considering wedding guest outfits for older women, let’s start with the mother of the bride (MoB), Doria Ragland. A Californian social worker, Meghan’s mum Doria has been dragged from her comfort zone and thrown into a world that we assume is utterly alien to her. Soooo much pressure!
But she looked charming and elegant. She did not put a foot wrong. The mint-green dress-and-coat by top US designer Oscar de la Renta, was perfect for the occasion and for the warm weather. The colour was refreshing and pretty and the white embroidery was magical.
We thought her hat was a bit too strict and structured (actually a lot too strict and structured). Something softer would have been infinitely prettier and more flattering. But hard pill-box hats worn at the front of the head seem popular with the Markle women – Megan wore one in brown to attend church while at Sandringham for Christmas. If not a softer hat shape, maybe a softer hair-style…
The Queen
The Queen looked wonderful. That dress-and-coat ensemble in lime-and mauve by Stuart Parvin was superb…the colours were fresh, unexpected and a bit adventurous, while the mixing of colours gave it a very on-trend vibe.
The printed silk dress under the plain coat, were perfectly complemented by the striking Angela Kelly hat in lime with mauve flowers. Her majesty looked youthful and super chic…
Princess Royal
Sadly, the same cannot be said for her daughter. The Princess Royal (or Princess Anne as all we Boomers still think of her) was a fashion disaster-zone.
Sorry – we’d like to be more charitable towards her (especially Cyndy who hates us to be negative) but, really, the Princess Royal needs to rethink her look. We know older women’s wedding attire is not simple, but…
She was going for an on-trend lingerie-inspired vibe in a navy/burgundy jacquard print dress. We know she is not especially interested in fashion, so it is commendable that she tried a fresh look.
But the dress was styled out so tragically, she looked as if she was wearing her dressing gown. Or, more accurately, her husband’s dressing gown. She topped the dress off with a perfectly nice fascinator-type hat, but this didn’t work either, for two reasons:
1. The hat was completely wrong with the dress. The lingerie-inspiration trend is a bit vintage, and her hat choice should have reflected that and been a bit vintage, too. As well as a bit bigger to suit her frame. She is slender but tall and that feathery thing just looked awful.
2. The Princess Royal persists in wearing her hair in that horribly unflattering chignon/bun thing. It really is time to let her hair down. Literally. Her hair-do is ageing and many decades past its best. We assume she keeps the bouffant and chignon/bun thing in case of a tiara emergency (i.e. she has to pop one on her head without warning) but someone should tell her, a tiara can work with a shorter haircut – even with a fringe, which would suit her far better than the current bare forehead!
Sarah Ferguson
We didn’t think these words would ever appear on SoSensational, but the Princess Royal could take a lesson in style from Sarah Ferguson, AKA Fergie, the former holder of the title Royal Fashion Disaster-zone. But for this wedding, she looked utterly chic and perfectly styled, with her hair neatly tucked up under a beautiful navy-blue hat.
Among all the wedding guest dresses, she stood out for the right reasons. She wore an elegant navy-blue silk outfit edged in palest pink satin. We feel sure she considered wearing a hat or fascinator in baby pink, but the navy hat was infinitely more stylish. Well done Sarah!
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
Talking of pink, that was the colour chosen by the Duchess of Cornwall, 70, Mother of the Groom (or in this case, Step-Mother of the Groom).
We love pink, especially for a wedding. And we loved Camilla’s tailored coat-dress by Anna Valentine, topped with that stunning hat in the same shade of pink, by Philip Treacy.
If we want to be critical (but only in the cause of helping other MoBs and MoGs), we would have chosen a slightly lower neckline for Camilla as she is fuller busted so a lower neckline is more flattering. Then, if necessary, we would have put a straight-across cami under the coat-dress to avoid showing too much décolletage.
We also might have teamed the baby-pink coat-dress with a hat in, say, cream or very pale mint green to avoid the slightly saccharine effect of head-to-toe pink…
Occasion Hats
And talking of hats, we expect that like us, you will have spotted that wedding hats have morphed into fascinators. Or perhaps fascinators have morphed into hats. Either way, apart from Camilla’s stunning Philip Treacy hat and The Queen’s gorgeous Angela Kelly number, most of the “hats” were fascinator-style if not actual fascinators.
Here are the keys to success when wearing a fascinator-style hat:
1. Choose the right size fascinator for your build – not too tiny or too overpoweringly large/tall
2. Long hair tumbling round face and shoulders isn’t chic with a fascinator, so tuck hair behind the ears or into an up-do. Try out both before the big day so that you can tell the hairdresser.
3. Perching it as far forward on your head as it needs to be.
4. Perching it at the right angle – off-centre, but not on the side of your head
Who’s was your favourite outfit at the Royal Wedding (even if it wasn’t featured here)? We’d love to know your thoughts…
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4 Comments
The best dressed of the younger generation were Sophia Wellesley and Cressida Bonas who wore lovely dresses, both of which looked very expensive….
We really appreciate you taking the time to comment, Clare. We thought their dresses were lovely, too. Sofia Wellesley had definitely made an effort. But she is so gorgeous she could have worn a bin-bag and looked fabulous!
Cressida Bonas is a pretty woman who wore a pretty dress. But we thought her outfit looked too deliberately as if she wasn’t bothered or bothering. We wonder what others think?
My vote goes to the Countess of Wessex. Stylish,youthfull, elegant without being “stuffy”.
We agree, Louise. Thanks for taking the time to comment. We thought the Countess of Wessex looked stunning, too. There were more guests aged over 50 whose outfits were wonderful. Sadly, we didn’t have space to feature them all, so thank you for directing attention to Sophie Wessex.