10. Princess Beatrice at the Wedding of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly
9. Princess Maxima at the Wedding of Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Anita van Eijk
(Religious Service)
8. Princess Laurentien at the Wedding of Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Anita van Eijk
(Civil Service)
These three go together because they've all committed the same sin: TOO MUCH! The focus is supposed to be on the bride, not on your crazy ass hat, ladies.
Take Princess Beatrice, for example. On its own, I love this ensemble. Seriously - LOVE it. The outfit comes from Alexander McQueen's Spring 2008 Ready to Wear collection, which featured hats created by Philip Treacy and was, in and of itself, a tribute to the late Isabella Blow (a lady who was never without something crazy perched atop her head).
The dress is a work of art, and the butterfly fascinator is one of the most original things to come out of a millinery studio in a long time. But.....at a wedding? Let's leave it to Ladies Day at Ascot, where craziness is the entire point of the day. Whenever you have to ask yourself if more people might remember your outfit than the bride's, you need to revise your choice. It's common decency.
Princess Anita ended up the victim of a double attack of sartorial one-upmanship at her wedding; first, Laurentien assaulted our visual senses at the civil ceremony, and then Maxima dealt the final technicolor blow at the religious service.
Maxima, now, she's one of the rare people that can pull off a lot of look. The lady is tailor-made for bright colors and crazy headgear. But this, with its fuchsia and red shoes, red coat and MAJOR Fabienne Delvigne pink and red hat, has crossed a line. I'm not sure where a better spot would have been to showcase this look (perhaps a trip for Royal Ascot to join Bea at Ladies Day?) but poor Anita's wedding wasn't it. And as for Laurentien...I'm pretty sure this is too much for all occasions on all days. Just....no.
Photos: Michel Porro/Getty Images/Anwar Hussein/Wire Image/Marcio Madeira/Style.com
