Question: If you saw this dress - just the dress on its own - to which royal wardrobe would you guess it belongs?
Tiered lace dress from the H&M Conscious Collection.
If you answered a) Crown Princess Mette-Marit or b) the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, I’m right there with you. But no! Crown Princess Victoria is the proud owner of this tiered lace dress, in the black version (I gather it might actually be a deep navy, but it’s dark enough not to bother splitting hairs). It is possible that she owns every item in the most recent H&M Conscious Collection, judging from this year’s appearances.
She paired it with a kicky costume piece in her hair. I wasn’t too sure about the pairing, but I do think a bit of fun is needed here. Runs a bit too close to a bride in mourning otherwise, no?
Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine (with Chris O’Neill) were also present – actually they were much more the main event, despite my interest in Victoria’s dress, since Silvia founded the organization and Madeleine now works for it. Princess Madeleine is wearing her second recent gown from Ida Sjöstedt. It’s worth a look at the linked video; Madeleine’s sheer overlay is much more pronounced in movement, and Victoria’s skirt moves like a froofy bell as she picks her way over the cobblestones. I'm not sure that I like this H&M dress, but I would like to twirl around in it for a bit. The twirl factor is quite high, to put it in scientific terms. I shall wait to see what Mette-Marit makes of it before I issue my yay or nay. (Because we will see it on Mette-Marit, right?! Ruffles and a t-shirt top, that’s practically screaming her name. I’m still shocked she didn’t get to it first.)
