ROYAL COUTURE.....Queen Sofia of Spain, Style Icon Through The Years

Mantilla Diva: Queen Sofia of Spain

Yesterday, King Juan Carlos of Spain officially handed over his crown, throne, title...you get it, to his son Felipe. Felipe is now Felipe VI King of Spain. The official ceremony was televised live on BBC World News and yes, I was up until 2 AM PST watching it!

Belted Fashionista: Queen Sofia during the Abdication Ceremony--with her husband, King Juan Carlos I and son, the new King Felipe VI

In terms of Abdication Ceremonies and Handing-over-a-Crown, it was rather low-key, in accordance to the fact that Spain has recently hit some difficult economic times and well, it wouldn't be kosher for people to be talking about the $100,000+ Haute Couture being worn and all the Too Mucheey being spent (at the Spanish tax payers expense) on a grand affair. It was still grand but with a lower-case "g". In light of this "passing the torch" to the younger generation, I wanted to pay a Style Homage to the older, and particularly, Queen Sofia, the Queen Mother.

Doña Sofia has always been a style icon in my eyes and here, I want to pay tribute to this. Let's begin with her chartreuse satin suit worn at yesterday's official Ceremony Welcoming the new King of Spain. Queen Sofia wore this silk taffeta suit with three-quarter sleeves, high neck. It was austere, elegant and perfect. What I especially liked was the very Retro 60's back button detail: 

Buttoned Queen Mother: Queen Sofia of Spain--in the the balcony of the Palace, greeting the "masses" welcoming the newly crowned King of Spain (fourth from left)

Queen Sofia 1960's

I love this look from the then-Princess of Greece and Denmark, Sophia. Donning a mink shawl, pearls, silk chiffon dress, hat and elbow-length white gloves, she looks every bit a future queen...or Hollywood royalty.

The Wedding: In 1962, the Greece-born Princess Sophia of German-Danish descent wed Infante Juan Carlos in Greece wearing a Jean Dessès Haute Couture custom wedding gown with (as you can see) a very, very long royal-worthy train. The silk satin  and lace veiled gown would be estimated at costing over $100,000 in the 21st Century Haute Couture pricing standards. The wedding was attended by many Euro royals at the time and occurred at a Catholic church even though she was Greek Orthodox. Naturally, Sofia converted to Roman Catholicism to become more palatable to Roman Catholic Spain. Also, her Greek name of Sophia became "Latinized" to then become Sofia.

1970's:

During her first official appearance as Queen of Spain in 1975--Sofia wore a teal coat and gown inn an A-line silhouette with gold trim, long sleeves and black lace Mantilla. She looked every bit a Couture Queen alongside her husband, King Juan Carlos I and children (future King Felipe standing in between them with his sister).

Mantilla Queen:

As the Queen of Spain, Sofia wore the Spanish headdress of a peineta (hair-comb) and mantilla (lace fabric draped over the headdress). And she wore it well. Even though among many "inside social circles", she was still considered the "German Queen", she made sure to wear this iconic Spanish fashion accessory. Here are some of the best Queen Sofia Mantilla fashion moments:

Polka Dot Sevillana Fashion Queen: 

Queen Sofia never met a polka dot she did not like...case in point...

Sevillana Fab: Queen Sofia

With Pope John Paul II (left) and in Valentino Haute Couture polka-dot red-and-white gown



Sofia: The Boxy Suit Queen

Queen Sofia loves a boxy-cut suit. Especially in a bright color. Skirt lengths are always at the knee and the jackets have notched or portrait collars. Even during the wedding announcement of the future King of Spain (photo above), one can see that Sofia LOVED a boxy-cut suit. Here are some of the best ones from  recent years...

Resort Sofia:

As much as Queen Sofia loves a tailored boxy suit, there is proof that for "Resort", she also loved a more relaxed look as seen in the photo with her daughter-in-law (and future Queen) Letizia and with Princess Diana in the above pics.



Boho Chic Sofia:

Queen Sofia, in all her Euro fabulousless, can do Boho Chic perfectly. In the above left photo, she is wearing a multi-printed dress while in Greece at a pre-wedding dinner event for Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana. And on the right photo, Queen Sofia looks Boho-perfect in this Valentino Couture blouson sleeved satin-belted gown (along with Belgium's Queen Fabiola).



Gown Queen:

Queen Sofia loves a gown, especially for events involving Official Engagements, Dinners and World Leader Dinner Engagements. Here are some of my favorites...

Blouson Sleeve Top-and-Column Gown Skirt

Printed and Bright Colored Gowns

Blushing Queen--Draped and Lace Gown at Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria's Wedding

Ball Gown Sofia:

Queen Sofia also ADORES a good full shaped ball gown--especially if thre's a drop-waist...here are some examples...

Ball Gown Queens: With Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands

Queen Sofia with fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and Hillary Clinton--at the Gold Medal Gala of the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Honoring Hillary Clinton and Antonio Banderas in 2013

Muchisimas Gracias HM Queen Sofia of Spain for being a Style Muse

Beyonce, Anna Wintour, Sarah Jessica Parker

Honorary Chair of the Met Gala 2013, Beyoncé in custom Givency by Riccardo Tisci--She wore a two piece ensemble featuring a strapless very corseted bustier with an elaborately appliqued gold and black skirt with a high side slit and long dramatic train (naturally, it's Beyoncé!). She finished it all off with matching thigh-high boots and gloves. She looked very Toreador-Meets-Gothic-Vampira in this.

Last night was THE biggest--or at  least most FASHIONABLE--Red Carpet of the year: the Annual Met Gala. The Met Gala 2013 honored the opening of the Spring 2013 Costume Institute Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum.  The exhibition is titled "Punk: Chaos to Couture" and was made possible by Moda Operandi and with additional support provided by Condé Nast. It was curated by The Costume Institute Curator, Andrew Bolton and examines punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the 1970s through its continuing influence today. The exhibition opens May 9 and runs through August 14, 2013.

But let's get to last night's Museum's Costume Institute Benefit "Met Gala" which occurred last night: The one-and-only Beyoncé served as the Honorary Chair with Co-Chairs Academy
Award© nominated actress Rooney Mara; Lauren Santo Domingo, Co-Founder
of Moda Operandi; Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director of Givenchy; and
Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. This event is always a HUGE "Fashion Prom"--bigger than the Oscars--in terms of the Red Carpet Alta Moda that is seen. So, let's take a look:

Anna Wintour in Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2013 with her Daughter Bee Shaffer in Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring 2013--Anna Wintour said on the red carpet last night that she wanted to wear PINK because the color pink is the "Color of Punk" (who knew?), so she chose a very un-punk looking flower printed Chanel gown. Wintour's gown was a combination of two from Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2013 Collection:

 Anna Wintour had the Chanel Couture Atelier custom-make her a gown taking the print of "Look 43" (left photo) and the style/silhouette of "Look 57" (when you're paying for a $100,000+ Haute Couture gown, you can customize anything darlings)--Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2013

Her daughter Bee Shaffer wore...

Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2013--As you can see, Anna Wintour's daughter had the beading color of the gown changed and customized for her fitted "Mermaid Lite" silhouetted gown

Rooney Mara in Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci--Rooney was one of the Co-Chair's of the Gala along with Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director of Givenchy. Since he was one of the Co-Chair's, it wasn't by happenstance that many of the A-List attendees were provided with free Givenchy custom ensembles for the event. Actress--and Givenchy "muse" Rooney Mara--was his "date" to the event and naturally, she wore an ivory Givenchy gown with sculpted shoulders, long sleeves, plunging neckline and high center front slit. It was nice to see Rooney in something NOT black.

 

Co-Chair Lauren Santo Domingo in Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda--I thought Lauren looked elegant and very Italian Renaissance Principessa-like

Blake Lively in Gucci Premiere--Blake looks elegant and red carpet fab in this Gucci Premiere (Gucci's Made-to-Order Couture line) strapless gown with full tiered organza paneled detail. This gown could easily work for an Academy Awards red carpet, and it worked for last night's Met Gala

Katie Holmes in Calvin Klein--Katie looked very Grecian Goddess in this ivory chiffon halter-neck gown with falling side and back train. Very Aphrodite.

Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney--Love this royal blue gown, it's simplicity and subdued elegance, the cut of the "cape", the color...I think this was a very good choice for Cameron Diaz.

Jessica Pare in Jason Wu Fall 2013--Actress Jessica Pare wore a silk top with falling over-pieces and skinny black pants. This was an outfit from Jason Wu's Fall 2013 collection but in a different color (it was shown in red, she wore royal blue). I think this was a bit of a mish-mash. On the runway this looked intriguing, had an 80's/early 90's vibe to it and looked quite chic as the model sauntered, but on Jessica...it didn't have the same impact; it just looked odd. What do you guys think?

Christina Ricci in Vivienne Westwood--Two words: Oh Huney! I think y'all would agree with me on this one. I know it's a Vivienne Westwood but it looks like a BAD PROM dress. And the matching copper hair...

Gwyneth Paltrow in Valentino Couture--Since PINK is the color of PUNK, makes sense People Magazine's "World's Most Beautiful Woman", actress Gwyneth Paltrow wore this bubblegum pink silk ziberline custom Valentino Couture gown. It had a high neck, long sleeves and sheer horizontal panels. I like the color of the gown, especially on Gwyneth (blonds can DEFINITELY wear this color!). I think the silhouette, however, might be a but "mumsy".  I can see this on a NY Socialite/Doyenne.

Anne Hathaway in vintage Valentino Couture--After the Academy Awards fashion-debacle-heard-around-the-world (remember how Valentino's PR people tweeted that she was wearing Valentino to the Oscars but instead she wore PRADA!), Anne Hathaway decided it would be smart to extend an "olive branch" to the Italian House and wear Valentino to this most important and high-profile red carpet event. Smart girl. It was a black see-through gown with sheer side panels and feathered details. It does have elements of PUNK and COUTURE for sure. I recognize this gown but cannot for the life of me place the collection. I think it's early to late 1990's Valentino Couture. So, I guess that might be considered "Vintage" in some circles. Not mine though, vintage for me means 50's/60's/70's maybe 80's. Just saying...

Amanda Seyfried in custom Givenchy--This silk chiffon printed gown has a lot of DRAMA to it, especially from the back with that long train; great for walking up those red carpeted Met Gala stairs!), semi-exposed back, and side cowl drape. Her hair and makeup looked great as well.

Emma Watson in Prabal Gurung--Actress Emma Watson went surprisingly SEX-a-Licious in this black one shoulder midriff-exposing side draped gown. I love the gown, but I think she still looks like a sixteen year old girl trying to look too sexy for her age. This gown could be better suited for a six-foot tall supermodel who can carry it off.

Kristen Stewart in Stella McCartney--Maybe I'm alone in this but, I think Kristen looks kinda good in this wine-red lace and satin jumpsuit from Stella McCartney. Her makeup and hair are FLAWLESS. At the very least, this is a 110% improvement from what she looked like back at the 2013 Academy Awards red carpet.

Uma Thurman in Zac Posen Fall 2013--Uma wore an apple green mermaid-shape Zac Posen gown, based on one of the gowns he showed for his Fall 2013 Collection at NY Fashion Week back in February.

Kerry Washington in Vera Wang--Kerry wore this purple flower printed damask gown with center front neckline inset and peplum detail, finishing it all off with long black leather gloves (I guess that was the "punk" element. Not sure about this on Kerry. I'll leave that up to you--my dear NICKVERREOS.COM readers--to decide if it's a "Hit" or "Punk Chaos" miss.

Sarah Jessica Parker in Giles Fall 2013--Always the Fashionista, Miss Sarah Jessica Parker was no wallflower at last night's Met Gala 2013. She wore a black, gold and ivory hand-painted dress from the British fashion house, Giles (designer Giles Deacon) and topped it all off (literally) with a Philip Treacy headdress reminiscent of a something you see from a Himalayan Kingdom. I think she looks fantastic. I love the completely mismatched plaid boots. Only someone with Sarah's confidence and style could pull off this look.

***UP NEXT: Part Two of the Met Gala Red Carpet! Much More PUNK-ish Couture (and CHAOS) from Models, Singers, and more Fashion Divas!