Pomp and Pageantry, RW11

Oh the grandeur! The extravagance! Wasn't it marvelous! Simply marvelous! Catherine is so classically beautiful and has such poise. There's so much to cover, it would be an eternity of blog posts to highlight every detail, but in the effort of overview, I'm going to do a crash lightning version of what was most striking from start to finish at ROYAL WEDDING 2011!!

Let's start at the beginning: The engagement.

The engagement ring belonged to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which she passed to Prince William and Prince Harry. It's an oval cluster ring with a sapphire centre and a border of 14 diamonds, mounted in 18ct white gold (WOWSA!) Her engagement dress, ring and overall style would set the tone for the whole engagement and eventual wedding (or should I say, the second coming of British Royalty). The ring belonged to Diana and she channeled Diana with the color of the dress, but still made it her own and made it new. Her engagement look was flawless, I loved it at the time, still love it and will continue to love it always.

Fast Froward about 7 months...

The BIG DAY arrives!

The Arrivals...

David and Victoria Beckham, a dress of her own design and custom-made Louboutin shoes

These two had to be two of the best dressed guests. I think she looks perfectly posh, especially for being pregs. You can't even really tell she's preg either, which is the ultimate compliment to a pregnant woman. I was having difficulties with his goofiness while walking in...for some reason I almost thought he looked like Ricky Gervais, which is not a good thing. I think his body is hotter than his face.

Princess' Beatrice and Eugenie - The Sisters York

I thought these two were fantastically grotesque. I actually like the peach jacket on the slimmer one, but the racoon eyes are really really bad. For a second I was like "oh shit, Taylor Momsen got invited??!!" Oh no, it's just one of those crazy Brits! The fatter one looks like some sort of mid-19th century urban prostitute. I loved their arrival though, for some reason dressing this terrible seemed to be the whole point? It's just awesomely awful and frighteningly amusing.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (socialite) in Deborah Milner dress & Philip Treacy hat

I don't know who this trick is, but I liked her look. It's outrageously matchy-matchy, but I think over-the-top is just how the Royal Wedding was meant to be done! She's fully committed to that electric blue and she wears it with confidence! And it sure does fit her body well to boot. I like this woman she's got moxy!

Prince Harry

Can someone tell me when Prince Harry got so hot? I always just thought of him as the younger one who got the freckly freakish ginger genes, but look how the tables have turned! William is still cute but balding mighty fast and Harry has got a strut and swagger to match his brutish good looks! I loved seeing Harry walk William down the aisle, trying to get him to crack a smile the whole way down (probably telling him dirty British jokes about Yorkshire pudding) and William not even flinching. Oh man I want Harry!

Queen Elizabeth II in Angela Kelly

She is so cute! Apparently she wore the canary yellow color to symobolize her happiness. Also, she gave Kate the tiara she wore (OMG it's TO DIE FOR). Her mother gave it to her on her 18th birthday.

Kate Middleton in the best kept secret of all time: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

My God, this bride just took my breath away. There's not enough you can really say about how absolutely drop dead stunning she looked. Every detail of the dress, hair, and make-up was executed flawlessly. The whole entire look is perfection through and through. Every choice she made was utterly brilliant. Sarah Burton really crafted a sensational gown. It's elegant, but posh...traditional, but with an edge, dreamy and whimsical, but clean and polished. It's like she somehow pulled off looking like she's from a different era, but still very much exudes the moment of now while exhibiting the beauty/grace/style of her time. It's a style for all eras really, timeless and ageless. It's fitted to perfection against her flawless body. Even before she got out of the car, you could feel and see how positively radiant she looked. It was almost necessary to have a 20 minute buffer where only part of the look was revealed. People (I) would have gone comatose seeing it revealed all at once. She looks like a Bride Queen...inimitable.

If anybody heard Vera Wang's commentary throughout CNN's broadcast, she was obsessing over the beauty and modernity of the veil and I agreed. The length and style of it was just gorgeous and it was just the right shade of sheer. It moved with such fluency and flowed with such eloquent coordination with her dress, it was sublime.

Pippa Middleton also in Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

Now, I will admit Pippa looked hot. They both do the demure hot thing with such precision, it's unfathomable. The fit of her dress is unreal. And somehow she almost looks ethnic, which I don't know how she pulls off. The buttons down the back are such an extraordinary detail I can barely take my eyes off them. Pippa looked immaculate too and I have to give it to her.

But some people are saying she stole the show or she looked better than Kate or some such poppy cock nonsense. And that's simply not true. The show belonged to Kate and she was the star. Pippa looked hot and thin and half-Puerto Rican. But Kate was a mesmerizing bride and the spotlight was all hers.

Ok, back to the tiara. Now that is royalty. Oh what a delight it would be to get to wear that! And I am really digging those earrings too they are just the right size to compliment the rest of the look without overpowering any of the other details.

And she did her own make-up (with prior training from a professional), which is commendable and seems like a risk to me, but of course she pulled it off. It's natural-looking, but still strong enough around the eyes to create some drama.

Now, there is the inevitable comparison to the Grace Kelly dress, which was also a stunner. They certainly do look alike, but I dont think that's necessarily a bad thing (I mean, how could it ever be bad to be compared to Grace Kelly, also an icon of timeless beauty). Of course this had to be a big inspiration for Kate's dress, but I think Kate's was still fresh and new and modern. The long sleeves are appropriate for the Abbey in case anyone was wondering about that, the Bride's arms are supposed to be covered. In any event, both brides carry themselves with great confidence and poise and Kate brought an old classic into a new generation and breathed new life into it...isn't that what fashion's all about?

She also vaguely reminded me of the Julie Andrews bride in The Sound of Music. And she almost does resemble Julie Andrews a la Mary Poppins, am I stretching with that?


Aaaaah, the Cinderalla carriage ride, this was a highlight of the ceremony. It was pure magic when the sun shone through. Spectacular.

Do you really think they waited that long to kiss? I think they both look a little awkward here, but it's gotta be nerve-racking in front of all those bjillions of people. They both must have been nervous, but they never faltered.

The Royal Couple.