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Then & Now

Monday, July 21, 2008


I absolutely love that Princess Anne wore the same dress to a wedding last month that she wore to Charles and Di's wedding back in 1981. She seems to be getting a lot of flack for it, but I think she absolutely pulled it off. (Really, the dress looks great—if not even better now that she's done away with the pearl choker—and oh! That hat is just fantastic! I so wish I was British if only for the regular hat factor.) In retrospect, however, perhaps she should stick to recycling outfits from sliiiightly less high-profile events.

Princess Margaret's seriously peach ensemble, on the other hand, probably wouldn't translate quite as well if she decided to resurrect it. Via the DC Goodwill Fashionista, who was also quite inspired.

32 comments :

Thu said...

But Princess Margaaret's shoes could be resurrected, they're not a far cry from some Louboutins of today.

j'taimee said...

I think the dress looks better on her today than it did almost 30 years ago - more age appropriate....

Unknown said...

She's still wearing the pearl choker, it's just turned so that the clasp is to the front. I agree that she looks better in it now than back in '81 but I think it's kind of tacky to wear the exact same thing to a second, very public event, no matter how far apart they are. She could have at least different jewelry or shoes with it.

Unknown said...

She's still wearing the pearl choker, it's just turned so that the clasp is to the front. I agree that she looks better in it now than back in '81 but I think it's kind of tacky to wear the exact same thing to a second, very public event, no matter how far apart they are. She could have at least different jewelry or shoes with it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with thu, she should borrowed/resurrected Princess Margaret's shoes, and ditched the jewelry to make it clean & modern looking.
Also a fresh hat would have done wonders.

Hyperchondriac said...

but she looks fantastic! i think she's making a GREAT statement. So many celebraties today change outfits as often as they drink alcohol. half the time, they don't even remember what they own! If i was able to fit into my clothes from 20 years ago, or even have clothes that last that long, i would LOVE to wear them again. and it speaks for the construction of the dress as well!

By any other name said...

I would make some modifications to the dress, but otherwise the ruffles put it right on par with what's being worn these days. Is that a good thing or not, I can't decide yet!

Anonymous said...

I think she's ADORABLE in it, and agree that it looks even better now than it did in '81. It's great to see someone with such a sky-high profile showing the world of celebrity that wearing a dress more than once is perfectly acceptable.

Or maybe I'm giving her too much credit and she just wants to show off the fact that she can fit into a dress from nearly 30 years ago. ;)

Anonymous said...

she's definitely still wearing the choker. genelle n is right--it's just turned around on her neck. i think the pattern of the dress is nice, but i would definitely have made alterations. and ditched the hat and shoes. resurrecting the dress is one thing, the whole outfit didn't need to be reproduced.

Anonymous said...

I love that she resurrected a 30-yr-old outfit. Surprised how well it's held up! I'd consider self lucky to look so good in something I own now, 30 yrs from now...

Anonymous said...

Love it. Love Margo's peach ensemble as well, even if it is a bit evocative of drapery sheers. Cheers to actually wearing your clothes instead of timidly borrowing the latest from fashion houses so as not to land on worst dressed lists. But then Princess Anne seems like the practical type.

Anjeanette said...

Wow. Can you imagine the size of her closet?!!!

Shopping's My Cardio.com said...

i actually think she looks better in it now than she did then! good for her. i can only hope i'm smart enough in my fashion buys that i can wear some of them in 30 years!

Marissa said...

I must agree with Laura F. I wouldn't write off that peach ensemble entirely. If you ripped off the sleeves, I'm pretty sure I'd wear that.

Anonymous said...

dude, princess Margaret died in 2002 so she probably won't be resurrecting the dress!

Anthea said...

Wow! I can't believe someone noticed that. I don't see anything wrong with it..in fact I agree it looks better now than in 1981 :)

Anonymous said...

As they say in England-uggerz

Anonymous said...

good for her! vintage is the way to go, and if you can pull it from your own closet then why not?? I think she looks great!

Kelly said...

I think the dress looks great on her. With new sleeves (or no sleeves at all) I'd snap up that dress in a heartbeat.

But I agree, reproducing the whole outfit is just a bad idea. Especially to such a highly publicized event (and to a marriage that didn't turn out exactly perfectly, people may see the outfit as an omen). And is it just me or is that a lot of white to be wearing to someone else's wedding?

So in conclusion: nice dress, alterations would be even nicer, and maybe for a different occasion.

Unknown said...

Love the recycling of the dress. Hate the recycling of accessories.

The dress would be so much more au courant with perhaps a straw hat, some less clunky shoes, and no pearl choker.

Ms. Spinach said...

Omg, Princess Margaret passed away?

And that, kids, is what we call a faux pas.

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

People have a finite amount of clothes in their closets. There's no shame in wearing something more than once, royalty included. If the piece is timeless, then she was justified in wearing it.

Righteous (re)Style said...

Reduce. Reuse!

If the blue-bloods can do, so can we, pretties!

L said...

are you as upset as I am about the new season of runway? how did that laced up gold mini make it into the top 3 dresses last night?!

sorry. not on topic. love princess anne!

Unknown said...

I think its fantastic that she wore the same dress, and looked better in it over 25 years later!

She said this in the Daily Mail:

'A good suit goes on for ever. If it is properly made and has a classic look you can go on wearing it ad infinitum.

'The economy is bred into me. My parents believe that things are not to be wasted.'

Its something I've been trying to do anyway -buying less, but better quality peices that will last longer. I think I'm bored of stressing out, trying to find something new every time i leave the house!

African Violet said...

That yellow thing is the ugliest outfit I have ever seen. And you DO know that Princess Margaret is dead, don't you? How could she resurrect an outfit unless she was herself resurrected from the dead?

J said...

I was going to write something but I think I enjoyed the comments as much as the posting...I've got nothing...

Dana (MODAna) said...

call me crazy
I think it was bad then, its bad now

Sarah said...

Way to go Princess Anne! She looks classy and modern and can still wear a dress she wore 27 years ago. That's phenomenal! I'd wear that dress.

Ivy Lane said...

I think she looks great! and KUDOS to her for keeping her figure in check all these years! I don't know too many people that can still fit into the same clothes from 27 years ago!!!! Plus, what a GREEN thing to do!!! What a great post!

WendyB said...

I think she looks great in that dress. Why not wear it again? 27 years is a long enough time to wait, I should think.