sexiest full

The Look: According to Style.com: "Fifty-five looks for fifty-five operas. The Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli were after
something new for Couture this season, and they found it in the age-old
tradition of opera. The show opened with a nod to La Traviata;
Giuseppe Verdi's score was embroidered in black on the long, full skirt
of a parchment-colored tulle dress. After that, Chiuri explained, "we
wanted to describe the character of each [opera's] protagonist in a
primordial way." By the end, they had called out all the greats:
Puccini's La Bohème inspired an elegant navy cashmere cape and silk crepe sheath. Bizet's Carmen produced a pleated bronze tulle gown with silver-gray guipure lace embroideries."



After seeing all the photos and runway video (at the end of the post) I thought it was a STUNNING collection. One of the BEST of this Paris Couture Week. I especially LOVED the monastic caftan-silhouette gowns. Simple, elegant and very Roma Alta Moda COUTURE! Bravo.



Colors: Green, sienna, mahogany, gold, black, ivory, silver, gray.







Trends: Monastic simplicity; loose tunic/caftan gowns; ballerina dresses; sheer/see-through; capes; heavy laces (above); fuller dress shapes with fitted top sections.



Collection Highlights:









































Click Below for Full Runway Video of Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2014:

This past Wednesday night was the "Valentino Ball", a party to celebrate the 70th Venice Film Festival. The bash was hosted by Valentino's creative directors/designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.  The grand affair dates back to 1932 when Count Giuseppe Volpi di
Misurata, also the founder of the Venice International Film Festival,
threw the inaugural ball in...










The annual bash was held until the late eighties (naturally!) and then it ceased to happen. But this year, Chiuri and Piccioli resurrected the grand ball to highlight elegance, the grand palazzo and of course, the Valentino Empire.





Knightley wore a gold leaf applique-over-black silk organza gown from Valentino Haute Couture Fall 2013 collection (above). She pretty much wore it as it was shown on the runway --transparency and undergarments showing. This gown (if ordered) costs around $100,000.




Knightley's husband was seen at the Venice Airport carrying the garment
bags that held the gown. Let's just hope, he took great care...









Diane Kruger in Valentino Resort 2014--Actress Diane Kruger showed up with her hubby, Joshua Jackson, wearing a pink and nude sequined applique tulle gown from Valentino Resort 2014 collection. The gown had some hidden side-seam pockets, as you can see from the photo of Diane.




Golshifteh Farahani in Valentino Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013--Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (she lives in Paris, France) attended and wore a beautiful creme silk organza applique high-neck gown from Valentino Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013 collection. The original gown features a convertible shirt collar but for Golshifteh, it was removed and made into a mock-neck.

This past Saturday, on June 8th, Princess Madeleine Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, 30, married wealthy Manhattan banker Christopher O'Neill, 38, at the Royal Palace Chapel and Storkyrkan (The Great Church) in Stockholm, Sweden. Princess Madeleine is the youngest child and second daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. The King--according to some rumors--footed the bill for the entire thing (not surprised). The wedding was a MAJOR Royal Wedding with over 500 guests, including many Euro Royals, naturally; they LIVE for this stuff (and so do I!).




Madeleine is known as the Swedish Princess with the "Hollywood Starlet" good looks. For most of her life, she was a blond but just a few years ago, she went brunette, I guess signaling her "I'm more serious and ready to get married" phase of her life. She has now met "the love of her life" in London-born, American financier from a wealthy family, the dashing Christopher O'Neill.  







Supposedly, Madeleine and Chris will make their home in New York. Not sure what the Princess will do in NYC but supposedly Chris will continue his financier work (yeah right! He's going to have his calendar full with way too many royal weddings and pr appearances). Speaking of Christopher...he passed up the offer for a royal
title, which would have required he become a Swedish citizen, and essentially will remain Mr. Chris O'Neill, no Duke of this or Prince of that.



Now, let's discuss THE WEDDING GOWN:
















The Wedding Gown: 

Princess Madeleine of Sweden's wedding gown was a pleated silk organza gown with ivory-colored Chantilly lace detailing. It was designed by the retired Fashion Icon, Valentino Garavani. Talking about working with Princess Madeleine, Mr. Valentino said it had
been "just so easy. She is a very lovely girl. She is modern, full of
energy and enthusiasm, and she is so beautiful! It has been a pleasure
and an honour."  I predicted HERE that The House of Valentino would probably create her wedding gown and I was correct. But it is quite an honor to have the retired designer actually create something special just for you! The Italian fashion house is very friendly with the Euro Royals so it comes as no surprise. The upper section of the bodice was lace with a deep-cut back. Narrow
vertical pleats opened up from the accentuated waist, above the wide
skirt, which ends with a train that measured over 4 yards.




The Veil:

Madeleine's incredible veil was also made from silk organza and it trailed almost five yards long. The beautiful veil was also edged with tulle scattered with point d'esprit dots and small Chantilly lace orange blossom.

The Price:

In case you are wondering what a gown like this would cost, normally Valentino Haute Couture Wedding Gowns go for about $100,000 and up so...




The Shoes, Hair:

Madeleine wore shoes in ivory white organdie with woven point d'esprit dots
and her tiara, which is privately owned, was decorated with sprigs of
orange blossom. An oversized bun that sat at the nape of her neck finished off the elegant effect.

The Bouquet:

The bridal bouquet that Madeleine carried consisted of classic white
garden roses: Austin roses, Schneewittchen, Winchester Cathedral and
Alabaster, as well as lilies of the valley and the traditional myrtle
from Sofiero. All the flowers were white, and the bouquet was tied into a
round shape.















Click Below for Video of Princess Madeleine Entering the Church in her Wedding Gown:




Click Below for Video of the Newlyweds boarding their boat to take them to the Drottningholms Palace outside Stockholm:




***Up Next: The Royal Guest COUTURE from Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill Wedding

La Dolce Vita, a la Valentino:



First Off, The Couture Details:











Inside Dish--It Took HOW MANY HOURS TO MAKE THAT:

According to Tim Blanks of Style.com:  

*Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli threw down a gauntlet with the ravishing Couture collection...But the duo enumerated the human cost in the show notes that sat on
everyone's seats. The most extraordinary outfit in the presentation
featured layer upon layer of organza, embroidered with butterflies and
birds, the whole lot wrapped in a tulle cage scrolled with crepe piping. 

*According to the notes, it took 500 hours of hand-rolling to produce
the piping. And that was just one of the outfits that featured the
effect. One roller apparently developed carpal tunnel syndrome during
the production of the collection...

*one other organza jacket and skirt took 850 hours to embroider







The Look: Classic Couture. Very Roma Alta Moda. Stunning exquisitely executed coats, cocktail dresses, jackets and gowns. Hand-embroidered pieces of wearable ART.  Colors: white, black, Valentino Red, blush, light mint. Silk organza, crepes, gazars.One of the best Couture Collections this season. Even Mr. Valentino Garavani gave it a standing ovation. See for yourself in the video at the end of this post.

















The Gwyneth Paltrow/Tom Ford Effect...yet again:































Click Below to watch the Full Runway Show of Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2013: