Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein were married 40 years ago on March 20, 1982 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City. Like her sister a month earlier, Princess Margaretha chose the Congo Diamond Necklace Tiara for her wedding headpiece. A convertible necklace made by Van Cleef and Arpels, the piece had been a wedding gift for to her mother, Princess Josephine of Belgium, in 1953 by the Belgian colony of Congo (read about its fascinating history over at The Court Jeweller). The streamlined tiara was a striking contrast to the ruffled dresses fashionable in the early 1980s- notice the triple tiered ruffles on those sleeves!
Images from Getty as indicated
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Great story, Matthew! And LesleyC19, that photo is priceless!
Funny you should say that, Lesley – my grandmother was a professional seamstress back when that was a profession, and one of her favorite things was taking old garments apart and remaking them differently. When I saw Sarah in this, I did wonder what my grandmother might have done with those sleeves after “salvaging” the black dress underneath, and though I didn’t think of a duvet, throw pillows or Roman shades did spring to mind!
Whenever I see these dresses from the ’80s I can’t help but think of iconic Canadian literary heroine Anne Shirley and her obsession with puffy sleeves. These are “the puffiest in the world.”
Shanon, they really are not! There were sleeves way puffier. In 1989 when Princess Diana attended a performance in New York by the Welsh National Opera (of which she was a patron), the excitement over her attendance was so great that Sue Simmons, one of our local news anchors, did a live broadcast from the lobby. (No interviews with anyone connected with the actual performance, just lots of New Yorkers saying how excited they were.) I did attend the performance, but also went to the lobby for the live broadcast. I had told a family member to tape the news broadcast in case I got on TV, but I got stuck behind this very tall woman with absolutely giant puffed sleeves, and all you could see of me on the broadcast was the sides of my hair as I moved my head from side to side trying to see past her giant puffed sleeves.
Matthew, I thought of this dress worn by Sarah in LA in 1988. Now these are what you call sleeves! I don’t know what YSL was thinking of. I hope the link works.
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Sorry about that – not sure what hot-linking is?
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What a wonderful story, Matthew! You made my day with this!
Hahaha. Great story Matthew. Maybe we need a “puffiest sleeve in the world” poll for our next challenge 🤔
Matthew, my grandmother also repurposed clothes, even if it was making new wardrobes for my dolls and teddy bears. She never left the house without a hat and I can remember watching her take a hat apart. She decided that the crown of a charcoal grey winter hat would look far better with a deep burgundy velvet rather than the original black velvet, out it came and looked wonderful. My doll had a black velvet coat as a result. She was a fantastic needlewoman – nothing ever went to waste.
Lesley, my grandmother also made clothes for the dolls of all the granddaughters, and they were often quite luxurious, as she used the leftover bits of fabric from the “real” clothes she was making for her clients. But fabulous that yours also remodeled hats – that is not something I remember.
Interesting that both daughters chose other tiaras. This one is a good choice for a bride since it’s relatively low-key. The dress, though….and those bouquet is almost comically undersized against all that volume.
Wow! Talk about turn-about being fair play. Wasn’t it just last summer that Margaret and Nikolaus’s two daughters got married one month apart? Now I see that Margaret and Marie-Astrid married one month apart, too! As far as the tiara goes you can see it much better on Margaret than Marie-Astrid since Margaret didn’t wear a blusher veil. It stands out beautifully against her dark hair!
Yes, Margaretha’s daughters were married just a few weeks apart last summer!
Luxembourg and Liechtenstein are such small countries, their royals getting married sounds like an arranged marriage out of a fairytale, but it’s clearly a love match. 🥰 so cute!