From April 1 to 3, 2025, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde undertook a State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Luong Cuong. After visiting Hanoi and Hai Phong, the King and Queen concluded their visit in Ho Chi Minh City. The visit ended with a Belgian reception, held to thank the Vietnamese authorities for their hospitality and to bring together the local Belgian community.
At the Belgian reception, Queen Mathilde wore a custom dress designed by Saïd MEER (Meer Couture), an officially certified royal couturier for the Belgian royal family.
She looks great. This is a really difficult color, but it looks good on her. Perhaps because of her skin tone and hair. Love the embroidery, the shoes and the earrings.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful embroidery, colour is good. I can’t say I like the clingy fabric, and a big no to those darts. A lesson could be taken from the Japanese for a nice silhouette in the bodice. No points.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. The dress is nice in theory, but the fabric is impossible to wear. It´s the most unforgiving material, it shows every imperfection in the execution of the dress (darts are awful indeed), and in the wearer (body & underwear). In order to avoid visible undies and bra lines you probably need a full spandex suit underneath.
DeleteTotally agree with you. My first thought was, "she needs better undergarments to pull things in and smooth things out. "
DeleteCan you explain about the "darts", where are they ??
Delete21 : 23 Yes I see what you mean, but poor expression.
DeleteNo she does not need to be “smoothed out”!! It is ok for a woman to be perfectly imperfect. Some women may choose certain underwear to conceal their natural body shape, but we should never expect a woman - even a famous woman - to have to do so. If she has the confidence to wear this even with a little tummy showing, massive kudos to her for not feeling the need (nor shame) to hide who she really is. A beautiful 52 year old woman with a real body and as far as I can see, a face that has never been subjected to plastic surgery nor fillers.
DeleteI agree with the comments that this dress is not very flattering for Queen Mathilde. This goes for colour, fabric and style, but has nothing to do with underwear. For all we know she is wearing a spandex suit, but enough of that, since it is none of our business! The dress is just to monochrom and the fabric too clingy. I'm sure we all have tried on dresses
Deletethat looked great in the mirror but were somewhat shocked when seeing a picture wearing it.
Warm thanks to you, Anon. 10:01 for yous sensible and wise comment!
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Anon 10.01 There’s so much power in embracing one’s natural body and imperfections. Confidence is truly the most attractive thing, and it’s refreshing to see women, especially in the public eye, embrace their real selves without feeling the pressure to conform to unrealistic standards. It’s inspiring to see a woman at 52 owning her look and radiating confidence—it's a reminder that beauty doesn’t need to be “perfect.”
DeleteDarts are the sewn slated pleats at the bust line. You don't see them much any more especially not with more expensive garments/formal wear.
DeleteAnon 12 59, I think you have summarised it well. A dress that looked good at the design stage but when worn is unflattering. As to those who suggest that appropriate shape wear is not a prerequisite for this kind of dress, we’re not talking unrealistic thin bodies but looking one’s best. As a private citizen, it’s awful to look at photos and see how an outfit that you thought looks good actually looks pretty bad. How much worse if you’re in the public eye
DeleteMagnifique modèle qui va à ravir à la reine mais je trouve quand même sa couleur un peu trop claire pour sa blondeur !
ReplyDeleteThey've all been beautiful dresses and gowns this state visit. Christine
ReplyDeleteThis dress does her no favors, as she has a good figure.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved this look,if the right undergarments had been worn. Unfortunately that type of material is unforgiving.
ReplyDeleteLowri.
great look for Q Mathilde. Also, nice color.
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Up until this gown she had very good choices for this visit. But this non-colour fabric from head to toe is like a cuddly nightgown or loungewear for cold winter evenings with a good book in front of the fireplace, provided you put an attractive shawl in a strong colour across your shoulders to dampen the impression of a somewhat overcooked lobster when eyeing this dress. the design wants to echo the local style but fails totally because clingy gowns don't really suit her body structure, because the darts hurt the eye and because this colour does her no favors at all (and I don't know if it suits anyone in this overwhelming full-length amount). This is a really dreadful gown, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteNot a “total failure”. You might prefer a different colour, a different fabric, darts sewn differently, but I think the hyperbole is overkill. Mathilde looks beautiful.
DeleteDear @Anon 10:04, allow me please to express my own opinion (see "IMHO" in my post) that this dress is a total failure, without correcting me. Your mileage may vary - I have no problem with you having a different opinion on the gown.
DeleteShe looks incredible. This gown is very flattering, its unusual. She looks beautiful. I love her hair styled in this way. It looks very elegant, the neckline of the gown, suits this style well.
ReplyDeleteI think the color looks great on her but the way the dress falls is not very flattering.
ReplyDeleteShe’s missing an undergarment that would allow the dress to hang better. Nice color though.
ReplyDeleteIch beziehe mich nicht direkt auf die Königin, sondern auf alle Frauen (auch Männer), es wurde diskutiert ob mit bestrumpften Beinen oder Haut zeigen. Mein Geschmack ist immer ein feines Strumpfbein und wie erwähnt wurde, es gibt so hochfeine Materialien das man es kaum erkennen kann. Dazu gibt es natürlich Halterlose diese vermeiden einen Taillenabdruck oder eben auch feinste Strumpfhalter. Auch Haare sind wichtig, besonders die wechselnden Trends und besonders die Kunstwerke wenn ein Kopfschmuck eingearbeitet wurde, das ist Haarkunst pur! Nur, wie bei uns allen sind manche Menschen mit gutem Haar eben Gott gesegnet und andere haben dieses Glück leider nicht. Deshalb sei doch zu allen Köpfen gesagt, egal ob Farbe verändern oder vielleicht eine künstliche Lösung gesucht - könnte man doch auch wirklich der Person überlassen. Ich erinnere mich noch an die Zeiten in den 70ern da gab es Perückenkoffer in allen Farben und Materialien. Da war es voll schick wenn die Damen ihre "Köfferchen" bei sich hatten : ) Wir haben doch alle mal unseren bad hair day ; ) -Dorothe-
ReplyDelete-Dorothe- mir gefallen ihre durchdachten Kommentare, ich sehe die Dinge
Deletezumeist auch so wie Sie.
Und Koenigin Mathilde gleicht das eine oder andere komische Kleid aus mit ihrem natuerlichen Auftreten und und ihrem wunderschoen gestyltem Haar!
A beautiful dress and good looking QM, but good under/shapeware is a must…….
ReplyDeleteNice elegant dress but it doesn’t really ‘hang’ right. Maybe other undergarments could be a solution.
ReplyDeleteDas Zauberwort heißt "SPANX" ; ) Dorothe
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful design on the Queen, however I think a different fabric would have been more complementary to her. The colour is not my favourite on her, too muted. She is a beautiful woman.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful dress,, not perfectly hanging, but she looks great.
ReplyDeleteQueen Mathilde has a pant suit in exactly the same color. Everybody liked it. This dress however also designed by Meer Couture is not very becoming for the queen. Not a good fabric (we call this fabric "jersey"). Even for a professional dressmaker this fabric is very difficult to work with. The embroidery seems to be beautiful. The earrings she is wearing are a present from the government of Portugal. She received these earrings during the last State Visit from Belgium to Portugal.
ReplyDeleteThe suggestion of wearing special underware could help a bit, but I know that even then the lines of undeware will be visible.
Hello to the king and queen I'm the king
ReplyDelete@06:14 Can you elaborate on how you came to that conclusion ?
DeleteI haven't yet commented, and still don't know what to say. Yes to "better" undergarment surely, difficult fabric yes undoubtedly. For the rest let's be tolerant, very nice hair styling. I think the makeup fits nicely with the color.
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