On 24 June 2025, the Duchess of Edinburgh visited the Central School of Ballet at the Countess of Wessex Studios in London. For the occasion, the Duchess wore a floral print wrap dress by Zimmermann. The world-renowned professional dance training organisation offers a wide range of programmes, from classes for three-year-olds to postgraduate education.
The Duchess of Edinburgh became Central’s Royal Patron in 2003. In 2020, Central’s new bespoke premises in Paris Garden, located in the London Borough of Southwark and part of the South Bank arts community, were named in her honour at a special event she attended with students and staff. The new building is known as "The Countess of Wessex Studios," reflecting her title at the time of the opening.
Sophie wears really pretty dresses but she needs some tailoring. They are way too long most of the time and make her look bigger and older then she is. The right tailoring can make an Eh dress/outfit look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteFor me, she does not look bigger or even a day older than she is. And this same dress in knee-length would not make her smaller or younger either. But prettier. - Her face and complexion, both are really very beautiful, hairstyle is good and colour, pattern and cut of the dress are a lot prettier than everything I have seen her wear in the recent past. It is simply too much length for this dress, and this woman.
DeleteShe wears this one as the designer intended, judging by the marketing/model photos.
DeleteI could make friends with these ballon sleeves, because they are not blown up at the shoulders. But I cannot make friends with this length on the Duchess. What a pity, 10-15 cm under the knee (and with decidedly *very* different shoes please) this could be really nice. But so ... it is like a negligée.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The first two photos are lovely but you come to the third and fourth ones and the heart sinks. I just cannot understand why she chooses these unflattering lengths. The shoes wouldn’t be great even if the dress was a better length
DeleteIt is a beautiful colour for Sophie. But I don’t understand why she keeps wearing these long dresses. I saw her once in a dress or skirt on knee-length with a similar length purple coat: she looked absolutely smashing and more youthful !!
ReplyDeleteOnce again the Duchess' dress is too long and too voluminous for her shape. A bit of tailoring would turn so many of her outfits from mediocre to fabulous. (V M )
ReplyDeleteI like the dresses of the ballerinas most.
ReplyDeleteLove this green on fabulous Sophie, and see that it’s the same length on her as per the designer’s model, and it looks fabulous in a ballet setting. Picture 3 of contemplative Sophie with the dancers is beautiful. - Mary
ReplyDeleteI think fashion designer made it very simple for themselves: Let's keep everything as it was before, but longer. And let's also keep the floral patterns because why not. Most long dresses are of this type. If you look at these fashion pictures from the 19th century, you don't see any florals: https://www.behance.net/gallery/47498383/Fashion-Timeline19-th-century?locale=de_DE# . And especially the more slender dresses from the first half of that century look stunning: they do have embellishments, but they do not cover the women in overall floral patterns.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful summer tea-length dress, very cool looking with the sleeves and summer shoes. Well done.
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