DANSK Magazine

Queen Margrethe’s 40 New Year’s looks

January 1st 2012, Posted By admin In Cover Girls

Of all the Danes in the world, no one is quite as fabulous as Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Every year on New Year’s Eve at 6 PM on the dot, Her Majesty’s New Year’s speech is broadcast live to the kingdom of Denmark (and globally online to Danes abroad). Last night marked the Queen’s fortieth New Year’s speech, as well as iconic-New-Year’s-speech-outfit no. 40.

An icon of Mr Pearl’s – and certainly of the DANSK office, too – Her Majesty is the most adventurous dresser in the royal sphere, not to mention the most amazingly dressed. And while the fashion industry knows a thing or two about signature looks, none of the fashion greats do it quite like the Queen. Here, we give you all Her Majesty’s looks from four decades of New Year’s speeches.

Happy New Year to all DANSK readers, and in the words of the Queen (with which she famously ends her New Year’s speeches), God save Denmark!

2011: (image above) Last night, Her Majesty rocked a silk blouse so perfect we’ll be referencing it from this point forward. Perfection in dusty blue silk, flawlessly accessorised with new jewels and the Queen’s signature red lips and nails. Queens of the world, take note. This is how one should roll.

1972: It was a softly styled and very young new monarch who gave her first New Year’s speech after her father, H.M. King Frederik IX, passed away that same year. The Queen was 32. Notice the empowering hair style.

1973: Statement jewellery and statement hair added a certain authority to Her Majesty’s second speech. A sharper shoulder is introduced.

1974: Chanello! And with a low yet precisely appropriate cut. Stunning.

1975: Working the waves, Her Majesty is all of a sudden returning to a softer look. Her speech gave hope to a largely unemployed nation – ah, those jolly seventies!

IT GETS AMAZING AFTER THIS! CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE QUEEN’S NEW YEAR’S LOOKS, INCLUDING LAST NIGHT’S SPEECH.,,

1976: Bringing the Marlene Dietrich, a cheerful Queen Margrethe rocks the first of many fabulous blouses. Signature-look-forming alert.

1977: Blouse! And a somewhat sharper silhouette for Her Majesty, complemented by a ‘do worthy of a high-powered editrice.

1978: Ta-dah! Live in Technicolor! We’re fast approaching the 1980s and Joan Collins is throwing all kinds of magic dust around. Here, a polka-dotted cardigan of some sort, which kind of resembles the Holiday costume from The Blonde Ambition Tour.

1979: Colour film is expensive, and also, black and white makes the tapestry look more like the elf village in The Lord of the Rings.

1980: Worlds and worlds of OMG. One of our personal favourites, this chic red number rings in the 1980s like it knew what was to come. Loving the bling, too.

1981: Not counting the polka-dots, this year sees the debut of print in the Queen’s New Year’s speech wardrobe. Oh, and humongous shoulder pads. Ah-mah-zing.

1982: Victorian collar, check. Brocade, check. Pointy ski slope shoulder, check. Hair brushed to one side with wind effect. Check, check. Either we’re in Texas or it must be the 1980s.

1983: The next year would become dangerous for Queen Margrethe as she ventured into political territory, but in 1983 it was all about the new center parting. On a side note, notice how the doors behind Her Majesty were closed from 1972 but are kept wide open from this year and onwards. Signals, y’all. Signals.

1984: Eeks and red alerts. In one of her most insanely hot outfits to date, Her Majesty criticised her subjects for being xenophobic towards immigrants, causing a media uproar. But she looked fabulous doing it, and who wouldn’t feel slightly rebellious in tartan and a shoulder like that?

1985: Krystle Carrington called. She wants her outfit back.

1986: When they say everything got bigger in the eighties, they’re mainly referring to spectacles.

1987: Wowsers. So much win. A Versace-esque print extravaganza, which may or may not have a bat sleeve. Also: the introduction of the Queen’s round glasses, which would become a signature accessory of the monarch.

1988: Her Majesty said goodbye to the experimental 1980s in style: here, an Arab sleeve with an Asian collar, a Western Victorian side-buttoning and an Indian twist in an sari-like brocade detail. That’ll do.

1989: The 1980s are nearly over and the Queen gives us a taste of her New Year’s wardrobe in the decades to come: blouses and fitted jackets would pretty much take over for the next twenty-two years of speeches.

1990: We bow low. Our all-time favourite look for Queen Margrethe, and proof that Leonard didn’t live in vain. This is why we love her.

1991: Vicious tongues dubbed it the ashtray ‘do (dads just don’t get good hair) but we thought it rocked. No one does regal quite like Queen Margrethe.

1992: Working a Bollywood reference in this pink number. Please note the immaculate red manicure. It’s a Queen Margrethe signature.

1993: Ahead of the nineties curve, Her Majesty brings out the rouge noir with this velvet jacket. (Actually, that’s two nineties trends in one. The Queen FTW!)

1994: A lesser style icon would simply do black and white houndstooth, but not Queen Margrethe. We also sense a bit of YSL love going on with this one.

1995: Looking poised and regal in this lavish red wraparound number.

1996: Um, how much do we love this print? So spring/summer 2011.

1997: Firstly, check out the gorge bling. Yes please. Secondly, notice how Her Majesty spices up the New Year’s silhouette by throwing in a new neckline. Very chic.

1998: The draped late 1990s. Notice the whale (or walrus?) teeth figurines on Her Majesty’s desk. (Queen Margrethe is the Head of State in Greenland.) The figurines would assume an array of different positions in the years to come… as documented in the pictures below.

1999: Perhaps the most important New Year’s speech ever (since, you know, we all thought the world would seize to exist at midnight), the Queen’s Millennium speech was epic. And so was Her Majesty’s silver getup.

2000: It’s the Millennium and we’re all preoccupied with the new. What does Her Majesty do? She gets her Krystle top from 1985 modified and wears it again. Go girl.

2001: We think Ralph Lauren would get a bit excited if he saw this look.

2002: Oscar de la Renta, is that you? Cindy McCain looks like this in her dreams.

2003: The 2003 version of the 1982 outfit.

2004: In the wake of T.R.H. The Crown Prince Couple’s lavish wedding earlier that year, Queen Margrethe matched her New Year’s outfit to the now-legendary gown worn by Her Majesty at the wedding ceremony.

2005: Purple reign. (Sorry, we had to.)

2006: Looking lovely in pistachio. Notice how the bouquet on the desk matches the lining of the jacket. Majestic detail, children.

2007: The daisy brooch by Georg Jensen hints at the Queen’s pet name, Daisy – the English translation from her first name, Margrethe.

2008: So ice queen. So perfect.

2009: If the 1990 look was Her Majesty’s best New Year’s effort ever, this doubtlessly takes second place. So chic.

2010: The Queen looked stunning in red, echoing Her Majesty’s most memorable dress of the year, a red number worn at her 70th birthday gala. 2010 was of course also the year that H.R.H. Crown Princess Mary was named the fourth best-dressed person in the world by Vanity Fair.

www.kongehuset.dk / images courtesy of TV2