Sandra‘s Closet

“On her wedding day a woman should be certain that she has found a dress that makes her feel confident and above all else, beautiful.” - Carolina Herrera

This is something for all future brides among you, the new Spring 2013 Bridal Collection by Carolina Herrera that caters to various aesthetics and tastes – from a detachable ball skirt that transitions into a short cocktail style for the reception to strapless gowns and playful separates.

Embodying the notions of borrowed, blue, old and new, Herrera accessorized many of the looks with jewelry from her personal collection. “It has to be personal. Without a touch of personality, it’s just a dress.” As always the petticoat of each gown is embroidered with the bride’s initials in blue matching the grosgrain bow stitched into every waist. “I love the hidden details.” We do, too!

LoL, Sandra

Ivory cotton and silk mikado blazer with duchess satin detail, ivory silk crepe pant, ivory lace and organza blouse with bow detail

Ivory guipure lace column gown with ivory faille overskirt and hand painted veil

Off white silk mikado one shoulder bow gown with silk flower detail
Photos: Courtesy of Carolina Herrera

As you already know, I am a huge fan of Matthew Williamson. So of course, I paid a visit to his NYC store in the Meatpacking District on 14th street during my last visit.

The shop’s bridal section is just so wonderful. If I weren’t married already, it would be my absolute dream to wed in one of those gowns. If you are based in Europe, I recommend a visit to the London store.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Today, net-à-porter has released a gown almost identical to Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress that she wore to her sister Kate’s royal wedding to Prince William on April 29 this year.

The cowl-neck dream designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, is not exactly the same and comes with minor differences to the original gown. It has for example a covered zip at the back instead of fabric buttons and the sleeves and neck seams have been alternated. Pippa’s version was made of heavy ivory silk and a customized order.

In the mood for pulling a Pippa? I just couldn’t resist…

LoL, Sandra

Paul McCartney, 69, seems to believe in third time lucky as he has tied the knot for the third time. The Beatle officially wed wealthy American Nancy Shevell, 51, at the Marylebone Register Office in North London yesterday.
Both the bride and groom wore designs by Stella McCartney. I liked the classic sleek white long sleeved dress with the white open toe heels a lot.

Congrats to the newly weds!

LoL, Sandra

No, this is not the newest Tom Ford advertising campaign. It is part of the amazing pictures taken by Mario Testino during the recent wedding of Kate Moss with rocker Jamie Hince for the September issue of American Vogue. The newly weds channel a modern-day Mick and Bianca Jagger, re-creating the couple’s 1971 backseat wedding portrait by royal photographer Lord Lichfield
On Kate: Tom Ford velvet-and-fur coat. On Hince: Tom Ford red velvet jacket.

Kate Moss graces also the cover of the fashion bible. Mario Testino captured the famous  party guests plus the beautiful decorations and details so wonderfully that I wanted to share these with you. What a great inspiration for your own big day, don’t you think?

LoL, Sandra

Lara Stone with her husband

Paul McCartney with his daughter Stella

Naomi Campbell and Marc Jacobs

Like mother, like daughter: Kate Moss with Lila Grace
Photos: via Vogue

Last night, I witnessed an amazing Kazakhstani wedding at my hotel Çiragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul that is located directly on the European shores of the Bosphorus. Once the residence of the last Ottomane Sultans, the architectural grandeur and stunning view, both serve as an amazing ambiance for such a celebration. Turkey is known for its great tradition of hospitality and I couldn’t agree more. The service and friendliness here are outstanding.

I have loved the wedding decoration with oriental touches and the colour combination of lilac and green. But the most beautiful detail were the dangling wedding dresses overlooking the Bosphorus. Wow!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Yesterday, Charlene Wittstock and Prince Albert of Monaco made it official with a religious ceremony at the main courtyard in the palace in front of 4000 invited guests.

The bride looked stunning in a breath-taking custom-made Armani Privé (the haute couture line of Giorgio Armani) silk duchesse off-the-shoulder ivory gown with subtle pearl and gold-tinted Swarovski crystal embellishments and an amazing train.

A long off-white silk tulle veil was placed on top of her chignon which had quite a very beautiful diamond encrusted floral accent.

Photos: © Getty Images

For the evening reception and gala, Charlene wore another fantastic Armani Privé gown. The newlyweds looked much more relaxed than during the religious ceremony and had definitely the world’s largest wedding cake ever.

LoL, Sandra

It is the weekend of weddings, Charlene Wittstock, now called Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene, has finally married long-time bachelor Prince Albert, son of late Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, in Monaco and Kate Moss has tied the knot with indie rocker Jamie Hince in Cotswolds. We all have been speculating the last weeks what the famous brides will be wearing for their big day.

Charlene went for Chanel and wore a pale blue suit jacket with beautiful lace trims and a long, flowing skirt.

“It’s a collaboration between me and Karl Lagerfeld,” Charlene explained to Vogue. “We wanted something to match the color of my eyes. It is my creation and I’m proud of it. It’s feminine and keeps with tradition yet has a little twist that reflects my personal style. I thought it was a nice change to go for trousers instead of a skirt, especially since I’m an athlete and have always kept my clothes clean and simple.”

Let’s see what she will be wearing today for the religious ceremony. Rumours are that she decided to go for Armani…

Montblanc takes part in the crowning moments as they have created a one-of-a-kind writing instrument, a Création Privée from the Artisan Atelier Hamburg, that the couple used to seal their civil union.

The very unique fountain pen is embellished with precious stones (161 rubies and 128 diamonds) and the monogram of the Princely Couple.

Kate Moss looked absolutely stunning in her John Galliano vintage-style dress with sequins and rhinestone details. She teamed it with Manolo Blahnik shoes.

After the furore in Spring surrounding John Galliano (he was sacked as chief designer of Christian Dior for an anti-semitic tirade), she was said to be in turmoil but she stood by her friend John Galliano after all.

Wouldn’t you sign this?!

I am invited this weekend as well to two weddings and I am off now to Austria…
Congrats to all newlyweds!

LoL, Sandra

The new SI Style is available now for my Swiss based readers featuring my fourth fashion column. The global wedding fever inspired me to tell you all about my very own big day that took place in Marbella, Spain. I am actually celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary this summer.

Here is a photo that I couldn’t show in the magazine. My bridal gown was made in the couture atelier of Christian Lacroix in Paris. Everything that was lace like the train, the veil and the long sleeves could be removed for the evening.

I was so scared to loose my dress that I even bought a flight ticket for it. The name it was issued to was Mr Kontrabass and it was sitting next to me in the plane. Isn’t that hilarious?

One of the cutest gift was a special edition of Marie Claire magazine dedicated to me by my colleagues (I was a fashion editor for German Marie Claire at that time) that you can see at the end of this post.

LoL, Sandra

My dear readers, just a little joke to start off your weekend on Friday, the 13th! You see when it comes to fashion, most people like to copy… and this is not always good.
Getting it wrong: Princess Eugenie of York in Vivienne Westwood and Princess Beatrice of York in Valentino haute couture, hats by Philip Treacy.

And they all lived happily ever after! The End!

LoL, Sandra