FASHION Magazine

Who’s the sexiest Middleton? According to Karl Lagerfeld, it’s Carole Middleton. Kate and Pippa’s 57-year-old mother.

In an exclusive interview with Grazia, the Kaiser didn’t hold back (as per usual) and said “I think Carole is very sexy. I think the mother is sexier than both the daughters. There is something full of life about her. For a woman who must be 50 or so, I think she’s great – full of energy.”

Whether you were following the shows at London Fashion Week all weekend long or are just catching up now, Spring 2013 is shaping up to include everything we could hope for after a long winter. Here’s just a handful of the trends and items that have stood out from the shows so far:

Sass and Bride showcased numerous stunning dresses in classic black and white. The bright neon orange pants along with a white blouse and short long sleeved jacket was the best look by far—especially with laced up booties to finish it off. Casting man Russell Marsh exclaimed he wanted the girls to look ‘fresh’ and that they did with minimal make-up and pulled by hair.

Pippa Middleton may often join her sister at various royal appearances, but whereas attending the Queen’s Jubilee or Wimbledon is a typical day’s work for Kate Middleton, Pippa’s own job is a little less public.

Pippa Middleton’s debut as maid of honour to big sister Kate may have scored her legions of fans across the world (and a Facebook page entirely devoted to her rear view), but one particularly vocal person is not one of them. If a recent The Sun article is to be believed, Karl Lagerfeld thinks Pippa is a butterface—in other words, he thinks she should keep her face under wraps and stick to only showing her rear.

The facial expressions! »
View this look in our Kate Middleton slideshow »

At yesterday’s Wimbledon final, we were treated to both Middleton sisters sitting courtside in the royal box not only wearing respectively amazing outfits, but also wearing shades AND making some hilarious mid-game facial expressions (Like this one, for example). We rarely see the Duchess donning shades, which could either be because it’s not according to Royal Protocol, or more likely because London is rarely sunny. As such, it’s being reported that the Givenchy pair she sported mid-game actually belong to Pippa! Go figure.

Forget the pool — for the fashion folk, summer is a time for mega steals and deals! Some of the designer pieces that we salivated over during runway season have now hit the double or even triple discount level and now is the time to dive into sales. There are some great online specials currently being offered, like J.Crew’s Canada Day free shipping weekend (on through Monday, July 2, 2012) and eLUXE.com’s Spend and Save. To help wade through the actual purchasing madness though, we’ve selected a few of the best bets.

See our picks »

View the photo gallery »

For those of you who were still in REM mode yesterday morning, you missed quite the to-do yesterday in London. Okay, maybe a “to-do” is putting it mildly, when in actuality, Queen Elizabeth‘s 1000-boat-strong Diamond Jubilee river pageant was 60 years in the making, and also hasn’t happened since Queen Victoria‘s in 1897. So lets just say it was QUITE THE TO-DO! The Queen donned an Angela Kelly–designed boucle white coat with flecked gold ribbon embroidery and Swarovski crystals (what, no diamonds?)—reportedly so that she’d be visible from afar amidst all the naval uniforms. Aboard the gilded Spirit of Chartwell and flanked by the royal family in all their uniformed glory, the Queen gave the good ol’ royal wave for a good portion of the afternoon while millions of onlookers cheered her on from the banks of the Thames.

By now, you must know that Pippa Middleton was in Paris this weekend. And her friend was pointing a gun at some paparazzi.

“Gungate,” as it is now known, blew up over the past few days with people wondering: Was the gun real? Will Pippa go to jail? Is Queen Kate mad? Will the royal sister be plucked from the front row at Temperley and thrust into Balenciaga’s Fall 2012 spy-themed collection ads? And what about Isabel Marant’s cowboy collection?

Before you get your knickers in a knot, apparently Jr. Middleton was not impressed with the violent act—at least, according to a rather gentlemanly public apology from Pippa’s carmate Viscount Arthur de Soultrait who said, “Obviously Philippa had no idea that he was going to do that and told him to stop immediately…She did not find it funny.”

Luckily for The Royal Family and Pippa, the scandal has slowly fizzled into nothing but a small pile of inert gunpowder. For starters, it’s since been discovered the gun was, in fact, a toy (though why any grown man would be carrying one of those around anyway is completely beyond us). It also appears no one has actually complained to the French police about the incident, so Pippa is not likely to face any criminal charges. Phew.

While she may not have committed a real crime this weekend, she most definitely committed a fashion one. The royal sister-in-law was in Paris for the 1700s-themed birthday party of the aforementioned Viscount and wore an unforgiveable fucshia, bow-covered, corset thing (there is no better word) atop cropped lace leggings that had some questioning her status as a fashion icon. This apparently paled in comparison to the other partygoers who, according to E! Online, wore “dog collars, chastity belts and surround[ed] themselves with dwarves.”

In what may be the best fashion play-by-play of all time, Karl Lagerfeld is set to live commentate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee on June 3 for French television. We’re having flashbacks to last year’s Royal Wedding where the Kaiser let his (totally correct) opinions on some less-than-royal wears be known (think “ugly hats,” “bad proportions” and the like), while pointedly refusing to even discuss the Queen’s sensible buttercream suit. With no Alexander McQueen confections to distract, we bet this year’s commentary will be entertaining, to say the least. As a proudly French citizen with no allegiance to the Queen, we bet the Kaiser’s sharpening his biker-gloved talons as we speak.

Day two of London Fashion Week was a day of literal show themes. First off was Moschino Cheap & Chic, showing in London for the first time—its “Make Up Your Life” Fall collection set in Portland Place (random factoid: this is near the Portland Hospital, where everyone from Victoria Beckham to Claudia Schiffer have given birth). Before the show, we were treated to cocktails and lemonade in the grand living room of a Georgian house; makeup chairs had also been set up to go along with the theme, though the Brit celebs I spotted—Nicola Roberts, Pixie Lott, and a pregnant Peaches Geldof—didn’t seem to take notice. Also present: Olivia Palermo.

What has got talk shows queens Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey duking it out in a $500,000 bidding war? A much-sought-after interview with none other than Pippa Middleton! Who else?

The royal maid-of-honour, who’s currently on a promotional tour for her new party planning book , is no stranger to media attention, and is reportedly being offered as much as $500,000 for an hour-long special with one fortunate interviewer. Quite the deal.

Even though she wasn’t the one getting married, Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid’s dress, also designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, received just as much attention as Kate’s wedding dress, and was loved by fashion critics and Royal fans alike. Now, finally after many replicas have been made, you can buy a “less detailed” version of the dress—meaning there’s a zipper back closure instead of buttons, and no lace inserts. Online luxury retailer  net-a-porter.com is selling the Pippa-inspired dress for US$3,100.