Flashback Friday: Crown Princess Victoria’s Style, Through the Years

When you’re the Crown Princess from the age of 2 onwards, life isn’t a walk in the park. Sure, there are some pretty grand events in your future, but does that make up for having the most cringe-worthy parts of your life played out on an international stage? Come on. I wouldn’t wish the torture of having awkward teenage romances catalogued by a salacious tabloid press on my worst enemy.

Royal engagements for a young princess are a constant sartorial minefield. You try to dress the part of a serious future Queen Regnant….

But after awhile you start to get annoyed with all those people asking you if you’ve misplaced your walker, or your knitting bag. So then you let your youth take the reins….

But then all of your fashion experimentations gone wrong are forever recorded.

Clearly the Swedish court doesn’t budget a full staff for a fledgling CP, so sans hairdresser you end up catching a bad case of DPS.

Dreaded Ponytail Syndrome. Poor Victoria was gravely ill for years. Doesn’t even matter what you’re wearing when nobody’s looking past your hair.

Over the years, Victoria's style gradually evolved. And certain patterns began to emerge:

Evening gowns with close-fitting bodices and partial embellishment. Bonus points for spaghetti straps.

(These types of gowns will always reek of Senior Prom for American teenagers with $200 dress budgets to me, but you can’t deny they’re an excellent complement to her body type.)

Neutrals or luxuriously rich jewel tones.

Fits that hug the waist in just the right spot.

Eureka! A full time hair stylist.

There has been a marked improvement since her engagement was announced; she has been happy and confident, and it's given her clothes the final touch they needed to develop a real sartorial stride.

Now, Victoria’s hired a new stylist. Tina Törnqvist used to be a movie stylist, and she accompanied Vic to private meetings with some of Paris’s best fashion houses recently. I am crossing my fingers and toes that this means we’ve only just begun to see a new Victoria: elegant and ultra-glam, just as a future Queen should be.