***SCROLL FOR UPDATES 27Feb2022
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were honored at tonight’s NAACP Image Awards with the President’s Award, given in recognition of Harry and Meghan’s special achievement and distinguished public service. Past recipients include the likes of Condoleezza Rice, LeBron James, Rihanna, Muhammed Ali, and Jesse Jackson, among many other luminaries.
Archewell – founded by Harry and Meghan in 2020 – has supported efforts geared towards fighting for racial justice and has also focused on the Black Lives Matter movement and vaccine equity for all.
In a statement, Harry and Meghan said —
It’s a true honor to be recognized by President Derrick Johnson and the NAACP, whose efforts to propel racial justice and civil rights are as vital today as they were nearly 115 years ago.”
To accept the award, Meghan wore a blue bespoke one shoulder Christopher John Rogers dress.
Additionally, the Sussexes have joined forces with the NAACP on a new annual award, the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which will recognize leaders creating transformational change at the intersection of social justice and technology to advance civil and human rights. Each year’s honoree will receive $100,000 to continue to make impact. The inaugural winner is Dr. Safiya Noble, an internet studies scholar and professor of gender studies and African American studies at UCLA. She is also the founder of Equity Engine, a nonprofit committed to creating the conditions for Black women and women of color to thrive through access to education, investments, mentorship, and mutual aid.
Below, Dr. Noble arrives for the awards.
We’re proud to support the NAACP’s work and to also partner with the organization on the newly created annual NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which will be bestowed to Dr. Safiya Noble as part of the 53rd NAACP Image Awards,” the couple said.
For his part, Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said of the Sussexes —
We’re thrilled to present this award to Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who together have heeded the call to social justice and have joined the struggle for equity both in the US and around the world. Not only do they continue to lead by example, The Duke and Duchess have also decided to inspire the next generation of activists through the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, ensuring the support and recognition of generations of civil rights leaders to come.”
After accepting the award, Meghan said that she and Harry “are so deeply humbled to be here in the company of so many illustrious awardees.”
Harry then acknowledged the people of Ukraine before saying —
I also echo the immense gratitude for tonight, both for this award and this community for welcoming me so warmly. I think it’s safe to say that I come from a very different background from my incredible wife, yet our lives were brought together for a reason.”
He added “We share a commitment to a life of service, a responsibility to combat injustice, and a belief that the most often overlooked are the most important to listen to.”
Meghan continued —
I couldn’t be prouder that we’re doing this work together. We moved to California, my home state, shortly before the murder of George Floyd. For Black America, those nine minutes and 29 seconds transcended time, invoking centuries of our unhealed wounds. In the months that followed, as my husband and I spoke with the civil rights community, we committed ourselves and our organization, Archewell, to illuminating those who are advancing racial justice and progress.”
She closed by saying “My mom’s here with us tonight, and we all feel very proud. Thank you.”
The event was hosted by actor Anthony Anderson, who won the Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series award for his role in Blackish, seen below with the couple, his mother and Meghan’s mother, Doria.
Below, the couple with the NAACP president and CEO, Derrick Johnson and his wife, Tamika
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Harry and Meghan also spoke out this week about global events, writing “We stand with the people of Ukraine” on the Archewell website. The couple condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a statement saying “Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same.”
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And, in lighter news this week, the black silk Georgio Armani dress Meghan wore for she and Harry’s interview with Oprah last year has gotten an honor of its own – it has been named The Fashion Museum’s Dress of the Year 2021, as it “encapsulates the prevailing mood of fashion, represents the past year, and captures the imagination.”
In a statement, the museum said of its choice —
It’s well known that members of the Royal family often use outfits to send a message through their choice of style, color or motif. It was reported that the Duchess chose a dress with a lotus flower design because of the flower’s symbolic association with rebirth, self-regeneration and spiritual enlightenment, and its ability to flourish despite seemingly challenging conditions.”
credit: CBS/Harpo Productions
Anytime Meghan’s fashion and work gets praise, we’re here for it – and this week, we got both.
Now our look at what Meghan wore.
***UPDATE 2/27: The Duchess wore a blue one shoulder silk dress is by Christopher John Rogers. The dress is a bespoke piece, below is a sketch from the designer.
More from Vogue’s piece on the New York based Black designer —
Rogers received an email from the Duchess about a month ago, asking if he’d like to work together. Soon after, they hopped on a call to virtually meet. “I was immediately struck by her warmth and just her overall demeanor—her sense of ease and confidence within herself,” says Rogers. “We quickly touched on this idea of a reveal. She hadn’t really stepped out like this in a while.” (The NAACP Awards is her first public appearance of 2022. Previously, she attended the Salute To Freedom Gala in November 2021.)
Rogers mixed high octane glamor with American pragmatism in his four-ply silk custom creation, complete with a chiffon bust overlay. The trim body of the dress is adorned in a shade he calls “Cunningham Blue”—a nod to the cobalt-colored jacket worn by New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham—and features two-foot train in addition to the train. “[It] is always really exciting being able to use color, and lots of different shades of the same color, to create some sort of graphicism, which is signature to me,” he says. “It’s something that feels fresh and right for now.”
Below are some pieces from his current collection available at Saks Fifth Ave.
You may recall Vice President Kamala Harris wore the purple coat and dress by the designer for the Presidential Inauguration in January 2021.
Zendaya wore one of his dresses for the 72nd Prime Time Emmy Awards in 2020.
Her shoes are by Aquazzura — the Celeste glitter sandal in gold, $1250.
The Duchess brought back two bracelets we’ve seen before. The first one is Diana’s gold and blue stone bracelet which we first saw when the couple was visiting Australia in 2018. The other is her Cartier ‘Love’ bracelet, a piece she often wears.
Below, Meghan wearing the bracelet during Royal Visit Australia, October 2018.
Diana wearing the bracelet in Mayfair, May 25, 1994.
Meghan had on a pair of gold earrings which we think are by Alexis Bittar – the Crumpled Gold post style, $245.
***UPDATE 2/27: Doria Ragland wore the Burberry ‘Fabiana’ slash neck dress in black, $1178. The dress is past season from about 4 years ago an is no longer available.
For those interested in what Harry wore, his tuxedo is a bespoke piece by London-based designer Ozwald Boateng.
More about Ozwald from the designer’s history page —
Ozwald Boateng has had a transformational impact on menswear fashion for almost three decades, with a design aesthetic rooted in Savile Row traditions but defined by international style, detail, and artistry. His instinctive use of colour, cut and fabric fuses traditional classic British tailoring with a high end modern design focus on the refinement of a man’s silhouette, this has brought tailoring to a whole new generation of men.
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Finally, we want to apologize with regards to the quality of the photos. We’re still dealing with screenshots and low quality images for many of our posts. It has been a struggle to find good quality images for many of the events that Harry and Meghan have been attending as the photo agencies we use either don’t carry the images or the couple uses their own photographer. Previously we worked with some of the best Royal photographers – James Whatling and the i-Images duo, Steven Lock and Andrew Parsons. Mark Cuthbert was another photographer who we purchased from often as well as Mark Stewart. Mark Cuthbert and James were particularly good at getting the close up detail shots of things like the shoes, clothing labels or buttons and jewelry which was great for helping us ID items. We very much appreciate all of their hard work and loved working with them on past engagements. Hopefully we will have a chance to work with them again in the future.
We hope to see more of Harry and Meghan in the coming months. In the meantime, we hope to bring you some fun and creative posts while we wait to see them again. – Susan and Rachel
VIP LINKS:
- Vogue’s article about Christopher John Rogers and the dress is here.
- Rachel’s article in Marie Claire can be found here.
- Read more from NAACP Image awards here.
- Read more from BET TV here on the awards.
- People magazine’s article is here.
Well, I’m late to this comment board, but I love, love, love this dress. Meghan looks fantastic and the dress, to me, is a knock-out. The color of the dress is stunning with Meghan’s hair and makeup, the fabric is gorgeous with a warm, buttery sheen, the one-shoulder cut is figure-flattering but also sexy. The look overall is modern, elegant, clean and fun.
This is a huge hit, in my opinion.
That is a beautiful, classy gown worth of the stage or red carpet. She looked amazing.
I love this dress! I have not always been impressed with Meghan’s outfits. So often the style is unflattering to her figure or the fit it off but this is a winner!!
I would have loved to see Diana’s aquamarine ring with this dress as well. I don’t remember if the metal is yellow gold or white gold/platinum but if it’s not yellow gold perhaps that is the reason?
I believe I’m in the minority but I really wish they’d drop their titles when in the US. We fought a war separating ourselves from unearned titles and as an American I find them pretentious and unnecessary. They are earning their accolades with action, and I admire them for that, not their titles.
But the dress is gorgeous and I love the earrings she wore!
Doria’s dress is lovely! Understated and elegant, just as I see her.
If you look at the original sketch, it has a light blue piece at the neck and across her other shoulder. Looks like this was left out of the final design, but I think that would have made it even more striking! Also looks like he drew her hair in one of her middle-part-slicked-back-buns… which I would have loved (always do)!! I agree that the side swept hair was a mistake with this dress. BUT overall I still love the look!!! How cool to have those different shades of blue! And that train!! Finally, I know we can’t compare every look of hers to Diana’s, but I believe Diana also wore a one strap dress in electric blue, very similar to the main color of Meghan’s dress here.
Meghan’s dress is really pretty and definitely better fitting than some she’s worn in the past. I’m not a fan of side-swept hair and in this case it takes away from the design of the dress at the shoulder. But she still looks beautiful.
Doria’s dress is awesome and she looks great! Harry looks handsome as ever but as someone else mentioned, he doesn’t appear to be his usual jovial self. He has had a great deal of stress lately with trying to get security measures in place so his whole family, not just him, can visit his family in England.
As an aside, it seems odd to me now for H&M to present themselves as Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In the US these titles don’t mean anything like they do in the UK and European countries. I don’t know why it seems different now from last year; maybe so much has happened in the world and they haven’t been front and center in so long (doing more behind the scenes) that seeing the titles just seems…..not necessary. Even calling him Prince Harry seems kind of weird now. Again, in the US the title doesn’t mean anything but if they were doing anything in the UK it would make sense. I liken it to how Charles and Camilla and William and Kate have different titles in Scotland and Ireland. Maybe it’s just me.
Hi Dawn, Harry began speaking about Ukraine last night. I’ve updated the post and included a bit of their speech in it. They were also reading from a teleprompter. The photos taken afterwards show him smiling. I think it was more of a serious moment, I’d have to go back and re-watch it again. As for their titles, they are still known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they never lost their titles, and that’s how many people identify them as. I don’t think this will change. – SC
Thanks for the update. That explains his facial expressions. Somber indeed.
If the Queen came to the U.S., would we not refer to her as the Queen because that title has no meaning here?
Note Admin Edit
I love this CJR dress! The colors are so vibrant and positive, and a great fit. The trailing fabric over the shoulder is so graceful. The late Princess Diana’s bracelet looks wonderful with this outfit. I love her aquamarine too, but I think an extra accessory with blue would be too matchy-matchy. And so nice to see Doria, who looks very chic.
I don’t think Prince Harry looks glum, but serious. The couple haven’t been to an event like this in ages, and they have two small children at home.
Yes, he was speaking about Ukraine and I think they were reading from a teleprompter. I’ve updated the post and included some of their speech. – SC
I wonder why she didn’t wear Princess Diana’s aquamarine ring? It would have coordinated beautifully with all the different shades of blue in the dress?
I know there aren’t alot of photos available (it’d be great to see the arrivals!!) but it looks like Prince Harry seems a tad uncomfortable? Which is odd, as he’s used to being on stage in front of a crowd. Maybe it’s just coincidence in the handful of other pics available online this morning so far, but despite that fantastic-looking dapper tuxedo, he just appears to be a shadow of his former jovial self,
Doria looked lovely!! She always appears appropriately dressed when she pops up at events with Meghan & Harry. Love her simple classic aesthetic!!!
Love this color-range on Meghan! Very vibrant yet tasteful! Her shoes are a great pairing with this dress. Does it seem like her 2nd toe(s) are extra long? I’ve noticed this before when she’s worn open-toed shoes; it’s hard to be sure from their Christmas card but it kinda looked like Lilibet may have inherited this too. Harry looks so dapper.
It does not appear Harry is wearing a bespoke piece by London-based designer Ozwald Boateng, at least not the one you are showing in this article. Please let us know if this is correct or not.
Hi Peggy, If you click on the link for Ozwald Boateng, it takes you to his website. On the site, he does not have a ready-to-wear line of tuxedos. We link straight to the section of the site about bespoke tuxedos and suits. This is where the image of the tuxedo next to the photo of Harry is from – here is the link again – https://www.ozwaldboateng.co.uk/bespoke-couture. Thanks, Susan
I think the Duchess looks lovely in this dress. The colour is beautiful and I’m very pleased that this dress has been so well tailored to fit her as she has had some misses in the past. I hope she uses this designer again in the future.
I’m not a fan of the slicked sideways hair but that’s a personal preference.
Carolyn, yes I totally agree, the tailoring on this piece was fantastic! Definitely an improvement from past tailoring mishaps!