Fashionable Rima Al-Sabah, wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Sabah (also a rather natty dresser) loves couture shopping in Chevy Chase and New York for wardrobe favorites from Ungaro, Cavalli, Dior, Lanvin and Vera Wang. She’s famed for high, high heels from Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin.
“I like classic designs with an edge; clothes that are stylish,” she notes. “I love picking out Hermès ties for my husband but my boys are happiest in jeans and college-logo T-shirts.”
One diplomatic wife who never wears make-up is Yoriko Fujisaki, the pretty wife of the Japanese ambassador. “I am just like a glass … with many different facets,” she says of her frequent transformations from traditional and ceremonial Japanese clothing to modern garb. “I don’t think I look as good in Western clothes, but I do love my vintage dresses from Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori and Jun Ashida.”
She begins each morning in slacks or jeans and sneakers to walk their dog, Skipper. The rest of the day’s outfits depend on her schedule. “It takes me longer [30 minutes] to wear a kimono,” she says, adding that she studied Japanese dancing to get used to wearing one. “Now, I can do anything, except maybe ride a horse, in my kimono!”
Her husband thinks his off-the-rack suits look better than tailored clothes; he wears European and Japanese ties that his wife and daughters buy for him and keeps some at his embassy just so he can change them during the day.
For over a decade, Singapore’s delicate-looking envoy, Chan Heng-Chee, has gracefully moved through diplomatic life, often getting her way whether she’s wearing a tailored Maxa Mara suit or one of her beloved cheongsams (gibao in Chinese). She chooses silks and wools herself for these custom-made short or long dresses that generally feature a Mandarin collar as well as a slit. She usually wears suits to work and especially to black-tie events if there’s dancing. “It’s easier,” she says.
Monaco’s Ellen Noghès entered official life here two years ago in an unforgettable black feather evening skirt at the Washington Ballet’s spring gala. She finds designer clothes in Paris, New York or Washington, then mixes them together for her own style. The Michigan-born blonde recently wowed an upscale crowd at the Princess Grace Foundation Gala at New York’s 42nd Street Cipriani’s with a flowing blue-gray silk chiffon gown found in a boutique in Harbor Springs, Mich., during her summer vacation. “You can find great fashion in all corners of the world,” she says, noting that she finds it easiest to “travel with black and white but often mix in red” because of her love of Monaco, whose colors are red and white.
Postscript: We would be remiss to omit mention of Colombia’s Carolina Barco, who fights for a free-trade agreement while looking absolutely fabulous day and night, and Italy’s Leila Castellaneta, who is a perfect model for her country’s top designers. Among the men, Nicaraguan Ambassador Arturo Cruz turns heads when he enters a room, as does Jordan’s Prince Zeid Al-Hussein and Yemen’s Abdulwahab Al-Hajjri.
Readers wishing to get in touch with Gail Scott can email: columns@vps3.washingtonlife.com.
