Duchess Kate in a red Beulah London gown: flattering & pretty?

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Duchess Kate is slowly getting into the swing of things! Last week, she finally signed on to her first charity patronage (her husband‘s), and last night she was on her husband’s arm at a charity gala. It’s sort of confusing, trying to figure out what the charity gala was for or who held the thing. Something about 100 Women In Hedge Funds, and I think the money raised went to the Child Bereavement Charity – about $1 million in all. You can read more about it here and here.

But you care about the fashion, right? Kate wore this red, figure-hugging Beulah London. Well, I think it’s supposed to be figure-hugging, but it looks slightly loose on Kate’s slender frame. No, I don’t think she’s pregnant yet. Tiny little waist, and her boobs are either the same size or smaller. Still, I like the color on her. Kate always stuns in jewel tones – most brunettes do. And the style of the gown, with the loose sleeves, is rather interesting for her. It looks like something Sienna Miller would wear, right? The V-neck reminds me of Kate’s beloved Issa dresses, and I’m reminded once again of the fact that if she had any kind of curves, her style wouldn’t be viewed as “conservative” because her cleavage would be busting out all over the place.

Also – it looks like she’s gotten highlights in her hair, right? Red highlights.

UPDATE: I just added a few more pics.

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Photos courtesy of St. James’s Palace, via Fame.

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83 Responses to “Duchess Kate in a red Beulah London gown: flattering & pretty?”

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  1. marie says:

    or maybe it’s just all the red around her, and the lights.

  2. Sugar says:

    Oh how I wish she would pull her hair off her shoulders!

  3. Christine says:

    I really like this dress. Her face looks different though. Better. Are her eyebrows thicker? Is it the eye makeup? William needs to work on his fake smile. LOL Cause that is fakety fake fake.

  4. layla says:

    It’s nice to see a different (if just slightly) silhouette on her.

    And the neckline…. how risque! 😉

  5. inthekitchen says:

    See, Kaiser, I think she is pregnant because her face seems MUCH fuller to me.

    @Christine, I agree – seems like less eye makeup…Yippee!

    I agree she looks good in red but dang, the dress looks like all her other Issa dresses, especially with the sash around her waist. BORING. Also, when is she going to break out some jewels?! Some diamonds around her neck is not too much to ask for at a black-tie affair.

  6. Anguishedcorn says:

    I think it’s very lovely on her.

  7. ladybert62 says:

    I usually dont like red but that dress is nice on her (unlike the trashy one that Pippa wore a few days or weeks ago).

    Yes, William looks like he is gritting his teeth and trying to smile – it does look fake.

  8. i.want.shoes says:

    I really dislike the sleeves.

  9. CG says:

    I absolutely LOVE the dress! And I agree that there’s something different about her face. But look at that body language with William: He’s got his arm around her but she’s not making any effort to have contact with him and has her arm and bag between them defensively. She looks like she’s leaning/pulling away from him slightly. And his smile is half-hearted. Trouble in paradise?

  10. anne_000 says:

    Her face looks very manly. She looks like Rick Perry.

  11. Jaded says:

    She really does have to let go of that college girl hair…or pull it back or up or something, it just overwhelms her face. I suppose she was fidgeting with it all evening long too.

  12. Dibba says:

    She’s so thin, her head is too big and her hair is too big for her emaciated body. Need to nip the latest royal eating disorder in the bud!

  13. Meg says:

    see now i hate this dress. you’re opinions of her fashion seem to be quite harsh.
    other styles are very flattering to her, she’s royalty she’s supposed to be appropriate and demure

  14. StephanieMarie says:

    Oooh, I think that V is too deep for a Duchess.
    Don’t the rules include pantyhose even with pants and no open toed shoes?
    But it’s okay to have a V down to your sternum??

  15. Raised Brow says:

    She looks ‘aged’ in these photos. Average styling, but it’s a very pretty gown and looks nice on her frame.

  16. Rita says:

    The dress is meh, but I love her.

  17. theotheryael says:

    i would wear that dress in a heartbeat. if i ever have the opportunity to wear a ball gown, that is.

  18. Elizabeth says:

    their heads are too large in proportion to their bodies….someone so thin like Kate should be under observation not lauded for fashion choices …scary

  19. Rashiel says:

    What a boring dress. The color is nice, but why is it so plain? There could have been a different style to the neckline or some detailing on the sleeves or a different style with the waistline…

    But this looks like an ugly nightgown or a Renaissance dress with those sleeves, and an average Renaissance dress at that.

    She could cut it just below the knee and it will be the same as her other day dresses which taper at the waistline. This is like the Reiss blue engagement dress with that style on the waistline, or the other gowns she’s worn before marriage, which all had the same style on the waist. Basic.

    @ Meg: You can be demure but still be stylish. If you wear something a little fancier than that boring red dress on Kate, that does mean you’re inappropriate and a slut because you’re not covered up from neck to toe wearing a plain dress? I thought we left the Victorian Era when Queen Victoria died?

    You don’t have to wear plain clothes all the time because you’re supposed to be “royalty” and demure. The other princesses in Europe have worn more stylish, more modern dresses and clothes but still looked appropriate for the events they attend. They’ve shown their shoulders and worn dresses above the knees and nobody complained about how they should be demure.

    This “she’s supposed to be demure” is another excuse for Kate Middleton, who IMO as time goes by is really showing she’s not the fashion icon the media and most of the public expected her to be. So people try to find excuses as to why she always wear plain, boring clothes. She’s just an ordinary-looking woman with big hair whose style is on the side of boring (IMO). There’s nothing wrong with that, but the media and her fans keep on putting her up on a pedestal like she’s the most stylish person in the world, and that every outfit she wears must have a good reason for it, either “she’s got to be demure because she’s royalty”, “she doesn’t want the focus on herself”, or “she wants to be taken seriously” to defend the clothes she wears.

  20. Reece says:

    Kate looks great. Yes. Now why do they keep putting Will in double breasted tuxs? He looks old and round (like he’s his father)in them and he’s not. Hate DB’s on tall, lanky guys.

  21. UKHels says:

    think it looks a bit…frumpy, to be frank, even though the colour isn’t frumpy

    I don’t like the way it hangs on her at all

  22. bros says:

    i love the dress but somehow this ages her

  23. Anonymous says:

    Like the dress, but she looks old. All the smoking perhaps?

  24. Sassy says:

    Her eyes look better b/c the lower lids are not heavily lined. She listened to us!

  25. spinner says:

    She looks lovely & appropriate.

  26. Melanie says:

    They look very happy. I love red.

  27. HoustonGrl says:

    Maybe I’ve just never seen her face from this angle, but she looks completely different than she used to. This is a big change from the cute spirited look she had just few years ago (http://tinyurl.com/3su8spt). I know they say your face changes all your life, but I think she may really be showing the effects of her extreme weight loss 🙁 Hope she is ok.

  28. Azurea says:

    That is one very 70’s-style gown. And her long hair is aging her.

  29. hmmm says:

    Here is Waity being a socialite. Granny dress is boring. The colour is all wrong for her skin tone! Worst of all, Waity lacks presence and personality. There is no ‘there’ there. She also seems to have a limited range of expressions.

  30. KLO says:

    it’s not highlights. The haircolor that she has appears different in different lighting. I have the same color. It can look blonde, brunette or red depending on the light. I often get asked if I’ve dyed my hair because of that. I never dye it 😀

  31. sauvage says:

    She looks painfully thin.

  32. Layzo says:

    I agree, She does look painfully thin. I mean some girls are naturally this thin and no much how much they eat; they can’t gain weight.

    This is not the case with this girl because in her old photos, you see she has a more muscular and robust frame. I hope she gains some of the weight back.

    Love the dress!

  33. Ron says:

    I love that her style seems very much her own and effortless. Don;t love the sleeves on this dress, but really, she looks great as usual.

  34. The Original Mia says:

    Boring dress. Par for the course for our Duchess.

    Someone stole her black eyeliner. Yay!

  35. stephanie says:

    looks like a bathrobe/kimono.

  36. Twez says:

    Have a few hors d’oeuvres, Kate.

  37. labikina says:

    I like the dress, but her face looks far too old. She is 29, not 45!!! I remember just a few years ago when she was still going out to clubs every night she looked her age and had a fresh faced girlishness to her. I miss back in the day Waity!

  38. The Original Ashley says:

    How very 70’s blah.

    She’s starting to look like Bethenny Frankel or a young Polly Draper. I didn’t realize how manly her square jaw is.

  39. ahoyhoy says:

    Firstly, I agree with whomever mentioned her face looking fuller. = first sign of pregnancy, along with sometimes a 5-10 pound weight LOSS, from the nausea & morning sickness.

    Second–Will’s ‘official’ smile always looks fake. He is his mother’s son, naturally shy, but not nearly as good at faking it as Diana. But who is?

    I CANNOT WAIT for the laws of succession to change, so that their FIRST (no matter its gender) is automatically Queen or King—–I want there to be a ‘Queen Diana’ someday. Her Majesty would be smart not to protest that name, as it could keep the monarchy alive & popular for decades.

  40. Jackson says:

    Do not like that dress at all. Don’t like the color, don’t like the sleeves. It looks like a grandma dress. All it’s missing is a bit of lace doily.

  41. jane16 says:

    I love it. Beautiful retro dress. She looks great, and very happy.

  42. Chrissy says:

    Beautiful!!!

  43. JulieM says:

    Boring dress on a boring woman. The dress looks like it is still on the hanger and Waity is the hanger. Another dull Issa? I see no extra fullness to her face either. She always had a broad face. Doubt she is pregnant. We shall see.

  44. Gine says:

    She looks great! Nice to see her in something different.

  45. Kelly says:

    They both look creepy, maybe its the lighting?

  46. smh says:

    she’s very elegant but boy am i sick of the whole retro thing… or emulations of timeless dresses which are better left in history…

  47. Alexis says:

    Why assume she’s pregnant? It wouldn’t be hard.

    And it’s not the hair or the dress that’s aging her. It’s the fact that she’s starving herself.

    I’m uncomfortable with Kate and the way people talk about her body in general. If you look at photos of her that are older than the wedding and a couple months before, she was a fit, muscular, curvy girl. Not a skeleton. I wish that she had had the courage to rock a figure that doesn’t require starving herself as she came into her role as Duchess. Now she will come under fire if she returns to a weight more natural to her. That must be a lot of pressure.

    What creeps me out the most is that it’s clear she’s done this to herself for the public. She now has a body for fashion, not nakedness; her body was sexier before. The way that her gamble has paid off — she’s now a fashion icon known for her rail-thin figure — makes me sad.

  48. sally says:

    These two are so BORING!

  49. AcesHigh says:

    Huh. I kept staring at her picture, and trying to figure out why I think she looks fantastic here. I figured it out… she got eased up on that horrid eyeliner. Finally!

  50. Luise says:

    I am so sick of this Duchess Bobble Head. William needs to whiten his teeth. He’s turning into a Bobble Head too.

  51. Me says:

    The cleavage is too low, the band is too high and makes her body seem disproportionate.

    Sorrym but she looks anorexic.
    I like her dresses very much, and this one could have been nice, but for the 2 things.
    That, and her obvious weight problem.

    So sad she is under such pressure to starve herself.

  52. Samara says:

    very pretty but I wish she would do something with her hair. A chignon is far more elegant

  53. MB says:

    Those bell sleeves ruin the dress. Thus us not something sienna miller would wear – maybe her mother would? Straighten the sleeves and make the whole thing a little bit tighter and throw on a statement necklace and you’d have yourself a great outfit

  54. eternalcanadian says:

    Whoa, while Catherine has too much makeup William needs some under those eyes. He’s got really dark circles and blotchy skin now.

    Don’t like the dress. It’s too big and Catherine needs to gain about 15 pounds! She looked her best when William dumped her and she was training with the rowing crew. Also can’t forget those awesome white bikini pictures on that holiday with her family and William five years ago.

    They are looking very boring. Not young and hip. Blah.

  55. kg says:

    Her eye makeup looks a billion times better…her dress however makes me think she has the body of a frail old lady.

  56. Lovely! She looks great in this.

  57. Acorn Paste says:

    I know ribbons are in, but can’t she choose dresses that are less boring? It’s like she’s always wearing a bathrobe. All her other ribbon dresses look cheap. In fact, Kate always dress cheap.

    And talk about her face being so manly. Yuck.

    Good to see the thick eyeliner ditched though. I guess the permanent/tattooed rumors can be put to rest now?

  58. NYC_girl says:

    I love red. But the belt looks goofy. What is royal protocol – are they not allowed to touch each other in public? Like hold hands? I’ve wondered about that. She looks so much older than her her age.

  59. Nymeria says:

    I laughed out loud when I saw these photos. Waity looks like a dude in drag! I shall call her “Duchess Dude.” (Kidding.) (Kind of.)

  60. Kloops says:

    Way too thin.

  61. N says:

    “Duchess Dude” LOL LOL LOL. So true! My stomach hurts.

  62. sandra says:

    Poor girl. Life in a fishbowl, forever dissected. I think she looks great.

  63. badrockandroll says:

    I read that the dress was manufactured by a company called Beulah London, which is owned by the woman who ended up marrying Kate’s first serious, pre-William boyfriend.

    Not sure of all the details here, but it seems that the dress company is either run by, or run to profit the female victims of the sex trade in India (the ones that La Lohan didn’t save I guess).

    That story made me like the dress more.

  64. Lauren says:

    Kate looks thinner than Diana ever did..and later Diana admitted she had bulimia. Its history repeating itself. William’s devoted mother had an eating disorder, and he married a woman with an eating disorder. The pressure must be unbearable. Someone help Kate, for heavens sake.

  65. Callli Pygian says:

    I cannot decide who she reminds me more of- Nancy ‘Head-On -A-Stick’ Regan, or the other Kate, with that ear- to -ear
    affected smile.

    *shudders*

  66. tmbg says:

    She looks…like a royal. They all dress stodgy. I’m just not a fan of her formal look, although her casual outfits can be nice (we see far fewer of those now though).

    I was looking at some pictures of JFK Jr’s wife and was wondering if there is anyone out there now who embodies that minimalist fashion the way she did? Neutral colors, simple makeup and hair, etc. She did it to perfection.

  67. Poppy says:

    There are just too many teeth in these photos.

  68. Hellen says:

    Awful dress: shapeless, droopy design. Same old hair, NO jewels – completely boring look.

    And oh, that poor woman standing next to her. Same thing once happened to me at a wedding, I was photographed standing next to a Polish supermodel.

  69. Victoria says:

    I am not a fan of this this dress on her. yes, she looks great in the color, but she has no figure. The stuff she usually wears is perfect for boyish frame because it tries to give her a little something extra, but this does nothing for her.

    But I still like Kate’s style overall.

  70. Sunlily says:

    Like the dress, hate the sleeves. What is it about her that makes her look about 10 years older than she actually is? I can’t put my finger on it, but she just looks…old.

  71. Sloane Wyatt says:

    I only opened this post to see if ana Kate had gained any much needed weight.

    Sigh, disappointed again.

  72. theaPie says:

    Stunning.

  73. Minx2 says:

    Perfect dress for a 40-something. She’s so boring it hurts.

  74. Jamie says:

    Both she and William look very nice here. The neckline is a quite low but manages to also not be revealing. This is a great dress for her body. She looks very elegant and that ring is just amazing.

  75. Diana says:

    Ok. Eyeliner is still very much there. but the top eyelid has more make up on. eyeborows did maybe by Pippa? they look horrible on her. is those that make her so freakin old looking. the highschool prom dress is in. anyway first impression is that she looks nice because she is polished, but second look is OMG cheap cheap. i really feel sorry for people that have to work with her on her wardrobe. they must think: with her body why is she rocking the 50s style? it is just terrible. it looks budget, really!

    an hey kaiser kate looks like she is growing on you or you have been forced to be nice to her?

  76. Diana says:

    i can’t stop starring at the eyebrows. seriously. they are BADDDDD! it is great to have great hair but man she has a lot of hair on her face

  77. LM says:

    She looks lovely, really fresh having ditched the heavy liner – but her boobs are slightly lopsided – eeek!

  78. Diana says:

    check these photos if we want to talk about style designed for a princess!

    http://royalstory.blogspot.com/2010/09/mary-crown-princess-of-denmark.html

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1177130/Denmarks-French-born-princess-gives-birth-son.html

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1177130/Denmarks-French-born-princess-gives-birth-son.html

    healthy looking too!

    don’t get it why kate doesn;t wear the family jewelries? budget budget but those do exist! no need to but new ones!

  79. sleepy says:

    She is alarmingly thin! Don’t like the dress at all. I might have liked it if the sleeves were different.

    Btw, congrats to Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn on the announcement of their second child!! They already have a daughter, Savannah, who will be one in Decemeber! She is a cutie! This new baby will be the Queens second great grandchild.

  80. africanwoman says:

    she is 29 and looks like a 48yr old woman ,i really wonder how she is gonna look in 3 years time to come

  81. Auds says:

    If Catherine is going to be this skinny she is going to age badly. She needs to add a few pounds so her face loses that hard masculine edge. She has thin lips, hollow cheeks, not necessarily flattering or photogenic.

  82. miss_bhaven says:

    That dress is very Zsa Zsa Gaborish…Far too mature for the young Kate. Fashion FAIL.

  83. Kelly says:

    What’s happened to her face? Botox!? It really does appear as if she’s been worked on in some way – almost as if she has had the youth surgically operated away from her face.

    She usually looks so fresh faced and elegant, but here she resembles an extra from Dynasty (a middle-aged one). I think it’s a good job she stayed away from the bling because it would have made this ensemble look even cheaper.