Oh, I really hope you guys bring back Wiglet Watch for these photos, because I feel like there’s a lot to analyze and assess!!! These are photos of Duchess Kate in Norwich, England today, attending the launch of East Anglia’s Hospices’ Norfolk Capital Appeal. EACH is one of Kate’s patronages, and she’s helping them launch a fundraising drive (they need £10 million) to build more EACH facilities in Norfolk. You can read more about the launch here – Kate did not give a speech, from what I see, but she did release a one-sentence statement. Probably better that way because chica still can’t manage public speaking.
As for her look today… RED!!! YAY. I do love it when Kate chooses a rich jewel tone. I would always rather see her in red, purple or a rich sapphire than the greys, browns, pale pinks and neutrals she seems to favor. Kate’s dress is by Katherine Hooker. It’s not perfectly tailored, but I suspect Kate bought up a size or two to accommodate her (still very small) baby bump. Kate’s also wearing lower-than-normal black heels. I didn’t notice that the black suede heels are lower than her usual three-inchers, but The Daily Mail noted it, so there you go.
As for her hair and Wiglet Watch 2014… I’m sure there’s some teasing that went into this ponytail. But I’m just not convinced that we’re seeing her natural hair overall. I think there are some extensions or something. Wiglet Watch it. Also: we have to praise her for doing a ponytail. Always. It’s so nice to see her hair out of her face.
Last thing – for Will and Kate’s New York City trip in a few weeks, they’ll be attending a fundraiser for their alma mater, St. Andrews University. The fundraiser will be held at the Met and it costs $100,000 per table (10 people at a table). That sounds pretty standard for a fundraiser and hey, at least it’s not pay-for-play like the NBA game they’ll be attending.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
This is better than her usual frumpy look. She is just not inspirational by any means but again the bar is set REALLY low so….
She is by far the most boring Royal I can think of. Critiquing her fashion is like critiquing different shades of sliced bread. So ordinary. So obvious.
So not worth the free money she takes from the UK government to fund her shopping. She should at least try to entertain the people, we are paying for it!
I’m not sure anything she wears could ever be described as “stunning”. Even on her wedding day, Kate looked nice/good, or even great to me, but not stunning. She looks good here. The dress is an appropriate length and the hair is pulled back.
+10
she’s worn some lovely outfits. I think stunning is a good stretch. What (imo) makes an outfit stunning is the person wearing the dress. Not the dress wearing the person. Kate has no presence, yet. She wears unimaginative, nice outfits, but personal spirit doesn’t shine through.
Many of Diana’s outfits that are considered stunning I think are very basic, but on her they are stunningly gorgeous.
And yea, Hair pulled back, dress is the proper length. All is fine.
I couldn’t agree more about stunning is as stunning does, FLORC.
That dress is not worth discussing, and unfortunately, the wearer hasn’t done anything to warrant conversation about herself.
Its her eye makeup and no fringe. She needs a good haircut and someone to take her in hand. The Daily Fail pics really show the bottom eyeliner – it is so thick. how can she think this looks good?
+100! That’s exactly it …
A fringe would soften her look, as would some layers and a smart hairstyle that falls no lower than on her shoulders.
The eye make-up is absolutely dire. If I was her, I’d be putting in a call to Lisa Eldridge to ask her to pop by for some private make-up lessons. I did read somewhere that she was buying Clarins make-up recently … that’s a no, no, no! … their skincare is the best, but botanicals-based cosmetics are never going to look great (well, they do when first applied, but they look tired and faded as the day wears on). Mind you, I also read that she used Lancome make-up for her wedding and that’s fabulous so goodness knows why it looked hard. Yep, a call into Lisa Eldridge is the only way forward for her.
5 mins with Lisa would do wonders.
Her hair looks better tied back like that.
Agreed. I get tired of the long locks and her constant fretting with it!
I think she looks great.
She looks lovely.
Pretty.
Agreed. Red really suits her and she looks so much prettier with her hair pulled back.
I think so too. Her hair pulled back looks good and the few pounds she has put on looks good.
Kate’s hair is a hot mess and her dress doesn’t fit properly. However, her hair IS up and out of her face, so props for that. And I love Kate in red — it really is a very good colour on her.
Interesting to note: the DM had a number of pics that are not flattering (most of those were borderline). That’s unusual because they usually have only one, maybe two unflattering pics. So the editors are choosing to quietly up those numbers. Plus, her last outing (KP dinner) had people shading her fashion. The mood is changing around the Cambridges and it’ll be interesting to see if the new PR person can turn that around.
Oh yeah, the eyeliner was rather sloppily done. Weird. Like Tammy-Faye levels of weird.
•perplexed•
I’m going to have to disagree with you! Lol
I saw Tammy in person (pics never captured how tacky she looked — from head to toe) and Kate is, luckily, not as bad as Tammy.
I thought her upper lid looked fine (or what I’m used to seeing eye-liner-wise from Kate).
But the bottom lid struck me as done bizarre-ly (for a celebrity of her stature).
LadySlippers
I never saw Tammy in person, but i’ve seen slose up high def photos and… yikes!
I’ve also seen a high quality close photo of Kate in her 1st year of appearances. A friend stood in line and got a snap of her between 2 ladies heads.
Kate has amazng touch ups on her photos. Her eyeliner looks to be liquid with the bottle applicator. If you use liquid find a much thinner brush or else it’s thicker than intended.
Anyways, Tammy’s eyeliner was on par with Kate’s true appearance. But it’s also the look she’s going for. It’s a look many don’t find appealing, but others do.
ITA. Always love your insight, LS 🙂
You know, the best movies always come out during the holidays, but the Will/Kate PR nightmare is more entertaining than most of the new releases! (grabs popcorn, settles in)
•Pixelated•
The PR for them is extremely entertaining… Hey, you gonna share the popcorn, right? 😉
*looks longingly at huge bucket of popcorn*
I think that the red colour suits Kate really well. While I do think that the fit isn’t good (though I must be difficult to find perfectly fitted clothes when pregnant) I think that she looks very good, happy and animated. Hair is back and off her face – always a bonus point. Posture isn’t good though.
I actually wish that she would practice her public speaking. You only get better with practice and a speech would bring more focus on the work of the charity and her involvement though that depends on the wording. I do wish that she would stop relying so much on standard phrases and instead let some of her personal feelings and opinions on the work of the charity and why she supports it shine through in a speech, if she ever does one. Hopefully she will get there at some point.
•ArtHistorian•
I adore Kate in jewel tones. The odd thing is her outfits usually run too small so it’s rare to see her in something too big. TBH, I’m still kinda shocked at the sheer number of less than flattering pics of her.
Kate should be polishing over overall image and performance. Diana had a speech coach early on and another one in the late ’80s/early ’90s which made all the difference in the world.
And I agree — she does look happy and relaxed in the photos published.
Yes, she really does need to step up her public speaking game. I think the fact that she doesn’t give speeches or even little mini- interviews/snippets/soundbites really just dampens her public persona.
Part of the fit problem can’t be fixed when she’s got a bump but wears regular dresses. There is the potential for much better fit with a maternity dress.
I read that she ordered this dress in a custom fabric which given the poor fit, it seems like such a waste of the £400 retail price.
MinnFinn. Yes, if she’d wear maternity dresses the fit would naturally be better. And you’re saying that this poorly-fitted dress with the odd chest seams (seams or lingerie lines) cost MORE than £400 / $600 ?
Kaiser, those have 3.5″ heels, which are lower than her usual 4.5 – 6″ (with platforms).
•MinnFinn•
Even proper tailoring would help. As would a few key accessories and steaming of the garment.
•notasugarhere•
What you are seeing around her chest area are the creases created by a nursing bra. Nursing bras (for those that don’t know) have a panel that unhooks so you can nurse and that panel/the entire bra, often is a thicker cotton material. Hence we can clearly see the panel through her dress.
•HH•
It would be nice to see her grow in the public speaking arena…
Nsugar – Several sources say the basic Ascot dress is £390 retail. I just checked Hooker’s website and the price for that dress in a custom fabric actually starts at £495 or higher depending on the fabric you select.
http://katherinehooker.com/pages/custom
Express newspaper quotes Hooker as saying that Kate comes into her shop all the time. I know I’m stretching things a bit, but that statement is somewhat of a confirmation that Kate shops as much as she always has. And the reason there are so few pap shots of her shopping lately has to be due to more effort to shop under the radar, perhaps after hours by special appointment and/or more effort by her security to suppress photos and/or to sneak her into the shops.
LS – Thanks for the info on the mystery item outlined under her dress.
Gah! That dress does not fit properly anywhere. The sleeves and hips are particularly awful. The hem isn’t pressed.
And that is the worst ponytail I’ve ever seen in my life. Props for wearing it away from her face, but I hate the teasing. I hate the visible pins. There should be some sort of cool looking band around the base of the pony tail.
And ditch the under eye liner. It’s aging.
•BW•
What’s strange is her pony-tail is fine one side but a mess on the other.
@ LS, re: less-than-flattering pics – I really noticed that this time around, especially in the Express story. They had even captioned one particularly unflattering shot describing Kate as “radiant” – I was actually taken aback by the seeming overt-ness of the snark. Things are getting very interesting – very curious to see how their new PR guy fares.
•Elizabeth R•
Exactly. And the snark over the KP dinner was equally a shock. Clearly the winds are achangin’ where the media is concerned.
She looks like she borrowed the dress and shoes from the queen. Very boring. Very old. Why can’t she look to queen letizia for guidance? She hits it out of the park every time. Letizia’s not afraid to wear slacks though…
•jeanne•
The dress is a tad boring but I do like nice black heels.
There are numerous women in the royal world and without that dress conservatively but with aplomb. I don’t know if we’ll ever see Kate join their ranks.
She needs to learn how to accessorize! Those are the little details that pull an outfit together. CP Mary is very good at accessorizing (or her stylist is). Kate should give her a call – and so should Queen Maxima. Lol.
The headline for the Daily Mail article is, “Kate’s tears for a grieving mum: Pregnant Duchess throws her arms around mother after hearing of her baby’s death,” and the lead photo is of her wiping away a tear. To me, that seems more like a PR freebie than snark.
I saw the photo of her sitting in her car wiping away a tear and am very touched by that. Kate expressing her heartfelt sympathy to that mother must have meant an awful lot to her.
Why is she wearing a nursing bra now? Honestly that line from her bra just destroys the look of the dress.
The hair is a hot mess. If she did that herself, she blew it. If she paid someone to do that, they need to be dismissed.
I like her in red. I also like her photoshopped photos better than the ones that weren’t edited. The dress is marginally OK, but like others have said it isn’t tailored properly.
Those shoes have a 3 inch heel, they are apparently Jimmy Choo Aimee, 3.5 inch heel with a 0.5 inch platform. This would have a been a prime opportunity for her to wear some sort of patterned shoe since the dress is plain. But, no, not boring Kate!
Nursing bra – more evidence she dresses last minute i.e. maybe she discovered while getting dressed this a.m. she’d outgrown her regular size bras and it was the only bigger bra she had with her at Amner.
•Vava•
She might be leaking already (some women do as that varies greatly) and the thicker cotton compensates. Also, strictly my opinion, while nursing bras aren’t fashionable they are very comfortable.
•MinnFinn•
I don’t see this as a last minute thing. She, yet again, is pulling stuff together that a stylist would correct in a heartbeat. No stylist worth their salt would let her walk out the door with a visible bra, creased dress, wacky lopsided hair, and such poor tailoring.
Thanks for the explanation!
She truly needs a stylist because today was evidence on how bad her own skills in that department are.
I’m on board with that theory. She could have started lactating slightly. Better to prevent than risk a mishap.. Still, there are some amazing Nursing bras that barely show. I don’t believe no one has told her of these as she has the resources and people around her that would be in place to suggest such things.
Beautiful pregnant lady in red! Love her cheekbones.
She’s clearly got some pregnancy puff around her jawline and it looks great! She looks so much younger, almost like her uni days when she seemed to have much more fun.
Kate looks fabulous… Hair, makeup and dress!!!
posture and eyeliner… every single time 🙁
Red is her colour. It goes with her skin tone and hair colour really good.
She looks fine. I wish she’d buy clothes that fit her and the ponytail looks ridiculously fake but it’s ok.
I still can’t get over pictures of people curtsying to her though – sums up everything that’s wrong with the institution that a little girl thinks she’s someone that has to be bowed to. Dreadful.
Katherine isn’t “a little girl who thinks she’s someone that has to be bowed to”, it’s a traditional practice of showing respect to the BRF. Tradition and etiquette have established the common practice that British citizens acknowledge royalty because they symbolize allegiance to the British nation. Men bow from the neck while women make a small curtsy.
I know what bowing is, thanks, I am British. It is a symbol of deference and it highlights how ridiculous it is when you see people deferring to an utterly unqualified nice-but-dim no mark like Kate.
Bowing is like the Pledge of Allegiance? I’ve always thought that it was somewhat humiliating to bow to another human being. If I were to bow to anyone (?), I would want to respect them first, though most likely anyone that I admired to such an extent (eg Gandhi) would not wish for such an event to occur – all this bowing and scraping to another human… The Queen has said that it wasn’t necessary to curtsey, but if one wants to brown-nose…
LS, in advance, I know that extreme deference is required in the military (my ex was in for 10 years). I *believe* that this rigidness is required because men/women have to be almost crazy to go onto the battlefield, and need to be brainwashed into following the leader. I’m not talking about patriotism here, but basic human survival modes… It takes *a lot* to convince me to follow a leader, though I would be fierce in battle if required, and unafraid to die…
What does that have to do with bowing to a slip of a girl, just like us…
Jaded, have you seen the self-satisfied smirk that Middleton has let slip several times while people are curtseying?
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/11/royals-hill-to-dc-press-clean-up-199063.html
I’ve been sitting here, and it occurred to me that the courtesy the Queen requests, could be considered enforced courtesy; because of job security concerns. I am speaking merely on principle here.
I do see your point about courtesy in real life, Lady Slippers. I believe Queen Elizabeth would be a very interesting person to know. I would bow or whatever she wanted, no doubt. Will and Kate? – not so much.
Whatever, I had the same thought when I looked at this – how awful that people have to curtsey to Kate. Personally I’d refuse – what would they do, lock me in a tower?
•AmandaPanda•
In my experience, little girls love to curtsey. And people aren’t required to curtsey to royals either — it’s something they choose to do. The girl that curtsied is probably over the moon at being able to do it which has nothing to do with Kate or any royal.
Thanks LadySlippers – methinks somebody hasn’t had enough caffeine this morning…
Maybe the girl does think it’s fun to curtsy but there is also subtle indoctrination.
What minnfinn said – “little girls love to curtesy” is not the point
It’s not that the little girl is curtsying
It’s the gap between the person she’s curtsying to and the institution that shows how hollow it is
And it’s late afternoon in England, where I live , so no caffeine issues here thankyouverymuch
“It’s the gap between the person she’s curtsying to and the institution that shows how hollow it is” +1 AmandaPanda
Little girls love Barbies and Disney princesses and candy too. What’s your point?
Teaching a young child who knows no better and has no choice to prostrate and self-abnegate herself before another human being is disgusting. So is allowing another human being to curtsey/bow to you. End of.
Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting the Dali Lama. I bowed to him as is the appropriate protocol. It was not self-abnegation. It was respect for another culture and religion’s customs.
I suppose that if one were visiting different churches, one would be getting up and down, and singing/saying this or that. There’s all of that bad music. Enforced silence. Jibberjabbers. What can you do? (especially if you’re a little kid)
I would rather bow to Queen Elizabeth, than go to church. We are honoring an ancient tradition in playing along, I would explain to children. It is just pretend.
I think there’s a vast difference between bowing to the Dali Lama and bowing to Waity Katie. One clearly deserves it, and the other doesn’t.
I don’t think there is any difference. It’s about respecting cultures and traditions different from your own. I frequently meet with people from countries where men and women do not traditionally shake hands with the opposite sex. But when in the US, they politely shake hands with the opposite sex out of respect for our cultural norms.
I always thought bowing or curtsying to royalty is *not* expected unless you are British. The Queen is not my monarch, so for me to curtesy would be as weird as expecting a Brit to say the pledge.
Also even for the British bowing/curtsying is optional.
The hand shaking comparison really isn’t valid– that’s about religion and respecting other peoples space.
It is optional.
“There are no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting The Queen or a member of the Royal Family, but many people wish to observe the traditional forms. For men this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way. “
Those shoes are NOT lower than what she normally wears. I think she’s lovely especially in bold colors.
They don’t look lower to me either. But they do look brand new. And the red looks great on her.
She does look tired most likely from the pregnancy, poor thing. I do love the ponytail even if part of it is fake. Wish I could pull that off! Her heels are shorter than normal? I guess I’ve never noticed. I don’t wear heels a lot so the pair she’s wearing would be tall to me.
It’s a great colour on her.
The fit of the dress a little off though.
Over all she looks good and youthful (like a woman her age should) not matronly or in those bleak coloured outfits she seems to love.
Any youthfulness is thanks to photoshop.
Sorry, Vava, but I am not seeing any evidence of photoshop. She just looks like someone in her early, mid-30s because she is.
Uh, sorry, Megan, but you obviously don’t know what to look for. The absence of any of her familiar facial flaws ( and I’m talking little stuff, like a mole, a pock mark, a wrinkle) should be the first tip off that someone went crazy with the blur tool. The raw images are out there, and you can even see the line where her two layers of makeup ended at her neck. She got a lot of Photoshop on these pics and she obviously needed it.
As LS wrote so eloquently above, you know the press is unhappy with KM when they decrease the photoshop. Both of these still have some photoshop to them, but they give a better idea of what she looks like without computer intervention.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/07/article-2490534-1940365800000578-463_634x938.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/11/10/1415631605709_wps_50_Mandatory_Credit_Photo_by.jpg
Being the bling, Mrs. Windsor!, At least a killer brooch or gem-encrusted cuff bracelet. I mean, you have that stuff, you might as well take it out for an airing. A dress like this is made to be the backdrop for bling.
That is exactly what her outfit needed. She’s just so ordinary…
Her necklace was £4000. Does that count as bling?
I’d say she got ripped off paying that much for that stupid hoop. LOL
If you’re going to shell out serious money on jewels, then please don’t buy such insipid pieces! Says the jewellery conneisseur. *sigh*
I’d rather see a beautifully patterned scarf than that puny little necklace that’s certainly not worth the amount paid for it. I have nicer pieces in my jewelry box and a gorgeous wide gold bangle that would look beautiful with that outfit. She certainly spends an exorbitant amount on her jewels, but they are boring and insipid indeed.
I completely agree, ArtHistorian. She has a knack for buying the worst value in jewelry.
Nope. But then I think jewelry should be big enough to be seen from across the room & you couldn’t with this necklace!
I like it any time she does something other than sausage curls with her hair.
I wish I could get my ponytails to look that chic. Every time I try I get that “Oh aren’t you precious you tried” look.
I’m just happy to see that her hair is out of her face. Baby steps!
I’m going to go with stunning and tired. I’ve seen this outfit touted in a bunch of places as the perfect outfit for holiday parties, so it’s a hit with a lot of people. Shoes look the same height as always, but I can’t see why anybody cares one way or the other as long as she can walk in them without looking like a dork.
BRF protocol, 3″ heels or lower.
LOL….are you suggesting she follows protocol?
Ha! No, vava, I was reminding RobN and others about the heel height protocol for the BRF.
LOLOLOL………….I’m curious to see the list myself so I can see how many times Kate doesn’t follow protocol. 🙂
There is no heel height protocol. Dickie Arbiter called bullsh$& on all the fake protocols courtiers try to insist upon and heel height is definitely one of them.
For the ponytail, I’d prefer seeing the hair swept back gracefully from the brow rather than maintaining a side part. Dress color/colour (Hi, Brits!) is ideal! Agree that she needs to accessorize better — perhaps with a silk scarf. A better bra would be more youthful, or maybe her chest would rise if she stood up straight.
The dress is a nice color, awful fit. As for her hair, looks like she took a cue from Jennifer Aniston with the messy ponytail. It wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t look so fake. Those heels are ridiculous. I will say the extra weight on her face looks lovely. Much more reminiscent of pre-engagement Kate.
Boob seam.
But the dress color IS nice.
LOL…………..can’t believe she left her house with that boob seam. Kate, get it TOGETHER!
Man, I’d HATE to be pregnant and get up early to do meet-n-greet while photographers from all over the world snapping away. She looks tired but definitely like someone who made an effort.
Why does her hair need to be so outrageously thick? Why isn’t her real hair good enough? I don’t get it.
She looks lovely. I don’t think she’s wearing a wiglet. My hair is very thick like hers and looks like that in a ponytail.
If you compare pictures, her own hair started to go flat and the wiglet stayed “high” as the engagement went on. The wiglet is a different texture and slightly different color than her natural hair. The wiglet re-appeared for the galas.
Of course its a wiglet. The wiglet begins where the part ends and it is obvious and clear to me.
Bluhare! Get That Wiglet Wagon! We got a sighting!.
I’m seeing it, but it’s toned down. I still think Kate has a fair amount of fake hair. And wiglets are her norm. She has thinner hair than people think. And accounting for pregnancy boost hair I think there’s help here.
I couldn’t get the wagon out of the garage, FLORC. I think it’s just ratted up hair, not a wiglet. However, I may not have set the GWS coordinates correctly. You know how temperamental it is sometimes. 🙂
Who cares if some of her hair is fake? It’s pretty de rigueur at this point for women (and plenty of men) in the public eye.
It ads to the overall fakeness of her. The fake hair plus the over-the-top photoshop done by the press and her fans. Why not just accept her as she is? Why can’t she accept herself as she is, instead of being a stone underweight, using fake hair, and being slathered in pancake makeup every second?
The color looks fabulous on her, but her posture is atrocious. It physically pains me to see her slouched so much. She’s going to have severe back and knee problems when she’s older if she doesn’t correct her posture. But yay for pulling her hair back and wearing an appropriate length dress again. It looks like with this pregnancy she’s decided not to wear the toddler dresses.
LOL on the ‘toddler dresses’. Thank god for that!!!
I agree with you on the posture. It’s getting worse, too. She should start looking at these photos of herself and take it seriously because if she doesn’t, she is going to have a dowager’s hump by the time she hits 50. The first thing she should address is the shoes. Wear lower heeled shoes, Kate.
I wouldn’t be surprised if osteoperosis is in her future.
Feeshalori, I wouldn’t be surprised at that, either. I suspect the only thing she has going for her is weight bearing exercise, but other than that she starves herself and that can’t be good for bone strength.
I bet she takes liquid vitamins. And if she doesn’t she really should.
Her posture is horrible. And while her hair is wonderful pulled back it highlights her hunch. It’s worse considering her age. There should be no hump at early 30’s without bone issues.
FLORC – liquid vitamins are best?
Has anyone else noticed the weird ridge/line a few inches above her ponytail at the back? Is it hairpins or the bottom of a cap-like hair piece?
It looks like strands have been teased or woven in to blend a hair piece. It’s meant to be a slightly messy ponytail.
Kate needs the wardrobe/costume designer from “Gossip Girl” to dress her, as Blair was always appropriately and immaculately dressed.
.
That was nice she did something.
finally!
I think she might be wearing a bodysuit/pregnancy prosthetic which would explain the ill-fitting dress, obvious “bra” lines and strange scrunching around her midsection when she bends forward (in the pics on Daily Mail). Call me crazy, that’s just my opinion 🙂
Standby for the imminent vacation in 3, 2, …
The bodysuit doesn’t hold up. Her face is also getting puffy. She is pregnant and if anything the photos are touched up to enlarge her belly. Bigger belly gets more sympathy.
“Bigger belly gets more sympathy.”
That’s it. I’m pigging out for Thanksgiving. Let’s see how that plays out with my bills.