The stars aligned yesterday and all of the Middleton children went to work. It was positively shocking! Pippa Middleton and her brother James both attended last night’s British Heart Foundation’s gala, the Roll Out the Red Ball, in London. These are the photos from the event. I don’t have an ID on Pippa’s red lace dress, but I’m not really a fan. It’s not as bad as most of her clothes, but it’s still pretty cheap-looking. I think she’s styled poorly too – she’s trying to do some sausage curls like her sister and they just look sort of limp. And she’s super-orange too, probably a mix of a genuine Mustique tan plus fake tanner. Let me just say this too – I’m half-Indian and I have lovely Indian coloring and I just compared my skin color to Pippa’s and she’s SO much darker than me.
Both Pippa and James came to the event with their significant others too. This is the first time Pippa has been seen with Nico Jackson in a while. Nico was NOT invited to Mustique for Carole’s big 60th birthday celebration, and I’m pretty sure Nico is living in Switzerland for work these days. I wonder why Nico and Pippa don’t just break up? James’ date was his long-time girlfriend Donna Air. The rest of the attendees were pretty C-list, as you can imagine. The Middletons were the biggest “celebrities” there. Meh, at least they did something for charity, you know? Pippa even donated an old dress for an auction.
Meanwhile, as I said, Duchess Kate was out and about for “work” yesterday too. Very undercover work. No photos, no grand announcement, no welcoming committee or anything. Just a confirmation that Kate spent about 90 minutes at the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School in Beckenham, Kent. It was part of her work with Place2Be (she’s the patron of Place2Be). You can read more about the visit here. It’s being described as an opportunity for Kate to learn more about this work. I have mixed feelings – one of the reasons why these charities and organizations want royal patrons is to get more attention and more money. Why go so undercover? The KP Twitter account didn’t even release an official photo or anything.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Definitely cheap. And the red shoes and bag with the blue dress that Donna is wearing, just doesn’t cut it.
I know! I can’t stop staring at the mish-mash of orange, red, and powder blue.
Are Donna and Pippa wearing the same shoes? Did they Coordinate?!!
Donna looks like she reached into a dark closet for her shoes and bag. Red, orange, and baby blue aren’t good together. Did she do it on purpose?
They all look cheap and their tanned hides will pay for it in years to come. Can’t believe they are still doing that to themselves.
I’m just glad the Queen honoured Pr. Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex with a reception last night at Buckingham Palace.
🙂
Almost 400 of their charities and patrons in attendance.
Eh, I like red & blue together, but it needs to be the right red & the right blue. Those shoes are a different shade/tone than the handbag & that’s off, but otherwise, I like contrasting color combos. I’m not, however, a fan of that blue lace dress, I like Pippa’s better. Pippa’s styling seems more normal person styling than professional styling. I think we’re a little too used to professional styling for charity & red carpet events. We forget what normal people look like–too much tanning, inability to choose colors & shapes that look best on us, etc. And I completely agree with Vava–save your skin as well as your hearts! Give up the tanning, ladies!
Maybe she went undercover since no one really cares? LOL
The dress is merely a showcase for her amazing arms. Other than that I am unimpressed.
Another red lace dress. She just look ordinary, really…Just never understood why people made such a big fuss over her derrière and that famous dress. I know, she is sister of Kate and so on.
Neither of the Middleton girls are beauties, in my opinion. Nor their mother. Kate is the most attractive, but their features are harsh and prematurely aged. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it draws more attention to the fact when they are pushed as great beauties.
Royal PR is going to have to catch up to the information age. It’s not so easy to lie, and it is quite apparent that royals do not live in the real world. They are royal – almost religious figures for the UK. Quite frankly, I do not see why they would believe that they need to do anything except let the blue blood course in their veins. The entire political government is highly invested in their remaining head of state/head of church. The entire system hangs on their photo op’s.
It’s all about the pose – they are all holding hands; the wealthy. PR is only about confusing the common man with red dresses, calling glittering parties “humanitarian work”, and using a thesaurus of adjectives to weave the history (?!) that they write together.
@wolfpup…exactly. Well said.
I like her no fashion fashion. She’s a sporto girl and these types can never do “glamour” they compensate with memorable body parts.
Right. Exactly right.
I love both the red and the blue dresses.
Budget. Those Middleton girls have the worst taste. Swear they both shop at Ann Taylor Loft…not even the legit Ann Taylor.
+1
but I was thinking more wet seal or charlotte russe.
Not all is so awful at Loft…. I have some great trousers and sweaters from there.
Though the dresses mostly I agree. They feel and appear cheap. You really need to dress them up and only worth it if they’re 75% off.
The cut at the waist of the red lace is fit for a young girl.
Yeah, there’s a lot of polyester & rayon in their closets. Ick.
She looks like Demi Moore, only orange.
Lol. So true.
The dress was ok, not a show stopper. The lesser Middletons need to quit and face the reality that they only get press because of their royal-by-marriage sister.
I thought Pippa looked amazing in her bikini on Mustique. Her colour looked natural. Bikini colour suited her.
And now we here we are, back to day glo orangina skin with day glo clothing. And now all I see is how terrible she looks.
Seriously why does she think this colour skin is acceptable. Who told her it’s a natural looking tan?
Day-glo, ha! Orange and red together on her are almost an assault to the senses this early in the day.
Consider me assaulted!!
Fake tan looks great until you stand next to someone who doesn’t have it.
The red clashes with the orange. Makes it stand out.
She did look great in those bikini pics.
Wouldn’t her tan ge real now, since she just got back?
I think she looks cute, but maybe too much outdoor tanning but she looks healthy.
No clue someone. It makes little sense.
Does anyone know if a charity has less prep-work they must undergo of a royal just “pops in” vs if it is a scheduled, publicized visit?
Very rarely does a royal ‘pop in’. For security reasons alone. They can have low key unpublicized visits, but those involve as much preparation as the high profile ones.
The amount of prep couldn’t,t be the same.
Trust me, for the organization, it’s the same. The only difference is the media.
I like the dress, but the styling is all wrong. The way Pippa is wearing it is fussy and matchy-matchy. It need to be more careless and cool (no sausage curls, completely different shoes–maybe silver strappy heels where the straps wrap around the ankle). It needs an edge.
Agree with all of that but let’s face it, Pippa has no taste. Despite what she probably thinks, the cut and fit of this dress does not suit her compact, muscular build. In fact, it makes her look short and matronly.
I don’t like the lace but you sold me on how you’d style it. I like your vision. Her hair is the biggest offense, imo, it’s so bad!
Yes, her hair is atrocious.
Hair is absolutely terrible, so old lady circa 1850.
I’m OCD when it comes to matching accessories. I literally can’t leave the house unless they do, so I hate seeing “matchy matchy” because in my world, it’s the only option. It’s probably why I don’t wear many accessories; I’d spend all day making sure they matched properly. 🙂
I like your idea for shoes. Both Pippa & Kate could use some edgy pieces in their wardrobe. Maybe the reds of the shoes & dress matched just looking at them, but with the bright lights or flashes the shoes look faded? Wish Pippa had bent over and fluffed her hair and stood back up, fluff it up. Maybe too much oil/smoother on it to make it shiny also gave it a limp look.
I like Donna’s dress, but again, don’t get the logic of the shoes and purse.
I don’t have a problem with her dress but her face is too shiny. I don’t know if she is using a bronzer on her face or what but she could benefit from some matte foundation and oil blotter sheets.
Sometimes the oil comes back too quickly. Or after a pore shrinking treatment your skin is just so tight it appears shiny. I have no issue with the shine of her skin. Sometimes you can’t avoid it without obsessive over it.
I have very oily skin but I found products to help keep it under control. I totally understand how frustrating oily skin is. That’s why I said something. If you put bronzer on your face it makes it look even more oily than normal, though. I think that’s what’s going on in her pics. I have to use an oil blotter sheet constantly when I go out.
skipper
I’m the same with oily skin. Only nothing works for long on me. I have to swap out products after a few months.
Right now the simple oil balancing clothes are nice.
Her face has that hard, plastic, Botox-y look
The women’s dress code must have been Roll Out the Cheap Lace. Pippa’s hair looks like a child’s dressed up hairstyle from last century. All she needs is a blue hair ribbon.
Ha, it totally does!
Pip looks nice.
That hair on the other hand…
And what’s this? Kate did and event with no fanfare? I gotta agree, doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose? 😬
How in the world is attending a gala considered work?
90 minutes is working?
Good God. I’m a teacher. Why do I get the feeling they’d fall over after one day of doing my job?
Anyway, I could have sworn James was gay. Where did I get that from???
(I don’ t mind the red dress, but it’s nothing special. The blue dress is just fug.)
I used to teach an art class to five year olds, and after 2 1/2 hours with them, I needed Advil and a nap. Lol
Pippa’s skin looks leathery. She aged a lot since the wedding in 2011.
This family is going to look like a damn leather handbag with that tanning! Donna and James look great, Nico has a great jawline… that’s all.
So much orange.
Pippa could look so great if she would dress in a way that suits her body. Kate may overdo it with the shortened waists and higher hems but she clearly understood very early on how to accommodate her shape.
OK, but aren’t you forgetting Kate’s body has changed drastically. She used to be a slightly taller version of Pippa — athletic, slim and healthy looking.
The short-waisted clothes, wedges to help elongate her legs, and waist defining belts were there when she was girlfriend Kate too. And I loved her tomboy sensibility -a woman dressed in slim cut men’s silhouettes.
Nat
Kate has yet to fully grasp how to dress for her frame. This subject has been covered at length with some improvements, but nothing that is consistent.
Pippa is also far more athletic than Kate has been since marriage. There’s a lot to be said for muscle mass.
Since becoming a duchess, Kate’s public style has become a bit like a caricature: she’s definitely been overdoing the short-waisted cuts even if it doesn’t fit the outfit, her clothes have become a bit too tight, the heels are now bizarrely high and logistically she can’t wear floaty dresses outside. She also needs to stop copying other famous women: Diana, Jackie, Angelina.
I think Kate has a lot of good beginnings and she clearly works to dress for her shape but needs help to develop her ideas properly. Whereas I think Pippa’s thought process is -she’s very in shape so she’s going to wear whatever is pretty and still look good.
just don’t work
Ha, I didn’t mean to add that last -just don’t work.
Nat
Good points. Although I think Kate dresses herself for events in whatever is expensive. Or more to the tune of the emperors clothes. She has items made just for her and the designs are awful.But it’s bespoke and pricey so it must be good. Meanwhile her casual style is qyuite nice so I don’t think it’s entirely her fault.
I agree that they shorten their waistlines to an absurdly high length – Kate especially turns everything into an empire waist to the point where it doesn’t even work to shorten her torso anymore. But for this red dress, has it really been shortened or is this just a sheath dress?
Oh, for Pippa I meant that she hasn’t taken into account what works for her. I don’t think she’s altered the waist line.
The Daily Mail is not accepting comments about Kate’s most recent “work” – I guess they have to use all their resources to weed through and censor all the comments on the previous post re: NOrmal Family returns from Mustique LOL.
They really are something. It’s so telling when they reset green/red arrows or remove comment option. then they still announce highest rated and top commenters after removing what they don’t like.
Yup.
What IS that hairstyle???? Limp sausage curls??? Not a good look.
Donna Air looks like a young Nicole Kidman.
I see her and Sienna.
Yes, I sometimes mistake her for Sienna Miller too.
Carole is supposedly not wild about her, some say because she already has a child and is not from aristocracy, but I think she’s just what James needs,
Donna is a businesswoman and self promoter, she knows how to make a buck.
I think Donna is good for James.
James needs to trim that beard, but he is looking better lately, less creepy, gawky.
…But Donna Air’s baby daddy is Damian Aspinall. That’s as high society as you are going to get in London.
The Aspinalls have long been entertwinned with Goldsmiths (James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel) and Rothschilds and Astors.
Carole can forgive Donna Air any shortcomings just for that!!
Yes I know Donna’s baby daddy is Aspinall, but Carole supposedly doesn’t like that neither NIco or DONNA are titled themselves, ..she still “supposedly wants titled or Aristos to marry her offspring, ,….. but I hear Donna has been to the Middleton home several times, so I think James wants her.
I like Donna, she seems like the one lady who could probably handle his mumCarole , if she actually married James.
Some were saying NIco was being distanced because Pippa floats back and forth between pursuing someone w a title and NIco.
I don’t think a title matters at this point.
We’re in the dead of winter in Europe and her idea of formal wear is a short summer dress? At least james’ girlfriend seems to have some notion of (time and event) appropriate clothing. No amount of money and stylists can save the middletons
that is a new british “socialite” thing IMO. It can be super cold and rainy and you will still see rich daughters in summer dresses and sandals at a garden event…
I’ll see that here in the states. And neither hell nor high water will stop me from wearing a summer dress if i want to.
She has Marica Brady’s face and it is freaking me out.
I think she looks cute.
I think Pippa,except for the Orange tan from her holiday, is looking better than Kate, the last two years,
Pippa and her Cindy Brady Big Girl Hair. Her dress might be fine for a mid-day cocktail party with a young crowd, but not for an evening gala.
I think their PR team is setting up a precedent and planting seeds in the public’s mind for those who doubt Kate’s work ethic. “Undercover” visits announced from time to time but only AFTER they’ve already occurred. That way, it puts the idea into the public’s mind that Kate might not be always flaking off but might be working and it’s just that we haven’t been told of the visits AS YET.
Because if I were the charity’s director, I would be pissed to Hell that she does ‘undercover’ visits when my charity depends on as much publicity as possible to get donations. I don’t need the trouble to get all ready for Kate’s visit only for it to be media silence except for a short blurb some time afterwards. I’d rather get a Royal patron who doesn’t act like she’s ashamed to be seen at my organization and who understands that the only reason she’s my Royal patron is because I need a lot of publicity in order to continue to exist. I don’t need these ‘undercover’ B.S. visits that mostly helps her PR rather than my organization.
I really think these ‘undercover’ visits are just acts of selfishness. And yes, I know that Diana used to do secret visits too, but she also did a lot of publicized visits for the charities. And from what I can recall, she’d take William and Harry on those visits so she could educate them about the real world unfettered by paparazzi. Also, iirc, she’d visit people she met previously so she could have some peaceful alone time with them, again without the circus of the media. I doubt these are the reasons Kate has for these “undercover” visits.
Anne
I can see this working. More people will read something and accept it than take a step back and observe the whole picture.
And the Charities should be upset, but this was always the case. Kate never took a charity to help. She became a patron for her image. If she actually cares about a cause or charity I would think she would find more time to see them than once or twice a year and not cancel for vacations or shopping trips.
And this new image of hardworking private Kate visits will stick better if she’s not seen shopping every other day. It’s like her pr wants to give her the hardworking princess that is still normal and just like us, but they won’t put in the effort. We should just assume she is this because it’s reported enough times.
The pr here is a disaster.
I don’t get this girl. She could look so much better – it’s not like she can’t afford nice clothes that are season appropriate, and the fake tan always looks so cheap and nasty… and what about a decent hair stylist?
Oh and while we are at it – I can see why she has trouble finding a boyfriend/spouse – she keeps aiming for nobility or whatever, who can’t be bothered with her (whether that’s because they are too snotty or she is too try hard hard or a combination of both) and she is too short sighted to just find a nice guy with a career and go for it. No idea if she is still working or not, but it sounds like all she does is ride Kate’s tails and swan around trying to be a society girl – which unfortunately for her, she is not. You are either born into it or you’re forever an outsider.
If William had not married Kate, I think both sisters would be chasing the Aristocracy.
Kate got lucky, got her Prince.
I hear Carole and Pippa still have visions of her getting a Duchess title or Countess, or Lady title from some Aristo, so she ends up messing up perfectly good relationships.
Nico will get tired eventually, like Alex Louden did, if she blows hot and cold.
Pippa’s dream guy , some say is still Earl Percy, the Hogsworth film Castle family. Northumberland. The Percy’s.
Pippa and Earl Percy have been friends and only friends for over a decade. All their friends say they have a brother/sister relationship. There is no reason to think that she is “after” him or Alnwick Castle or his title.
Since she had not been photographed with Nico for a few months, many people were happily concluding that she and Nico had broken up. Now it appears that they have not. For all we know they may have been meeting regularly during the months when they were not photographed. We know no more about their relationship than that.
It’s been said before but I’ll say it again — Kate had access to the creme de la creme throughout her teens and early 20’s and could have scored a rich, good looking aristocrat quite easily and settled down to a life of leisure and riches WITHOUT all the royal restrictions, scrutiny, blah, blah, blah.
Why she wanted William is beyond me because he is not much to look at and without his royal wealth and connections, he would have amounted to a hill of beans. I’m not saying Kate is the brass ring in terms of what men are seeking – she’s pretty average – I’m just reiterating how she ran in aristocrat circles and had quite a pool of wealthy candidates..
I don’t think any of the creme de la creme would have wanted her.
Candice the creme de la creme Aristocrats didn’t want Kate when William dumped her. She spent weeks partying. She went out with one Aristo friend.
Look at the articles from when Will and Kate split …Kate went out on a Date with an Ex boyfriend of JECCA Craigs, an Aristocrat , he was a Lord or Earl, the guys parents were horrified, his ,Mother gave an interview to the papers saying Her Son was absolutely NOT dating Kate. The guy was never seen with Kate again after that. lol
Kate without William as her boyfriend was much like Pippa to those Aristos, seen as pushy and grasping.
But I do agree that Kate could have married well financially, to some wealthy Non-titled businessman in London or the Countryside. I think Kate knew how to play whatever game she needed , to land the a rich guy,if that was all she wanted….But she and Mummie wanted Titles, the Golden Goose was their Aim…..
Early articles tell how everyone was “on-to” Kate and Pippa…..except William, he liked the Middleton’s as a family, the closeness and the constant sucking up they did with him.
Pippa and Kate were called the Wisteria Sister’s , that tidbit came from people around the circle of friends during their time at school.
They were known as ferocious climbers. Pippa would make notes some said ,as she was chatting with someone, about their familial background, their estates, then start working on befriending them. Lol
Fair enough, Someonestolemyname, maybe guaranteed snaring of a titled aristo is a bit of an exaggeration or giving her a bit too much credit, but my main point is that she could have had the best of both worlds without getting tied down to all that royalty entails: wealth, a life of relative leisure and none of the bs (“work”) that goes along with being a royal. When it comes down to it, I just don’t get how and why being married to William was so important. Look at him, look at his actions and personality.
I like that it looks cheap in that she doesn’t look like a movie star or some celebrity. It’s refreshing and she just appears to remain a normal, upper middle class person. As normal as a sister of royal wife can be.
Is it mandated that every woman connected to the Middleton family wear lace covered dresses, no matter how unflattering it is?
Dress & shoes are matchy-matchy. Pippa’s an ok-looking young woman but nothing special and she has tacky taste in clothes.
I was strangely excited to see that Nico is still around. #TeamNico
Why?
Because if anyone is going to hustle the Midds and use them to promote his name it’s Nico. Imo anyways.
Please, do we have to be brainwashed into thinking of James and Pippa as celebrities? Or British “socialites”? Or “almost Royal”? IMO they are everyday citizens who have latched on to the coat tails of their sister, who happened to marry a Royal. Of course their parents are rich, but I know a lot of people who come from rich families and they don’t act like the Middletons. I know this is harsh and overly critical, and that Pippa and James are relatively well liked, but I find it annoying that the Middletons parade around and like to be seen as celebrities, royals and upper class. Extended vacations, designer clothing, attending Christmas church with the Queen, hunting on Christmas Day, staying at Anmer (albeit with W&K), attending charity galas, donating your dresses to charity–I think this all makes them look so climb-y, desperate and fake. Are the Middletons “neuvo royalty”? If we ACT royal then people will start to think they ARE royal. The media supports it because it sells. We hear more about the Middletons than we do the Queen or Charles. Is this really the future of the British Monarchy?
As for Kate attending a charity event unannounced, that’s nice. I hope she learned a lot about the charity that she has been patron of for three + years. But, I’m sure there was a reason that there wasn’t any media there, and I’m guessing it’s not because Kate works her fingers to the bone and is keen to work, etc. I wish there would be more people who have attended her charity events who would speak up and tell us what she is really like (similar to the one who spoke out on the DM recently). I’m sorry to be so cynical today, but W&K come across as so calculated and manipulative of the media and public. Any trust/faith/hope I might have had in these two or the royals in general is lost. I now see it’s all about them! Everything.
The KateMiddletonReview blog has recently started doing “royal round ups” featuring the work of other royal women. Granted they are “closer to the top” than Kate, but there is no comparison. These other royal women are far more talented, driven and dedicated than Kate will ever be. It’s very eye opening.
#TeamBurnAllTheLaceInLondon
I really love the name Donna Air. That’s a great name.
In the interest of staying on topic, they both look like tablecloths.
What was the dress code, wear your boudoir curtains?
I love the dress. The sausage curls suck.
The sausage curl sisters! Keep it sausage-y Pippa! Love the lacey red Italian table cloth and the all-over winter tan.
Gawd I need to lift some weights and do push ups, her arms are insane. I don’t hate it, though I think her tan is a bit ott for the shade of red. Can Kate get that tan if she tries? I’d be really jealous if I had a sister who could tan and I couldn’t – I’m a pale type, I know it’s bad for you, but you know…just saying. I’m digging the beard on James, and I hate beards. Not nuts about Donna’s dress, it’s a bit matronly.
Ugh. Only Dolce & Gabbana can do red lace, and even then it only looks good when someone like Bruce Weber or Mario Testino art directs it. And the matchy matchy red shoes!? Rookie mistake! FAIL