Here are some photos of Duchess Kate today in London, attending the Place2Be Headteacher conference. Kate recycled a dress which she first wore in 2012 – this is by Matthew Williamson (a British designer), and she wore this to the premiere of African Cats back in April 2012. It cost £995 back then, so yeah… she should repeat it, over and over again. Even though many of you insist that Kate knows how to dress appropriately for day-versus-evening events, I remain unconvinced. She’s just worn too many cocktail dresses as daywear, and I always wonder if Kate would be better served if she spent some of her father-in-law’s money on some quality suits and separates for her day-time appearances. This seems like a somewhat sedate day-time event – why not go for a clean, simple suit?
Kate has already made a speech at this event. If a video is released, I will update the post with it. Team Cambridge and Poor Jason were really upset about all of the stories regarding Kate’s “nerves” and “anxiety” about public speaking, and they insist that she’s “highly intelligent” and has a lot to say in her “private meetings.” Today, the Daily Mail spoke to Kate’s aides, who insist that her speech was “very much her own.” The @KensingtonRoyal Twitter was so pleased that they released the text of the speech too. A sample: “Imagine if everyone was able to help just one child who needs to be listened to, respected & loved – we could make a huge difference.” You can read more about the event here. Oh, and you can read the full speech here.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
This is the first time I am seeing this dress. I would have remembered how ugly it is. What in the name of embellishments has the designer put on the sleeves and the décolletage area?
It is more expensive than Kaiser listed. This is a custom version with changed sleeves and additional trim all around the neckline.
I’m not a big fan of the dress myself, but it’s more interesting than a suit and nothing I would wear as a cocktail dress. I think it’s fine as a day dress. I’m picturing her continually running around in a Hilary pantsuit … with wedges …
This dress looks like it could be purchased at Ross (Dress for Less) …
The fabric looks cheap.
Go Kate, she has really stepped up lately, which is what everyone wanted so I think we can for the time being give her a break on the lazy tag.
Nah. This is their busy season. They need to get their numbers up. Now, if they keep this up through February, that will be a different story
Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.
@Loopy, if she keeps to a steady course of public service and not just *work* in spurts before holidays or vacations, I think her reputation will improve and the criticism will dwindle. She had plenty of time before the children were born to accomplish this, and that’s why she taking the heat now for not putting forth more of an effort to serve as a *working* royal.
They repeat the same behavior every year. If they showed up consistently across the calendar year, we wouldn’t be able to track it so easily.
Damned if she does (in inconsistent spurts of mostly fluff), damned if she doesn’t (and she mostly doesn’t).
You’re absolutely right !
I haven’t understood the fuss about her time off. She said when she was pregnant that she’d be taking a longer maternity leave. Then she took a longer leave and everyone was outraged. How dare she take the maternity leave time she wants when she has a nanny and her mother to help! How dare she attend a polo match or shop while she’s on maternity leave! She should stay at home next to the baby for every second of 6 weeks only and then get right back to work!
How dare she turn up to Wimbledon yet skip memorial services.
Optics matter. It’s why she’s given such absurd and unearned privileges.
Agree, Loopy. If she goes back down after this hectic whirl (Frisbee, where are you?), then I’ll be back to complaining.
I’ve been wondering about Frisbee too. She is so light and fun.
I love how her team made a point of emphasizing that the speech was all hers – no help from anyone else whatsover. Anyone else skeptical?
+1
Carol probably wrote it for her with a little input from Kate …
Yes.
Looks like she didn’t have it cleaned and pressed after the last wear.
She’s so thin now and she’s swimming in the skirt which is emphasizing the wrinkles I think.
I thought the same thing.
When you realize that dress probably is a small size to begin, it is scary how little she weighs. She might blow away in the wind not just her hair.
I’m genuinely puzzled. How can a $1500 dress look SO cheap?
I am reminded of the excellent TV show “Ab Fab” (and I might not have the quote just right): “How do you do that to clothes?!?”
this. this. If I were her I would have pieces custom made for me (Savile Row!!!). Her clothes are wearing her.
I like this dress and I think it’s a good choice for the day, just enough sparkle.
Also it’s a wise choice for the current stupid weather we’re having here, it’s so windy it’s insane!!!
The dress style is a little much for day-wear, but it’s OK (personally, I never liked this dress). At least she showed up. The fringe is remarkable, though, but not in a good way.
Ps. Hair wise she should have glued it to her head but to be honest I’m not sure any style would have survived the wind
A ponytail, braid or a bun would have dealt with the wind just fine, and kept it from blowing all over.
She needs a few things: first, a hairdresser who knows how to make long hair look good, particularly in an undo. I think she can look great with the right undo.
Second, she should walk into a Sephora and get a makeover and a lesson in how to get her makeup done without the racoon eye look.
Third, she needs a tailor to properly fit her clothes. That sleeve needs to be lifted an inch or two from the shoulder seam, it looks silly bunched up like that because it is too long on her. (And she has shown up with bad hems and badly placed buttons and bunching clothes too many times.) Fourth, she needs lessons in deportment and posture – I feel like screaming when I see her protecting her duchessy chocha by holding on to her little purses. With both hands, all the time, like she is afraid something is going to swoop down on her privates. Damn it woman, relax!
Finally, she needs public speaking lessons. I don’t care whether she thinks she is intelligent, I don’t care about her degree… she is not capable of delivering a public speech properly, and even the small talk she does make with the plebes during her ever so exhausting engagements comes across as a combination of naive/stupid/ill-informed/gauche. Anyone can learn and improve with the help of a great teacher, and they can certainly afford it. It is so disheartening that despite all the years she had to prepare, and all the money she could have used, she is so woefully un-royal.
LOL………..’duchessy chocha’ hahahaha.
I agree with all you said.
Perfectly said. Agree 100000 times over. She’s not a schoolgirl anymore, she’s a working Royal and a mother. I would just add she should style stalk Letizia, Mary, etc.
Well put! My thoughts on all points exactly.
I think she keeps both hands habitually gripped on a clutch nowadays as a strategy to prevent her from touching her hair, which she used to do far, far too often. She has also been photographed sitting at tables with her hands clasped tightly together; same strategy: using one behavior to interfere with another, more problematic, behavior.
Yes to all of your points!
Hey, once again, Kate’s working (!), so I’m not gonna complain. Completely agree that she should invest in some good suits, but that doesn’t make up for the embarrassing post earlier this morning that suggested she needed to be in formal evening or cocktail dress for a “gala” event that was in fact an awards ceremony for children that served tea and pastries, at which all the adult women were dressed in day dresses similar to KM’s. But yes, a sleek suit (perhaps with trousers!) would be a welcome change from the dowdy dresses and coed hair.
It is a forgettable dress, but I like that she wears the same clothes several times.
I wish we would get over the expectation that celebrities can only wear clothes once in public. It is such a waste. I don’t even know where that expectation came from.
If I buy something nice, I wear it as long as it holds. I still have some clothes which are 15 years old.
The only reason I give celebrities a pass on this is because they are marketing designers this way and fashion is a big business.
The thing with celebs is that many of the dresses/outfits they were to events (i.e. premieres) are loaners, they are returned the next day. Many are often paid to wear the borrowed dress and then name drop the designer – it has been that way for years.
The difference between them and Kate is that she BUYS them, maybe wears a few twice and then they are never seen again. if its a loaner the press are never told – TBH she should wear loaners (and then tell the press about it), nothing wrong with that and will help her image somewhat.
agreed! the loaning ppl actually want their stuff to look good and would tailor stuff for her.
I think she should do more of what other Royal families do, like the various Scandinavians. Have the special-event ensembles designed by a personal dressmaker, with no brand name. The ensemble will be more re-useable and higher quality.
I don’t mind the dress, it’s that damn hair that is the distraction. I saw a video of her podium performance and was underwhelmed. I’m not sure I’d really call that a speech, either. Whatever. Her mannerisms are just awkward and it detracts from what she’d trying to convey. Keep Practicing, Duchess.
She wore the same shoes and purse with this dress. I guess it’s a fashion capsule. LOL. Would love to see her get some beautiful suits, those would be great.
I’m beginning to get annoyed about how she is praised for ‘recycling’ clothes – she should wear the feck out of them, they cost enough. If they want to be ‘normal people like everyone else’ she should wear the dresses in her now vast wardrobe more often and stop with the regular shopping spree’s where she’s blowing thousands of pounds of other people’s money.
Sorry for the rant – am about to be out of a job and am irked at her ‘spend thrift ways’ by ‘recycling’ expensive designer clothes. I would LOVE to have at least ONE designer dress in my poor little normal Top Shop, Zara and H&M wardrobe.
+1
$300,000 worth of clothing in four years. Wearing a Top Shop dress with a custom $3000 coat. Custom $4000-8000 coat dresses (of which she has dozens). Buying a completely new maternity wardrobe for children born two years apart. Thrifty in terms of work load and empathy, that’s the only time “thrifty” applies to her.
It appears the only thing she does to prepare for engagements is go shopping.
Add a wearing a £60 pound dress(which fans & press kept on emphasizing) which was paired with over £800 in accessories.
@ notasugarhere
Imagine her clothing costs if she were working full-time…. Yikes!
The problem is the only thing she ‘recycles’ are dresses. Look at the other major royal houses. Letizia, Maxima, Victoria all recycle pieces, because they wear professional looking separates for day events. I’d be more impressed if she had a core set of 9-10 pieces that she rotated through adding accent pieces and accessories.
I agree – she seems to buy a new dress for every engagement, behaviour which stems from her background. Her family were not that wealthy and she often wore her mother and sisters clothes so i think she’s making up for that with the over the top shopping spree’s on designer clothes (dresses in particular) that she only wears once. i wouldn’t be surprised if some of the clothes she does buy (and may not wear) end up with her sister and mother.
I agree SoCal. The flowy extra long hair and the style of day dresses she favors are marginalizing. She should dress like a female executive for day events for 6 continuous months or so. That would require about 12 mix and match outfits that consist of skirt/pants or dress plus blazer and stick to only wearing those for 6 month makeover period. If she dressed like a committed female executive for awhile I think she could turnaround her wag-who-shops-too-much image and she would be taken more seriously.
All this just stems from her lack of professional work experience. If she’d had a job, she would have figured out how to put together a working wardrobe. She’s so clueless, it just boggles my mind.
I agree with you all. Her wardrobe consists of all dresses, and this has bugged me for some time. Vava, to your point, she’s never had to show up at work and look professional and polished, and instead looks like she’s always playing the part of a duchess. She would appear so much more modern if she took a different approach to her wardrobe with well-tailored separates.
I’ve seen Letizia in outfits that I would love to wear for professional events (a gray pencil skirt and lovely silk blouse combo immediately comes to mind, along with the Carolina Herrera skirt she wore in Miami), and I’d never say that about Kate.
She’s thinner now than she was when she first wore it so it doesn’t fit properly. Please Kate, stop with the over-exercising and under-eating. Stop with the hiding behind your hair and too much make-up. You knew full well what you were getting into in your marriage and in the expectations the public would have of you and Prince Existential Crisis. You’re a grown woman, not a coddled rich uni student anymore.
‘coddled rich uni student’ – I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. These 2 haven’t progressed from their Uni days, they are stuck in that mindset. Like everything else in their lives they thought they could coast through life on other people’s money and generosity. The ‘hard work’ of the past few months is a but too much for the poor dears.
The Duchess of Crotchbridge and the omnipresent crotchpress.
As opposed to leaving her xrotch at home? I take mine everywhere with me! It is omnipresent.
I notice Willy does the Cambridge crotch hold – hands in front, protectively. There’s a few from his visit today to the Royal Marsden Hosp. He even rolled his shirt sleeves up to give us all the impression he’s was prepared to get ‘stuck in’. He’s another one who needs to start dressing for the occasion – see Hazza.
Something about the way her hem hangs thinks she may have finally gotten the memo on weights in the hem.The Saloni dress had that look, too, at lest in pix (I didn’t watch video).
They may have put the fear of an Amex/Coutts Cut-off into her heavily lined eyes.
Kate writing her own speeches is not the highest and best use of her work time. She might as well sew her own dresses. Her qualified staff should be writing her speeches.
It’s good that she did a speech 2 days in a row. She will rapidly lose her speech anxiety if she does a few speeches per week for a few months.
She gave a speech in support of her patronage. No shade. What is shady is this speech when compared to her thank notes and past occasions. The PR dug another hole for her.
Considering the fact that she’s done copy-and-paste at least twice, I’ll be holding my praises. Anyways it seems she’s moving towards a give or take 70 aim for 2015. “It’s all part of the plan”…
Totally agree about giving speeches. The more you do it, the easier it gets. I guess I’m OK if she wants to write her own speeches.
It really should be a collaborative effort with her staff, that way the key messages she wants to deliver are included and her professional (!) staff handles the actual execution.
I’ve worked in communications/marketing/advertising for decades. Typical process is to work with senior executives, have a meeting and get their thoughts and notes, and create a first draft. It goes back to the exec and it’s a back and forth process from there. She’s in a position where she should be functioning like an executive — defining her agenda and relying on her staff to help implement. But she comes across as far more clueless and less focused than that. However, if she’s working on her public speaking and making a genuine effort to support her charities, then good for her — we’ll see if it continues or is just the push to get her numbers up for the year.
If I’d been on her staff, and asked for input on the speech, I would have recommended she leave out her comments about her own “wonderful” childhood. NOBODY CARES, Kate. Besides, what wonderful parents would stand by and watch their daughter insulted by a stupid prince and his friends? Granted that happened when she was in her 20s, but still……………
Vava, exactly — when you’re delivering a speech, it’s not about you, it’s about your audience. Personal anecdotes are great when they’re humorous or are relevant to the subject matter, but for her to talk about her pampered upbringing doesn’t really work.
And that’s what a good staff does — knows what to edit or rework to improve the overall message and delivery. I watched the video after I posted the above comment, and she’s being let down by her staff across the board. If she’s not experienced enough to know that she should deal with her hair before she looks down and reads a speech, someone around her should be thinking through all of these kinds of details that ultimately add up to her image and brand. Which is lacking.
Looks like the wiglet is back. Le sigh. I guess she was missing Cousin It. The dress is obviously too big. Should have had it tailored to fit her new size. I can’t wait to see the video of her speech. I’ll reserve judgment until then.
Answering myself because I saw the video. The speech itself wasn’t terrible. She needs practice. No, the terrible part was her hair. It should have been pinned back because she spent the majority of the speech flicking her head to get her bangs out of her eyes. And since she was constantly looking down at her paper, the bangs were always in her eyes. Very annoying.
Yes, it was bad. Deal with your damned hair, Kate.
I went back and watched the video again. She flicked the bangs 37 times – and touched them 3 times. Very distracting.
No way, dresses would be seen as what’s appropriate here in crazy UK especially for a royal. and it’s not the 80s / early 90s anymore either when that was much more part of the fashion / style. have you ever seen the queen in a suit? kate is playing right into that mentally, and that’s why all the dresses – unless of course it’s an occassion she’s allowed to wear jeans (sports).
@ procrastinator
I do disagree. Sophie of Wessex wears trousers for official daytime engagements. Not for evening events, though.
Princess Anne, too.
Many aristocratic women wear trousers for daytime engagements.
You’re right, both Sophie and Anne wear trousers or trouser suits for work engagements. HM has worn a trouser suit a few times, I think when she was having knee trouble.
I watched her speech, which was really reading a statement, but that’s not the worst. Her bangs were in her eyes, so every few seconds, she was flicking her head–don’t know how else to describe it, you’ll have to see it yourself. Just be warned that I am still twitchy several minutes after watching her “speech” on video.
It was awful.
You’re not kidding. That was awful. If she really is incapable of delivering a complete sentence without looking down and reading (which was certainly the case for this speech) you would think that someone would encourage her to wear the hair in a way that did not require constant twitching and flicking.
Wow, watching it made me actually feel sorry for her, and think that her staff is not doing their job. Her hair (and trying not to keep pushing it back) became such a distraction for her as it flopped in her eyes. She started out okay, but as her speech went on, it was obvious that the hair in her eyes was starting to throw her off and her anxiety was building.
During her rehearsals, it would have been obvious to staff working with her that she needed to look down and read; that known, her hair should have been appropriately styled. If no one is telling her these things, or she’s over-riding them, then there’s a problem. It’s like she’s trying, but just can’t deliver. She comes across as a junior staffer (or intern!) thrown into an executive position.
Additionally she comes across as
I-don’t-really-want-to-be-here-giving-a-speech
because
I-am-not-interested-in-mental-health-issues.
On the other hand she delivered an interesting example of society causing mental health issues: she has bangs for showing off in society and those bangs do nearly drive her mad when she is doing a public speech. I don’t think “resilience” would help in her bangs case but simply the good old fashioned approach of a change of lifestyle: cut or clip or tie the bangs and do develop some honest interest in your causes.
Her staff sucks. They really do.
Get her a proper hairdo for looking down at notes on a lectern and make sure she is wearing something business like. A nice suit would have been great here.
The speech itself, while not wildly inspiring, was a great improvement. A solid effort.
Why are we blaming her staff? It should have been obvious to HER during her rehearsals (if she even did any) that the bangs would get into her eyes and needed to be pulled back. She’s been doing this job for 4 years now, and her hair has CONSTANTLY been an issue. If she’s not fiddling with it (which I’ll admit she has gotten better at) its blowing around in the wind or falling into her face or covering up her jewelry or pins she’s wearing (like poppies). And lets not forget that time she was freaking TWIRLING it through her fingers during a somber remembrance Sunday service. Do we honestly think that NO ONE has ever suggested she pull it back more often? Please.
You could tell in the video though that it was really bothering her that her hair was getting in her eyes so maybe, just maybe she’s FINALLY realized that she needs to be more practical and just pull her damn hair back. We’ll see I guess.
It’s hard to believe she is in her mid-30s and does not appear to have enough COMMON SENSE about her to figure out some very elementary things.
The fringe flicking, hair blowing everywhere, having to look at notes frequently, etc., is something that SHE should think about as well.
Many people thought they were on vacation, but apparently not. I’m happy to see her working. Three events yesterday — the French Embassy, the mentoring event, and a late stand-in at another event last night. And then this one today, which was NOT an in-and-out in a few minutes, but a more substantive visit. Credit where it is due, in my opinion.
What was the late stand- in appearance? I’m hoping someone posts links. Thanks.
For the late stand-in, are you referring to William’s appearance at the England-France friendly at Wembley? Kate didn’t go to that. I was pleased to see William, but in all fairness, the PM managed to make time to go, the royals had to send someone. It was important for a number of reasons.
Because William went to the game, Kate did a dinner event on his behalf. “Dinner for the Defense and National Rehab Center.” Apparently there are no photos.
I don’t what it is about it, but I really, really like this outfit.
I would like to see that style in a dark blue velvet material and longer, for an evening event.
I watched the video of her speech and she sounds more confident, even if she’s just reading off a paper. But OMG those bangs are from HELL. I’m surprised she could even concentrate on the words with all the flicking she was doing to try to get them out of her eyes.
I also think the dress pick was odd for this event. She could have worn one of her many navy suit pieces (like this one! https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/91/3f/09/913f094cd01918c53c969407f874004b.jpg)
Yeah, she’s hit hair rock bottom.
C’mon no one is demanding a pixie cut such as Charlene of Monaco’s new look, but geez, if Kate’s hair interferes that much with a short speech, it’s really time for a new look or it should be worn up every time the Duchess is on duty.
Just saw the speech too and it was quite distracting to see her wrestle with her hair falling in her face. Whether she wrote the speech herself remains to be seen, but there was nothing particularly moving or insightful about what she had to say and it seemed pretty generic.
She did not seem shy or nervous though and I would even go so far as to say, she had confidence – perhaps a bit too much:
” Since beginning my work in areas like addiction, for example, I have seen time and time again that the roots of poor mental health in adulthood are almost always present in unresolved childhood challenges.” Excuse me, “my work”???? She makes it seem like she is a front line health care professional or a researcher who has devoted years to addiction and other mental health issues. What an insult to those who actually have a background in this area and have done meaningful work!!
There were a few other “gems”, but in general, the tone was very patronizing
@ candice
I didn’t like the patronizing tone either. And yes, underneath she was very nervous and could barely utter a full phrase without looking back at her sheet. Whoever gave her lessons in public speaking needs to step up.
I think it is partly shame: she knows that she is lazy and hasn’t bothered with mental health or royal engagements and that causes her to cringe inwardly so she can’t deliver the speech in a way as if she really cared.
LOL @ “my work”…..right.
Distracting bangs.
Generic speech with some very poor parts.
Confusing reasons of poor mental health as some of them are rooted in the way people live and can’t be treated without changing the lifestyle. I don’t mean fast food and tv but parents who have a lot of unregular over-time and long commuting hours and therefore can barely parent their children and stuff like that. Schools who pretend to care for each child individually while the government slashes funding for many social and educational tasks and slashes even minimum standards for the education of teachers.
Yes, building “resilience” is nice. But it would be way nicer to solve those issues of society which make many people develop mental health issues. You know building resilience is a bit like a doctor telling a patient that there is no money to treat him so he should simply ignore the pain.
WTF.
Havent got anything on the dress but her visit was on BBC news earlier today and she was driving me mad with that fringe. She would look down to read from her speech, look up to speak to the assembled group but she had to flick her hair every.single.time and it became so distracting that I lost interest in what she was saying and could only focus on that head flick. She needs to either cut the fringe shorter or grow it out and if youre growing it out get a freakin’ headband or hair clips to hold that hair back. She looked ridiculous!
What if she suffers from depression? She has access to the best care known to man, but that doesn’t matter if she is still suffering. I don’t know. She misses her mark constantly, but with depression or mental illness it can be hard to get anything right or have any motivation. Who would want to be criticized for years and years and not want to change? Yeah, it could be entitlement as we all assume, but maybe her life is crap due to a difficult mental issue. No amount of money or fame can fix that.
She wore a dress that she wore in 2012. So?
This is the video of her speech at this event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UXY1YEnXH8s
Poor girl. Her hair kept trying to be the center of attention, but she was very resolute in making sure it wasn’t…
I’ve never seen the value of hair in the eyes, no matter how fashionable. Poor Kate was struggling with it the entire time! I think her speech was made harder by the DM telling the entire world that she has trouble with them. That would heighten the anxiety, I believe. If no one knew her inner thoughts, it would be a lot easier to fake it, rather than feeling so unmasked and exposed.
@ ANNE_000~thanks so much for the link, I didn’t have the energy to look it up. OH. FOR.THE.LOVE.OF.GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUCH worse than I could have ever imagined. I literally could not get through FIVE seconds, I had to stop. She needs SERIOUS help. Kate has to be overriding her advisors; how in the h*LL can she keep getting away with this?!?!?! ‘Prince Existential Crisis’ (LOVE!-big kudos to the poster who thought of this, I apologize for not remembering your username to give you proper credit!), no doubt…
No.
Just…NO.
You are rich.
Beautiful tailored garments are accessorized separately with your jewelry.
You do not wear stones IN your clothes.
Were they bought for you at a mall?
This learning curve is getting tedious.
when giving that spiel, she looked like a sheepdog!1!!!
I like the picture if her laughing. Doesn’t everyone wear their clothes more than once? Wasn’t she getting kicked in the gut for spending money to redecorate or something? I don’t see what the big deal is. The money that she doesn’t spend shopping added to the money spent on furniture.