Note: there are so many photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Paris, I’m splitting up the pics in several different posts.
Here are some photos of William and Kate in Paris for their whirlwind “soft power” two-day trip. The point of the trip was not to put William in a room and have him try to negotiate some trade deals post-Brexit. No, the point is that Will and Kate are getting sent to various European countries to show that Great Britain still has a lot of power, even if it’s just symbolic. I haven’t read any French coverage (because I don’t speak French, sacrebleu) but their trip seemed to go well, and they made sure that they were out and about, doing a lot of different things over the course of 36 hours. There were worries that Will & Kate would be booed by pro-EU French people – seriously, that was a concern – but I don’t think the French cared enough to boo them at all.
These photos are from some of their activities on Saturday. They visited the Musee d’Orsay. They met with survivors from the Bataclan terrorist attack and the Nice terrorist attack. They did a photo-op in front of the Eiffel Tower. Then Kate changed clothes and they went to the Wales vs France rugby match. She repeated a red Carolina Herrera coat for the rugby game – we saw this coat during the Cambridges’ Canadian tour last year. She wore the coat to “match” the Mounties. In this situation, I suspect she wore red for Wales.
For much of Saturday, Kate wore head-to-toe Chanel, in what I believe was her first time wearing anything designed by Karl Lagerfeld? At first, I thought this was a two-piece suit, a full skirt with a fitted and cropped jacket. But it is not. It’s a coatdress. What I always think about Kate’s preference for coatdresses – especially when she leave the coat on while inside – is that it leaves the impression that she’s always on her way out the door or looking for a way to leave. That being said, it’s nice to see her in something like this. While I find the skirt to be verging on “too girlish,” the fabric is heavy enough to ensure that there were no Marilyn Moments. I also enjoy these sleeves. I’ve seen a lot of love for Kate’s Chanel accessories too – she’s carrying a little Chanel Flap Bag, and there’s a Chanel belt in the mix too. She’s also wearing Cartier jewelry (another French label).
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
There’s something wrong with me! I think she looks lovely
She looks good. I got to the end of the post and realized I had not looked at him once. “The man who accompanied Waity Katey to Paris?”
yeah. I had to scroll back once I read your comment to even be sure he was there. HA! blends in with the furniture!
Yes, ditch the belt and she looks pretty good. I wish she would cut her hair, though.
It’s crazy to look that thin in a coat, though! It adds 10lb to me 🙂 (not judging her weight, just observing)
@Minx I like the belt, but I wish you couldn’t see the silver buckle on it. It completely ruins it. You should only see the Chanel logo.
She does look great!
Just a boring comment passing through to say she looks presentable and nice and at least no malfunction. Makeup is also decent.
Yeah the bar is really low at this point, but she did fine.
Lol yah really low…no need to wow…be presentable and no flashing. Job done. Had some colleagues like that. Did the bare minimum and they coast through. Sometimes wish I could be thick skinned enough to set a low bar.
I think the changes she made from the original design are an absolute crime. Whenever something is tailored specifically for her, it looks so much worse.
Yes, I saw how it was supposed to look on a model and wasn’t nearly as fitted as Kate wears it here. I can’t imagine spending $8,000 for a Chanel and then have it altered beyond all recognition. What a waste!
delete
Seriously? The original was awful. It made a tiny model look like a big thick girl. It had the “arms of a sweatshirt tied” look around the waist. Her modifications made an awful outfit look presentable. Her tailoring efforts are often awful, but there’s no way she could have worn the unaltered original look. It would be utterly ridiculous. The belt is cute, the bag is colour mismatched. She looks fine. Boring, but nice.
Someone on tumblr worked out a few weeks ago that she’d spent over £18,000 on new clothes already this year. This trip to Paris has pushed it well over 20 grand. This coat dress cost over £4000. It’s alright. Reminds me of the missoni she wore last year. Liked the bag though.
Videos showed little to no crowds waiting for them so not sure the French really cared. There was loads of barriers set up and nobody behind most and when there was it was one person deep.
There were a lot of security concerns. That’s going to affect crowd size.
The handbag – I really liked.
Those shoes – I’ve always liked them and am pleasantly surprised to see her wear on multiple occasions.
The dress thing – meh.
The hair – meh.
The new dinky circle thing sitting on a rib – ugh.
It don’t think security was the issue – the French were more interested in the Rugby match.
Even on the Friday, there was loads of barriers to set up to control the expected crowds but nobody behind them.
@graymatters, LOL
“The new dinky circle thing sitting on a rib – ugh.”
Yeah, her clothes are just so blah for the money she has to spend on clothes. She always looks the same
That is most generous because it’s closer to $30,000 for the Paris trip alone, minimum, and like $20,000 for this one outfit. The original Chanel ensemble that Kate turned into a coat dress and customized into the school girl silhouette she loves so much, retails for $9,800. The bag (is from 2015 but new to us and) is $6K. The Cartier earrings and necklaces (again, probably something she’s been sitting on for awhile but are new and) $2K each. Heck, the belt might be $800. So that’s $20,000+ for this one look, cuz’ IDK what custom Chanel costs. If Jenny Packham can charge $5,200 for the custom buttercup shift dress Kate wore leaving the hospital with Charlotte then sheeeeeiiittt, bespoke Chanel probably STARTS between $12-18,000. When you add the bespoke McQueen black dress, the not ID’d (probably Balenciaga) jewelry she wore with it, and the $4K Packham gown, we are looking at well OVER $30,000 in two days. And it’s only because she wore it earlier in the day that the bespoke Walker coat dress, the $800 new (nearly identical to a pair she already owned but with a different heel *eye twitch*) Gianvito Rossi pumps, and they possibly new/reworked Lock & Co hat she wore to the Irish Guard are not included in this total. So she was already well over $30,000 for the year and this is an additional $30K.
Customised Chanel starts at $15K. Customised Jenny Packham is $5K.
I feel like there are better ways the UK could spend 30K to stay on France’s good side.
The piece is originally a coat, meant to be worn with a dress underneath. But really wearing a Chanel logo belt on this is so tacky. This is Kardashian level taste to slap on a logo.
Is that how a coatdress works? Seriously, I have no idea whether a coatdress is a coat made to look like a dress, with a real dress worn underneath, or a dress made to look like a coat, in which case, no coat over it? Befuddled by this wardrobe staple of hers.
When I was a teen, coat dresses were a bit like shirt dresses. It was definitely a dress, but designed from the original coat/shirt pattern. So the coat dress was made from a lighter fabric (than the coat), though often lined, and cut close to the body like a dress, and often looked as though it could open as a coat but was actually as secure as a dress. A shirt dress was designed from a button-down shirt pattern, but cut to encompass a midi-length skirt. The buttons might go all the way down or end at the waist (which was almost always belted) and the skirt might be curved a bit along the hem as button-down shirts often are.
Hope that helps.
Yeah, the belt spoiled it for me and instead of breaking up the long lines of her waist, it seems to exaggerate them. Maybe a less structured piece from the collection would have worked better for her.
She looks beautifull… wow
Kate’s face is mistery to me. Sometimes she look beautifull, sometimes she look older, sometimes she look very very bad..
How can her face changes like that?
It depends on whether the press photoshopped her before releasing the images. If they want to take a dig at them they don’t. I have seen her in person and she is as haggard looking as some of the shots show. She is also very thin with bad skin.
Actually, this coatdress has been priced at £8350. The belt: £800. The bag: £2300. That is well over £11000 for an outfit that will barely be worn. Her spending is out of control. Sickening.
Even more than that, as this was significantly altered from the original.
I saw photos of the original design which I preferred. Less fitted with more character.
Me no like this. My main problem with any coatdress is that the heavy fabrics looks weard with the bare neck and arms. Maybe with a scarf it would look slightly better, i don’t know…
i agree. I actually do not like the flapping sleeves at all.
The rest is ok, but i always find that the last input of chic is missing. This is a very expensive couture outfit and it does not look more expensive or fashionista than her usual stuff…..
That’s it exactly. She’s in Chanel & seems to be enjoying that fact, but she styled it as per usual & brought it down to her non-chic level.
She make most clothes look like cheap knock-offs. Probably because of the poor or unnecessary alterations. She’s obsessed with her long-waistedness/ short legs and any alterations often ruin the line of the outfit. Yet she still pays huge amounts for what looks like a homemade outfit.
Note: another Maria.
I thought she looked nice, love the coat dress, it looked nice on her. The price though…$800 for a belt? Seriously? I thought she looked more relaxed than she usually does, but that pic in front of the Eiffel Tower, gazing into each other’s eyes was simply too much. I mean, I feel he really embarrassed her last weekend. Maybe she is the forgiving, stand by your man type.
They do not present themselves as a regal mature couple.
Instead, its as if they are some teenage or even college age (tops) couple. Very immature. They seriously look like 2 children playing dress up and not the future king and Queen consort….definitely not two people in mid 30’s with children.
They LOOK mid 30’s of course as they are not aging well.
Nice to know that two people who are mid thirties in age and, according to you, look mid thirties in age are not aging well because they look their age. I’m no fan of these two wastrels, but I’m also no fan of your logic here.
I guess people see what they want. They in no way look like teenagers to me…
They definitely act like immature teens. I’ve known many teens who acted more mature and thoughtful than these two actually.
Exactly, they don’t present as mature because they just aren’t. It’s easier to see them as young, lazy and thick like a teenager.
They come across as an an odd mix of incurious teenagers forced to interact with adults and haggard, looking far older than their chronological ages. Both are charmless and empty. Must be such a chore for professionals in the Foreign Office, French Ambassador and wife to deal with.
They always appear to me like two teenagers playing dressup. Going along to these events like they were included as part of “take your children to work day”.
Exactly, no gravitas whatsoever. The coat dress is too short, her hair is awful. At least William is wearing trousers that fit.
It isn’t a “wow” outfit at all, but she looks professional and appropriate. I would wear it! If I had six months’ wages spare to buy it…
I wonder how much was spend on her clothes for just 2 days – considering how many times she changed it’s probably around £30K as almost everything was new. Plus if you are going to go to Paris and make a statement in wearing Chanel (outfit, belt and bag) the very least you can do is finish it off with Chanel shoes. Those Tod shoes ruined what was a good look, although I’m not sure why she lugged that little bag around. She really was working the ‘look at me in my Chanel, aren’t I Parisian chic”. Plus she nearly flashed those kids – it was a bit windy.
As for him his suits are too tight. I have no desire to see his disco stick.
Bettie there is a term I just learned Moose Knuckles – for work shy Wiily’s clothing look
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Moose+Knuckles
I confess that my glee at discovering all these new (to me, anyway) terms for what my mother would have said a lady should never notice rivals my middle-school sniggering at what I didn’t have words for.
Sorry for the word salad.
Ahahahahah! Moose knuckles LOL!
Ahahahahaha Gasp! Sausage and potatoes! Disco stick! 100% all-beef thermometer! Steamin’ semen roadway! ROTFL!
It was a nice touch to wear clothes by a french designer.
Interesting that Kate did this. Diana tended to stick to British designers overseas to promote British fashion. She may have made exceptions for France and Italy though. Anyone remember?
I think she stepped off the plane in Dior for her first solo to France and I’ve seen photos of her in Chanel in France. AFAIK the Italian designers got their day in the sun after the separation when Diana ramped up her sex appeal.
I remember a truly awful red coat from the late 80s, for her and Charles arrival in France. Big lapels, no shape, double row of gold buttons, giant shoulder pads. Bad hat too, with a giant black (what, dead bird?) sticking off to the side. Lagerfeld for Chanel. Her pale blue Chanel suit a decade later was much better.
One of her better looks for sure.
I watched French tv on the trip barely two minutes of coverage
Chanel should have sent over a makeup artist as well. Blending is your friend Kate!
Not going into the whole thing too deeply I thought the whole outfit lovely. Also loved the shoes in particula. Thought she looked genuinely tuned in when she threw the rugby ball.
She looks pretty good. She must have a huge closet full of coat dresses though
Rugby was the (only) reason why this trip was made.
Yeah
Yes. This “diplomatic trip” nonsense was just a rugby match with a bunch of sightseeing and side events to make it look like, what they would consider, work. These two have no diplomatic skills whatsoever.
I may not read the right press, but I didn’t even know they were here. Nothing on he news or in the papers. I’d say that the Paris/French crowd is simply indifferent to the BRF, which is understandable considering our history with the monarchy. I think they are quite irrelevant outside the Commonwealth and even there I’m not sure it isn’t America’s fascination with royalty (Windsors or Kardashians) that’s keeping them in the news cycle.
I think the only British Royal we cared about was Diana. I was fifteen whe she died and I remember that a lot of people were genuinely upset by her death.
I do like The Queen, I really admire her (and I like the way she dresses ^^). And I’m always honking for Harry because I’ve got a thing for gingers, especially if they are Bristish 🙂 The rest of them, blah.
Counting those shown here and the three shown on the other thread, that makes four pairs of shoes that aren’t those awful wedges or nude pumps. A major accomplishment!
I can’t with the belt. Tacky to wear anything with a logo on it!
So nouveau riche to gaudily display wealth. Which is what the all the Midds are.
The chanel coat is nice but ofcourse its chanel..but the belt with the obvious logo is so not needed. Very tacky! But the price of the ensemble is not justified as she makes it look ordinary and not bespoke which it is.
Chanel Dress: $10353 (retail- bespoke will be higher price)
Chanel Bag: $6225 (price from 2015)
Chanel Belt: $850
Cartier Trinity Diamond Earrings: $2040
Cartier Trinity Necklace: $1890
:O
I stopped looking after spotting the tacky belt. This proves she can’t dress and has no style or even class.
Her facial expressions!!!
And that belt LOL….she just never gets it right.
Don’t get me started on the hair.
I actually like this outfit. Everything worked except that belt. Why?!!! It’s both basic and gaudy at the same time.
The red coat is okay. Kept her warm. I’m constantly amazed by her odd clapping.
I would really love to hear Karl’s opinion of how Kate styled his creation. But of course he won’t comment publicly.
I saw photos where the matching Chanel dress is peaking out from the coat, so her wardrobe cost more than people think – and it’s already ridiculously expensive.
Not a fan of this Chanel ensemble myself. I like the bag, but it says Winter more than Spring to me.
Hate the red coat because it has ‘nipple’ buttons. That is my pet peeve – awful button placement.
I liked the coatdress and shoes but did she need to carry the purse? I didn’t like the belt. I poked around Tumblr to see the original design and didn’t find it. Does anyone have a link for it?
Try Royal Dish – Kate’s Coatdresses. That’s where I found the link.
A bad picture is just the pits! In the photo of Middleton with the goofy expression she looks like her mother. But in another picture she looks lovely resembling Alicia Keys.
Will does not look good. Ageing poorly. If he weren’t the future king, no one would give him a second look.
Is there a reason they’re keeping their hands to themselves in that awkward pose for the Eiffel Tower pictures? Looks really awkward.
He’s guarding his jewels and she’s guarding her money-maker. Oops sorry, that was my inside voice. LOL
Bahaha. The truth hurts sometimes.
Considering his behavior last weekend, I think the Eiffel Tower was so staged to make them look so in love. I found it very simpy. How stupid do they think the public is???
Shocked. She looks really pretty!!! and presentable!!!!
For once
Someone on Twitter posted that only Kate could wear a Chanel outfit and make it look frumpy. I have to agree. It was appropriate for the occasion and there were no Marilyn moments but otherwise it was meh.
The red coat at the rugby was nice. She usually looks good in red.
No lies told
I’m shocked. I never thought Kate would wear Chanel after Karl’s comments about Pippa.
True.
Nevertheless as Will and Kate try to “oil the machine” and improve things with Europe / Brexit it was and act of sensible (a**-kissing) to wear Chanel in Paris.
Chanel and Lagerfeld are big in Paris.
Though poor Karl. Kate made his interesting coat dress look so frumpy and dowdy.
True. I thought maybe she would pick YSL or Dior, but in the end there is nothing more quintessentially French than Chanel (coco not Karl)! Would have been cool to do vintage.
Yeah, I don’t think I could wear a designer who once said that he didn’t like my sister’s face…. 😕
Honestly, that coat dress is interesting.
And Kate makes it look dowdy and cheap and granny-like. I think it is the hair this time. And no brooch or anything on her lapels?
Oh, and I thought that “old money” and the British aristos would never wear anything that has a label like that Chanel belt?
My impression is that Kate isn’t a woman who would inspire William to give her jewelry? Nor does the Queen. Seriously some silver bling on that coat dress would have made it look less frumpy.
No shortage of gorgeous brooches in the Royal collection. Agree on the logo, tacky AF.
That third photo of her grinning says it all….”DURRRR….I are at the Eyefull Towerz!!!”
I like the coat dress and I like that she is walking with her hands by her side.
I speak French. I just checked the Figaro’s coverage of the visit. The coverage has been really soft, if that outlet’s anything to go by, probably because they can only get so invested in hand wringing over a British prince. Their real interest seems to be Diana. One article was focusing on William’s pain being here on the 20th anniversary of his mother’s death–the only eye brow raiser in the whole article was the end where the author made some comment about how basically, it’s hard to imagine that he WOULDN’T mention his mother at some point during the trip, maybe during his visit with Hollande. I think Diana’s death felt like a very French event to the French. Diana was very chic and tragic in a French sort of way, and very beautiful and died in the arms of the French, so to speak, therefore she feels like a cherished part of their cultural landscape. I also skimmed an article in the same outlet about Will’s goofy dancing incident. The whole article was one major French shrug, haha. They’ve seen so much worse in their own politicians. I think they find it a bit amusing. That said, if France had to bankroll the royal family, there’d probably be papers running Marie Antoinette comparisons all over the place.
I remember the French response to the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinski scandal. Shrug. “But of course. He is a powerful man,” sort of thing. I could only imagine them being amused at the weekend and perhaps disapproving of disappointing Granny.
That silly Chanel logo belt kills what would have otherwise been the chicest outfit I’ve ever seen Kate wear.
‘
OMG. Thank you for the laugh Kaiser. I was so focused on your article and I look down and see that goofy pic of Kate with that face and I lost it. I could not stop laughing. THANK YOU!!!
Well, this is Kate’s take on Chanel and, naturally, it is a coat dress with a high-up belt. She looks very good all in all, but the look is oh-so-predictable, and the logo belt is a terrible faux pas. She almost manages to ruin Chanel, which is quite an achievement 🙂
36 hours? Umm no. Started at 4.30pm & finished with rugby, 24hrs later.
I think the Chanel coatdress looks lovely, and I do love those Tod’s shoes. But I feel like Kate was thinking – “I’m going to Paris, must wear Chanel!” so for her first time wearing it (I think) she really went out all out with the coat, belt and handbag. She could have removed the belt and the whole thing would have been so much better.
I just feel like she often comes so close to looking amazing – and then something ruins it. It’s like she cant help herself.
She doesn’t know how to accessorize properly – hence there’s always some little details that throws the whole thing off.
Ooh, I love the Chanel. The silhouette is less boxy than the suits, the color is pretty and she accessorized well. My only critique is the sleeve length seems slightly off. The criticisms of the logo belt – LOL, that’s an awfully subtle logo considering the trends this year. But no one here is ever satisfied with anything Kate does, so why am I surprised?
I think she looks really pretty in the last picture with William.