I spent too much time in my formative years watching Absolutely Fabulous and trying to perfect my Patsy Stone impression. I dusted off that old impression when I saw these photos: “OI, BUTTONS!” I can just hear her saying it too. Anyway, the Duchess of Buttons Cambridge stepped out last night for the opening of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new Photography Centre. You might remember that Kate fancies herself a photographer, so I imagine she was especially KEEN to check out the 800,000 images previewed at the opening. We’ve got keen and we’ve got buttons. If only we had jeggings, we would have the trifecta.
For Kate’s solo outing, she chose a new frock by Erdem. The fabric reads to me as a very soft tweed, and I honestly don’t hate the fabric, nor do I hate the pop of color with the aubergine belt. No, my issue is with the design and with the big BEJEWELED buttons in different shapes. God bless her. I think she knows, don’t you? I think someone told her during her third pregnancy, and that’s why she began to actively troll us with her buttons. I like to imagine that Poor Jason sat down and said, “People on the internet have noticed your fixation on large, shiny buttons.” I also like to imagine that her reaction was a dainty shrug while she absent-mindedly rubbed one of the many buttons on her latest coat. “They noticed, did they? Well, then I shall just give them more.” Kate paired her precious button-frock with Jimmy Choo heels and some new-looking Erdem earrings which cost $1220.
PS… Thank you to all of the people who tweeted @ me as soon as they saw Kate’s buttons last night. I feel like you truly understand the button content I crave. Click on any photo to see the bejeweled detail on the buttons!!
Photos courtesy of WENN and Backgrid.
Not a fan of buttons but I surprisingly love this.
The aubergine accessories are a nice touch of colour and her hair and make up look great.
I think she looks sensational – healthy, shining. The dress is a strange combination of odd and stylish.
She looks GORGEOUS! LOVE the dress, the fit, the shoes…head to toe perfection (though not a *big* fan of the earrings, too matchy matchy to the buttons). Her hair is sooooo lovely; I have *such* hair envy, as mine (which *used to* look like that) is now thinning due to a medication I have to take).
Bust more importantly, she looks *content*, just really happy, and happily interacting with everyone. She seems interested in the people and event.
YES! The cut of this dress does great things for her figure and it’s a win all-around. Also, Kaiser, we could have used Patsy’s “hemlines so high that the world’s your gynecologist” during that weird period when ol’ girl wasn’t wearing proper drawers and her skirt kept flying up on the reg. WHERE WERE YOU?! 🤣🤣🤣
I agree, I love this dress. She looks amazing
She looks sensational. Love the assortment of vintage buttons with the earrings.
More spectacularly, a human being was recently sitting where that belt now sits. No pressure, ladies. 😀✊
Yes she does look great but does anyone else think the dress seems very influenced by Meghan? The longer length. The modified boat neckline??
I like the neckline especially. She looks great actually!
Agreed. The dress is beautiful, and she looks beautiful. That woman’s got some seriously great hair. It should have its own blog.
YES, I think Kate looks her best ever here! Love the dress, its fabric, her shiny, simple hair style, her subtle make-up. AND those fab aubergine accessories. Two thumbs up, and I’m sorry I only have two thumbs.
The hypocrisy of the Royal British press is telling!
Where’s the Royal reporters breathless headlines about the $5000 price tag on the bespoke entire look from head to toe and where’s the Royal reporters complaints about Kate wearing yet another New dress! The hypocrisy of the British press is so obvious. Not a peep about price tags or this or that it’s NEW.
The dress is ok for Erdem, but other than that it’s sort of ugly, too much going on IMO. I hate the fabric for a dress.
Also why is this Kate’s patronage duty for V&A when she’s been involved with them for years!
The bar is so lowered with Kate that no questioned are asked. The press appalled like seals,mono matter how little she does.
I think she’s she looks great! This is very flattering on her. I love the fabric and the cut. I don’t love the buttons and brooches but they are… interesting? An early 90s throwback I guess? She’s upped her shoe game a bit!
Call me crazy.
I like it buttons and all.
I love the whole look, head to toe. Well done!
I like it too, very much. A new look for her.
This is the most interesting thing she has worn in a long time. I like it.
Yes, same here. This is one of her better looks. I usually don’t care for Erdem, but this dress is really great on her. The shoes are nice as well. Love the crazy buttons and her hair looks very nice, too.
I am not crazy about Erdem, either, but I love this dress.
I would kill for those shoes.
I actually love this. The dress is good, but on her? It’s marvelous. I like the pop of color with the ribbon belt, the earrings and the shoes, and how they match the way the dress is lined.
I don’t know, for me the look is ultimate Kate, while being very elegant and very British.
One of my favorite looks on her, that’s for sure.
I love it as well. The earrings are a total hit and that belt is distraction from the buttons. And she isn’t in nude shoes. She looks more confident as well.
Yes, her confidence is shining! Baby number 3 has made her glow in a way I’ve never seen before. I think this is the 3rd event she’s had since coming back from maternity leave and she’s looked radiant, natural, very happy at all of them. She looks beautiful. Looks like shes really hit her groove style-wise.
I remember everyone trashed the Erdem gowns in Sweden, but she was glowing in those photos. To be fair, they were hideous, lol, but I don’t think she cares what people think anymore and that’s great. Can’t please everyone!
I think waity looks glowing with baby number 3 is because she never thought she and willie would make it long enough to have baby number 3. I also think baby number 3 is a laid back easy baby, whereas her first 2 were hard work. I think she looks smashing here for once in her life. I like her lighten hair too.
I love it too, it’s one of her best ever head to toe looks imo. I’m also struck with how happy and confident she seems lately, ever since the new baby.
I love that dress. I mean, really love it.
I do too! Maybe one of her all time best looks. Love the neckline!
Same! this dress is wonderful and i would absolutely wear it. She looks fantastic IMO.
She looks good, buttons and all. Fantastic earrings.
I am in love with the earrings too.
She looks really good here imo but does it seem to anyone else that her hair is trying to self-sausage curl on the ends? Is that like muscle memory but for hair?
Believe it or not but some people’s hair curl.
Kate does have naturally wavy/curly hair. Remember those honeymoon shots, and when they were in Tonga? She let her natural waves shine and she looked great! Wish she’d do it more often 😊
YES! That is one pic I really remember because my hair *used to * look like like. Le sigh! BIG hair jealousy lol
I love the dress and colored ribbon or belt. I don’t love the different bejeweled buttons so much but all in all, I give this look a thumbs up. And she looks great. It’s like this last pregnancy made her beautiful in a way she hasn’t previously been.
At least she is trying a new neck line. The dress looks cheap. The band at the waist looks like an after thought and the added buttons doesn’t help.
My thoughts exactly.
Aw man. this is classic Kate in that it is…..so close, but not quite. I really want to like this look. But its just…too much. The whole look needs to lose “one” thing. Its like that Chanel saying – look at yourself in the mirror before you leave the house and remove one accessory. If it didn’t have the buttons, or the belt, or the raw/ragged hem (I think “raw” is the right word, right?) or the brooches at the neckline, or if it wasn’t so long, or if she wore different earrings – it would be a total winner for me.
I saw on IG that the runway version of this dress is long like Kate’s, but with a cutout at the waist, and the retail version is a bit shorter without the cutout and with less of the raw hem – and I think that may have worked better for her, although in general I like this length on her and think she can pull it off.
I do like the neckline though.
“Needs to lose one thing” sums up all Erdem dresses tbh
@Belluga – YUP. I may have said that on twitter (or just in my head lol). I feel like its a contest to see how much can go into one dress.
Never saw a dress of that label that I liked. Everything is various degrees of tacky.
Agreed on all fronts. I think it’s all too matchy matchy also. All the accesories in the same color is just a really dated thing.
I think Kate is just not a fashionista and never will be. She will always dress like woman twice her age until she finally ages into her style.
It’s just really obvious now that Meghan is around to make the contrast more stark.
Yes, Becks1, very well written. Reminds me of the Steve Martin movie, LA Story. Turn around, look at yourself in the mirror, and the first thing (accessory) that catches your eye has to go.
LA Story is one of my favorite movies. I laugh so hard every time I watch it. Steve Martin is everything.
Mine too! His intelligence is so unappreciated. His Simple Twist of Fate retelling of Silas Marner is amazing. And the banjo mastery of course.
She does look nice but I think the belt needs to go.
I agree with this. I don’t think the added belt worked with all the different buttons and the frill on the front. The belt also doesn’t sit straight, unless it’s her slouching that does that. Erdem seems to overdo it all the time and while this is a better Erdem than what she’s worn in the past, there is still a bit too much.
What is it with Kate and belts?!? She belts everything — and obviously dresses that don’t need a belt nor should they have one added. This dress offers such a lovely design and seamless line from shoulder to hem — but she’s sloppily cut in half with this wrong style and wrong fabric belt. Ugh! Fugly…….
I agree – she has some lovely pieces but neither she or her ‘stylist’ can put an outfit together for sh!t. She always over accessorises and the belt ruins the outfit but she likes belts as it hides her long torso. Erdem does nothing for her as its a label that very few people can pull off – Sophie Cumberbatch wears Erdem well, Kate does not. As for the hair, if you are going to wear big flashy buttons along an off shoulder neckline wear the hair up to show it off, not hide it behind the sausage curls run wild. Bling is meant to be seen.
She looks fine and event appropriate. Its a typical Kate look, overdone.
By stylist you mean Ma Midds.
She looks beautiful here. I love this dress, too. Shoes are killer.
While I don’t understand the brooch-like buttons at the top, the rest is great.
She looks really beautiful, neat and well-styled/put together.
The Jimmy Choo heels are gorgeous, the shoes are the best thing about this outfit.
Wow wow wow. I love this.
And how about that teeny tiny waist? My baby is almost four and I still look like Im about six moths pregnant FFS.
Congratulations….don’t be too hard on yourself 🙂 the royals have a lot of resources to help them.
This myth needs to stop, imo. Countless friends and family members of mine have had babies and have gone right back to their slim pre-pregnancy shapes within months. No tremendous amounts of resources needed…. Every woman is different and it certainly doesn’t take an army of help to get back into shape.
i agree, shaima
Yes, for some women it is easier than others, but lets not act like Kate doesn’t have more resources at her disposal than the average woman (time being one of those.)
Also, when someone is lamenting how they look post-baby, saying that “it doesn’t take an army to get back in shape” is kind of….not nice.
I didn’t claim it was the only factor.
She’s had 5 months out of the public eye not working, her personal trainers, and everyone else doing the heavy lifting with housework, cooking, and childcare. Let’s not pretend that isn’t a huge factor.
Of course she has extra help and more! All I was trying to say is there are plenty of women out there who do look like Kate soon after having a child and they don’t have access to the very best.
And the way you phrased it was, as Becks1 wrote, not nice.
@notasugarhere- I was just the other day thinking about how much me time celebrities and royals have because they (most) don’t have to do all the mundane crap that we peasants have to do that takes up so much time. Laundry, holy crap the time I spend on it alone! Cleaning my entire house, cooking, organizing, paying bills, grocery shopping (although yes Kate has been known to do that from time to time), making appointments for me and my children. Things you don’t even think about and just do that they never have to.
I’m still clinging to summer in October so this dress is a painful reminder of winter.
the length of that dress kills it for me. It takes what could be a knockout look and veers it into matronly because it’s a weird length. A bit shorter would have been great. That said – the buttons, the super bouncy overabundant hair, classic Kate!
Totally agree with you about the length of the dress. She has wonderful long legs and even at Duchess length, covering her knees, would be better than this .Then that dress would be much more proportionate to her body than what it is now. It’s too bad she has no fashion people to advise her.
She has multiple staff to help her, including dressers and shoppers. If they are bad at their jobs or she doesn’t listen, both are on her as she hired them.
As has been shown many times, she has a long torso and shorter legs like Queen Rania. Kate has them raise the waists on things to trick the eye. Vogue or someone did a bit about it in their Katepedia article. She also featured on a blog Lady Short Legs, from another woman who is dressing the same shape. Queen Mathilde has the opposite problem, having really long legs and being short waisted.
There is a version of this dress that is shorter. It still has the overdone buttons though.
None of the versions have that belt, which looks like Kate added on. It might also explain why it sits crooked and way higher than her natural waist.
I think the buttons are great. However, the lady next to her need advice on how to dress.
Katy Cambridge has looked better and happier since baby Louis and Meghan came into the scene. She looks really good now and has looked good since she came back to “work”.
I’m loving the neckline on that dress. It fits her perfectly too. She looks great!
I really love this. At first I was impressed because I thought those might be actual gem level brooches which she added herself as buttons because that would be next level.
But then I remembered it was Kate and figured the dress came with the brooch buttons.
She looks great! Love the outfit, great hair and makeup, and in great shape.
She looks beautiful. I love her dress, hair and shoes (I knew they couldn’t all be nude pumps!) it all looks good and stylish
I’ll admit it. As soon as I saw all those buttons, I imagined you rolling your eyes. But this dress is absolutely stunning and it’s partly due to those gorgeous buttons. And I’m not personally a fan of showy buttons. But these are beautiful on that dress. And the shoes are gorgeous. She looks amazing.
Can we just talk about what the woman next to her is wearing because if we’re being honest, she stole the show! Haha where on earth do you get a satin suit like this? I want one just to look at in my closet.
Yes! I spent more time looking at her than Middleton’s dress to be honest. And the contrast in fabrics between the two is also a bit mind-boggling. Are they going to the same event? The Duchess seems dressed down compared to the Satin-Suit-Lady.
If you look at the other pics online, she’s dressed fine. If anything, the satin suit lady might be a bit overdressed for the event.
@Shaima, from your comments I see your a fan of Kate which is great.
My comment was something more general that I sometimes puzzle over. If you go to black tie events, you have satin, long dresses, and then you have the mother-earth style with tweed-like fabrics, or the Japanese geometric outfits with more down-to-earth fabrics that completely contradict the other, more traditional styles, but are awesome. It’s just a thing now that you don’t have very strict protocols anymore – that the British monarchy and the British society in general holds on to so much though but also allows to bend quite a bit.
Just a general thought from a funny contrast. Kate looks fab.
It is also tradition in a professional setting that you dress one level up from your audience. If they’re in work casual and you’re a presenter, show up in a suit.
If the woman next to KM was the host, that host was supposed to be better dressed than the general attendees. But following that professional idea, Kate should also have dressed up more.
@Merrit! How do you feel about Kate wearing a Canadian designer?
Fabulous silhouette for her. All good.
I find the earrings a little matchy but it’s a small point.
Really great look for her. For once I’m not thinking “I could see this look on the Queen Mum.”
I actually dont mind the buttons. Not really a fan of the length of the dress however.
She is so thin!
But bare shoulders are against protocol(!)
I like this look. It really emphasises her height, helped by the fab shoes. I’d take the hem a bit shorter and finish it, tone down the blush and switch the earrings, but this is good. Less matronly than we’re used to.
I do hope that she’s not trying to get back to her pre-preganancy weight though. She was painfully thin and gaunst and a few extra pounds make all the difference for her.
No, bare shoulders aren’t against protocol at the appropriate events. Just like Ascot, Trooping of the Colour has a strict dress code; when will people realise? Sigh.
Except it doesn’t, as was discussed ad nauseum in June. Meghan did not “break protocol” with her outfit.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a21347613/meghan-markle-is-not-breaking-royal-protocol/
That article says absolutely nothing on Trooping the colour dress code. When you have tickets to watch inside, the dress code is quite strictly enforced as it’s a very formal event. Soo I would imagine all Royal ladies have a dress code, too. Do I believe she broke protocol and somebody told her off? Lol, nope, but I imagine Meghan won’t be wearing an off-the-shoulder dress at a formal state occasion with HM anytime soon.
It actually does specifically say that Meghan did not “break protocol” at Trooping the Colour. If all royal ladies have a dress code for the event, then the fault is with the person who did not inform Meghan of that. She followed Ascot’s dress code so I don’t think she has an issue following a dress code.
Trooping is not a formal state event. A formal state event is when heads of state show up and there are tiaras involved. Trooping is a pseudo military event and there is no protocol regarding shoulders being seen for the people waving in the balcony.
No, bare shoulders are NOT against protocol if it’s KATE MIDDLETON exposing her shoulders. However, if it is MEGHAN, then protocol police are ready to tar, feather and drug her through the streets of London with “off with her head” chants. 🙄🙄
In fairness this is an evening event and Kate and other members of the BRF (including the Queen) have worn dresses that show bare shoulders in the past. It just seems odd to bare shoulders at an event when everyone else in the family have their shoulders covered at the same event like at Trooping this year.
Just like the sunglasses at Wimbledon, Masamf. If Meghan does it, Kate fans scream it is wrong. If Kate does it, they say everything is fine. The fact that Kate was also photographed that day wearing sunglasses? They pretend it never happened.
I just think this whole thing is so tired. I honestly do not think Meghan went out of her way to “break” royal protocol. I think she takes her new position very seriously and she’s not an idiot, she knows how the press and PR work. If she was even told about a dress code I do not believe she went out of her way to break it or ignore it. It just tells me that either there weren’t any restrictions in the first place or if there were she wasn’t told, which is a whole other issue.
And everyone completely missed the fact that Belluga was being sarcastic. Well done, y’all.
I love this look. New and interesting and different.
Just FYI, and to be fair: the earrings were $440 on Erdem’s site (sold out now, of course).
https://erdem.com/en-us/floral-hoop-drop-earring-aw18-1077stgcpr.html
It’s secondary sellers listing them for +$1200, after Kate wore them.
Why does it matter how much her earrings cost? (Pls don’t start with the taxpayer malarkey)
She looks fabulous. Jewellery from designers such as Erdem don’t have a high price point so I knew that was wrong as soon as I read it.
What malarkey? Kate’s clothing and jewellery is paid for with money belonging to the British people. I don’t begrudge her designer clothes and nice jewellery, as she is representing the country, but it is a fact that she lives off money that belongs to us.
I’m British, I understand all of the complaints! I know they ALL live off our money, but I don’t see the use of complaining about it on a gossip site!! Join Republic, raise awareness, start petitions, complain to your local councillors, write to the PM, etc. if people feel so strongly about it. Frankly, I care more about other things going on right now. The fallout Brexit might cause is far more important than the earrings Kate has worn, IMO.
I know some Brits would love to have a Republic, but the Royals are here to stay. As long as they represent our country, they will ALL spend whatever they wish, without thinking twice. That’s just the way it goes.
Obviously Brexit is of more immediate importance. I can name 20 things that the government should be focusing on that are of more immediate importance. But this is not just a gossip blog, there are posts about US politics here all the time. And like it or not, the royals are political for us in the UK. It’s not just a binary question of whether we should have a royal family or not, it’s a question of how many royals we should support and in what style, and how much work they should do. I can, and do, advocate for a more Swedish approach. Including on here.
If you do not enjoy the discussions we have here about royals, money, taxpayers, etc, why are you here?
For the hypocritical British press, when Meghan wears a new dress and what it cost becomes a negative headline.
“I don’t see the use of complaining about it on a gossip site!!” What do you think gossip sites are for, Shaima?
Her jewelry is also covered? So the taxpayers paid for that Cartier necklace in 2012?
@Natalie S, I don’t know about that piece in particular, but if we’re not told that something was purchased with private funds, then it was paid for with Duchy funds.
Her make-up though… She looks constantly drunk with those red cheeks and fatigued with that heavy eye make-up. Why?! *waves fist at the sky*
Right?!?
Overall she looks great here but I cannot overlook her rouge. It has a very 1980’s application. Very dated & not attractive.
Apparently she insists on doing her own make-up which is… unfortunate.
Like I said up thread, it’s because she needs to ditch Ma Midds stylistic / beauty imput. Get some real advice. Waity is co-dependant on her mother and it shows.
A lot of celebs wear heavy makeup when out shilling as it shows up better in photo’s. Am not sure the blusher colour really does anything for her, too pink and yeah the panda eyes have returned. There was a period when she changed her makeup a bit and was wearing less eyeliner and her blusher was a darker shade that hadn’t been applied too heavily and she looked great – the colours really worked on her. You can tell when someone else does it, its more natural looking.
All 3 Mid women wear their makeup likes its the 80s.
She looks good. I don’t LOVE the dress but that’s more a personal taste issue, I technically can’t complain. She does seem better these days. Did she decide to say F IT, I am going to be me and I don’t care about what the world says? If so it’s a great look on her.
Or could it be that she actually has a palace friend/bestie now that is giving her confidence? I know it’s doubtful but I love the fan fiction. Remember how happy and fun Fergie made Diana?
I really love this look! However, I prefer the length that was on the model. Overall she looks great, her posture is poor sometimes it ruins the look.
All Hail Kate, our Button Queen!
All jokes aside, she looks great, I really like this look.
I loathe this dress and would never wear it. God its busy. Kate looks good though. BUTTONS 4EVA
I don’t like the length of the dress but otherwise I think it’s lovely, buttons and all. I like the colour of her waist band and shoes too. She looks very well and more confident
But she did bring the trifecta: buttons, belts, and bad styling!! Her hair needs back or off her shoulders to show off the neckline of the dress and earrings. The belt is fine alone but mixed with the buttons, fringed edges, and material….way, way too much. Like pick one. Just one. At max, to wean you off of your bad taste, we’ll let you pick two for a little while until you can narrow your choice to one.
Fancy tweed. You’d think it couldn’t work, but somehow it just does here. She also looks amazing and tanned and “refreshed”. I agree with whoever said she appears to look happier and more relaxed. Not sure if that’s 3rd baby happiness, or maybe a contentment in feeling like her family is complete now, or if Meghan coming on the scene has anything to with it. Whatever it is though, it’s working.
I love the shoes, and the buttons might almost be tolerable if she hadn’t added the unnecessary brooch and earring that all look like the belong to different outfits.
I like it all too, the buttons make it a bit funky. Her hair is amazing.
Love the color the shoes but she could lose the buttons and the brooches other than that she looks cute
I don’t care for this dress at all. It’s overdone, over designed, trendy and looks like something you’d buy at Macy’s. As for the shoes that another commenter said they would die for, you don’t have to look far to get the same burgundy pumps. They are nothing special.
LOL at your last comment. I have the same pair. I’m a Choo Lover, don’t mind me.
What’s wrong if it looks like something that can be bought at Macy’s?
This is one of her best looks ever. Fabulous!
MISSING: One upper lip.
If found, please return to Kate Middleton.
Seriously?
That’s not very… nice. Then one wonders why women are filled with Botox.
Meow!!!
What a silly comment. Then women point out and make fun of others when they do get fillers and mess with their faces. smh.
Come on.
Comments like that are why people like the Kardashians and Jenners get insecure and think they need plastic surgery to look good, and end up ruining their natural beauty by taking it too far
Kate and Meghan wear heavy makeup. They need to take some more time blending the blush and maybe layoff the too dark eyeshadow.
I really like it. Design suits her and isn’t frumpy and it’s a change from her usual. This is a win for me.
I was there last night . It was a shambles. The whole event ran over an hour later than it normally would as “Kate can’t come until she’s put the kids to bed”. She was whisked into a side entrance then at the last minute stepped out on a small stage surrounded by press that none of the attendees (mostly patrons) could see, stayed completely silent, cut a ribbon and then left immediately.
Much muttering and eye rolling from the very well heeled crowd in attendance. A classic example of a great PR photo opp for Kate but am absolutely appalling appearance.
MORE PLEASE.
Amandapanda,That’s a shame! They make it look like everything was great! Geez…
Oh that’s terrible. What event was it?
But on the What Kate Wore blog it showed all kinds of photos of her there looking at photography and old cameras on display. It seems perhaps most of her time there was “behind the scenes” on a private tour and not in front of an audience.
And all of those photos could have been taken in 5-10 minutes.
What L84Tea said. There are lots of vids of her walking around the place and talking. Maybe that was private.
Yes she was taken on a private tour of the exhibition and museum whilst everyone else had to wait in the foyer (with drinks! Not the most terrible thing). You can see Tristram the museum director, Bill the curator and Nicholas Coleridge the chairman (also the chairman of conde naste!) in the pics.
Normally at V&A exhibition openings you can, erm, go and see the exhibition when it opens at 7pm. Last night we didn’t get in there until 9pm as Kate had to see it privately first and she didn’t want to arrive until after 8pm. So everyone had to wait for 2 hours.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I read that the bulk of her time was on a tour.
Everyone else had to wait 2 hours because of Katie Keen? SMDH
I appreciate the behind the scenes story. Like the comments from SunflowerHeart a few years ago. She has to be begged to show up, then spends a handful of minutes with the people who attend. Causes general chaos instead of her appearance being beneficial.
I’m sure there are Kate fans who will find it adorable, cute, sweet, oh so kate cinnamon bun that she just had to put the kiddies to bed. Poor little Kate who just wants to be a SAHM but evil royal duties get in the way.
This drives me crazy. Millions of people earn their own living, work 50 hours a week, raise their kids, and manage to get to work on time without making life difficult for other people. And they don’t have an army of household staff and nannies paid for by someone else.
I had come from a full day of work that started before my children woke up, and had a babysitter putting them to bed at the time I was waiting for her – so it didn’t imbue me with masses of sympathy for her!
Thanks Amanda panda for the scoop. The sad part is that the V and A doesn’t even need her as a patron because it’s one of the most famous museums in the world. It was doing spectacularly well prior to her “involvement”.
I suspect the really rich donors who had to wait so long are going to complain and we likely won’t be seeing Kate invited to another event like this.
@notasugarhere …
You must have missed the tea that was spilt a few days ago by a poster who said that Meghan spent less an hour at that art exhibition she attended recently. What’s her excuse/ justification for the lack of time she spent at that event?
You’ve got to face it, these royals (especially the younger ones) are ALL the same.
New York Times best seller Together Community cookbook tells you otherwise. Because of Meghan making that book happen, the community kitchen can be open 7 days a week. That is a real impact. See Sentebale, Prince’s Trust, Dumfries House, Invictus Games as other examples.
Spending an hour at an event is standard and fine. We’ve had years of Kate spending 10-15 minutes at them in comparison.
The problem here is not only was she an hour late, but she delayed the paying/donating guests by 2 hours. 2 hours! Then only spend a handful of minutes with them. Most of her time was a private tour of the museum, basically a photoshoot. And almost no time with the big time donors whom she’s supposed to be thanking for their generosity and support of the V&A.
This is going to sound awful BUT I am going to say it anyway. Putting the kids to bed is not a good or even an admirable excuse for holding up all of those people. It’s not as if she left her children alone and defenseless. They have a father who lives in the home in addition to nursery staff. Once again, that’s a very poor excuse and I’m sure no one there applauded it. After all, they possibly have children that they needed to attend to as well and children that possiblly waited up for them.
The only reasonable excuse I can think of is that she’s still breastfeeding Louis and the last scheduled feeding set her back a bit time-wise. She did seem to arrive at an unusual time (?) and these things are usually timed to the minute for security reasons, so I’d wondered if there was an issue with one of the kids (sick, fussy, etc).
She could have pumped before hand and he’d have been fed just fine. She appears to have stopped nursing at 6-8 weeks with the other two kids; could be the same here.
Agreed Honey, other attendees prpbably had to organise their kids. Waity must think her kids are more important than anyone elses.
AmandaPanda, I’m curious about this because I genuinely have no idea: would the primary goal of her attending an event like this be to mix among patrons and thank them/encourage further donations, or is it more so the museum gets this photo op that advertises the new exhibit to the general public? Or is it ideally both?
Well clearly in this case it’s the photo op!
I heard last night from a pretty reliable source that kate requested to be the patron rather than the V&A asking for it so presumably she has her reasons….
Agreed. Was she late to the event, or was the event schedule changed from the norm because she was there? When she was at the V&A last year, she unveiled a plaque and also stayed for a reception to mingle so she’s clearly done it before. Was this intended to be a private tour, and then an unveiling? It’s almost the exact thing Duchess Meghan did last week. I’d blame the venue communications for not being clear.
Tbh, all the young royals do this. Even at the Together cookbook launch, they were there for less than an hour. I side eye it all.
Royals don’t tend to mix at these types of events — Kate’s pattern is pretty par for the course. Photo op with the heads/VIPs, brief “tour” of the exhibit/centre/pavilion, appearance in front of the masses to open the little curtain, then leave. During day events, there’s often a walkabout afterward (and the “lesser” royals are especially lovely at this, they have developed a knack for connection in those circumstances). One of the queen’s advisors wrote just this past summer about how brief and superficial a typical royal appearance really is. They’re set up for PR purposes, to bring in visitors or donors depending on the setting.
This advisor pointed out that, for a lot of organizers, it’s a lot of work to put together a royal appearance. They don’t necessarily want the royal hanging about for hours to roast marshmallows or admire the art or what have you. The press pack is pretty intrusive, for one thing.
The average royal visit is about 45-60 minutes. Kate has finally started hitting that average, but it’s taken her YEARS to get there. She used to be in and out in 20 minutes flat, which always felt insulting.
AmandaPanda, was she always scheduled to arrive at 8pm (“Oh lord, we all have to wait forever because she insisted on starting so late”), or did she change her mind at the last minute? Twitter is usually a good indicator for tardiness, because the photogs will fill the time with low-key muttering about how they’re standing around. Everyone acted last night like she was there when they expected her to be.
Depends on the royal. Many stories through the years about Charles and his ability to press the flesh and get big donations from these events.
@Josie
Not sure how much muttering and grumbling we’ll get from the press about the Cambridges at the moment even if they do something questionable. Don’t recall many complaints about William’s private but also public African tour that was heavily promoted on KP social media. Just one tame conversation at the very end despite the fact that it seems most (or all?) RRs were excluded.
Agree with the rest of your post.
Actually @Danielle,Meghan and Harry were at the cookbook launch for more than an hour.They came,were greeted,mingled with the women and others,Meghan took part in some meal prepping,a while load of talking,gave her speech,ate together,another whole load of talking and then goodbyes and they were done.
Kate was defintely late cos even her fans were talking about it.She was meant to be there around 6:50 but came 8.Who knows the reason for why
@Sam And yet in every picture of the launch, they’re standing? Harry snuck some food out, that seems to be the closest they were to eating there.
@Danielle. There are pictures of everyone sitting and eating in the tent. Doria is sitting next to Harry and Meghan is sitting across from them.
Event organizers should have scheduled the event to begin at 8 or 8:30pm. Weird that they didn’t.
I’m wondering if it was for security purposes. Although really, Kate could have come in one entrance and the guests in another. Still, of course the plebians will wait for the royal (eye roll).
It’s really unlikely that the V and A would have planned to make their high level donors wait around for 2 hours. After all they need their money more than they need a Kate photo op.
They must have expected her to arrive sooner and something happened.
The timings were adjusted AND she was late. The openings normally start at 630/645pm, this one was moved to start at 715pm and everyone was told they HAD to arrive by 730 and then doors would be locked (security). Speeches were meant to be at 8 but didn’t happen until 850pm.
Yes she did come in a separate entrance – the V&A has two entrances, so that was planned. The oldies were happy about that as a lot of them decided to leave before she arrived lol.
I think the most disappointing thing for the patrons was that, having waited around for her, no one even caught sight of her. She literally stood on a small platform at the end of a long gallery with the press pack in front of her so no one else could see, sat down, then stood up, cut a ribbon and then immediately left by a door right behind her. I didn’t particularly care about seeing KM last night but lots of the donors and patrons did and I can tell you there was a LOT of grumbling about the whole thing. Very unimpressive.
Was it publicized that attendees would get to greet or mingle with her? It sounds like poor planning and unclear communication from the venue. Reporters apparently knew exactly when she would arrive so it’s a shame attendees didn’t. Will & Harry were at an event last night and they did the whole mingle thing which was clearly planned and expected.
This is a classic Katie Keen stunt – she is ALWAYS LATE, ALWAYS. William was once overheard commenting at an event that it was because of her ‘nightmare hair’ so now its the kids fault. They were once almost an hour late to an event at the Royal Albert Hall which is a 5 MIN drive from KP. She’s late because she doesn’t want to be there.
Its rude and disrespectful to everyone involved. But again no surprise for those who have been paying attention. At one point her visit times were so low, we all joked on here that she’d be doing drive by engagements where she pulls up, stays in the car, waves then speeds off.
She’s our Melania – no wonder some charities don’t want her as patron and why some of the few she has are trying to offload her. Her lazy attitude is damaging to them.
I would think that when it gets to the point where the Queen has to wait for you at Easter Sunday service which is definitely a breach in protocol, then the problem isn’t the venue but the patron.
I also got the impression that she is rather out of her depth, I am not sure that she would be able to converse at any length on subjects which concern the V&A and arts and culture, and her supposed specialist subject photography. So I suspect she was kept away from mingling with the guests and donors. Her husband, however, does refer to her as the artsy one?
Well, she supposedly was an Art History Major, so she should be in her element. Instead, her lack of work ethic shines through instead. I hope the disrespect she showed gets back to the powers that be. So ridiculous!
I like the dress, buttons included, all the way ’til the bottom of the skirt where it’s one big flaring ruffle. I would prefer it be more straight cut and maybe a little shorter. I don’t mind a flow-y skirt, but rather it be just a simplistic and elegant flow. The ruffle hem makes the dress a little overworked. It’s already got a lot going on that works very nicely with the buttons, plaid material, perfect fitting and asymmetrical neckline. If you cut off the ruffle, the dress would still be a good length and still look complete.
The cost of this outfit is probably around GBP 5 grand. When will we ever get rid of these parasites.
When Meghan adds to her wardrobe because, you know, she wasn’t born with the expectation that she’d need a shed load of princess dresses, she’s a money grabbing spender. And anything else the Daily Wail can accuse her of, usually in the headline, just to trigger the pearlclutchers’ wrath. If Kate spends a load on a dress worn for a five minute appearance, she’s an “English Rose”. I wonder if these eejits have any concept of cognitive dissonance. Oh, and Kate looks great, here. Still a massive Meghan fangirl, though.
The microaggressions against Meghan just keep piling up, don’t they?
@NotASugarHere Don’t they just! Anything – literally anything – is being wielded as a weapon against her. Samantha Grant? “Oh Harry, what have you done???” New outfit? “Spending all our money” (Charles’, in fact, who loves his daughter in law and wouldn’t want her to be uncomfortable on the world stage). Hair curled, not curled; a hint of shoulder. Her beautiful teeth, her infectious enthusiasm for living. All apparently an act. The one that gets me the very most, though, is that she should somehow demonstrate that she’s endlessly grateful for TM having sent her to school – you know, being a parent. Haven’t the Markles done their work well?
It is quite funny. I’ve never seen so many “Kate is FUTURE QUEEN” type posts on social media until Meghan arrived. Even looking at the social media on Kate’s latest visit, so many of the comments are about how perfect and classy she is compared to Meghan. Says a lot that people can’t compliment her without throwing shade at other people.
I find it all so depressing.
I am especially surprised at the ones who insult Harry and Meghan directly on the KP twitter feeds and instagram account. Do they think this will get back to Meghan?
Microaggressions are extremely real. These things you reference aren’t microaggressions, and this is coming from a Black woman whose studied and done inclusiveness and equity work for years. Are people shady and hypocritical? YES. Is everything negative written about Duchess Meghan a microaggression? Absolutely not. There are real, everyday examples of microaggressions throughout the news cycle and coming straight from our elected leaders. This is petty people, who have to tear one person down to elevate their favorite and it comes from both sides.
Evaluating Duchess Meghan’s “blackness”? That’s a microaggression. Constantly harping on her clothing budget – nope. Now if the comment is Duchess Meghan is a spendthrift because Black people waste money – that’s a microaggression.
Microaggressions are real and scary which is why I avoid tmz, the fail, etc. ignorance is bliss.
That being said, not all of us here are racist, fascist and obnoxious. Some just enjoy the escapism that the RF brings from scary America today. Also—clearly not nota, lol—some of us love both Meghan and Kate. It is possible and real to like them both equally and not bash one to pump another one up.
I think it’s both. Some of the criticism is just petty fans picking sides or people who dislike the BRF in general, but some is based on people questioning Meghan’s worthiness because she is a POC. There is a general pattern here and you can’t ignore that context.
It works both ways, I’ve seen lots of post’s over the last few weeks/months from Meghan’s fan’s trying to justify the cost’s of her custom-made Givenchy, Dior, Carolina Herrera and other designer outfits by saying she gets large discounts. But Kate spending over £250,000 a year on her clothes (as reported by the Daily Mail Lol) has been peddled as some kind of fact by her ardent haters. It makes no sense. Either they are BOTH getting large discounts or they are BOTH spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on clothing.
I was going to say lol. I’ve seen kate ripped to spreads for her expenses and then Meghan excused for, well, spending an eye watering amount. I like Meghan but I think she will have a higher clothes bill in 6 months than kate has ever had in a year. That being said, they BOTH need to tone down the spending a ton or they BOTH need to work a lot more to justify it.
Well, this will be unpopular, but Kate has the higher status, she should have a higher budget. Annnndddd, she didn’t wear high end designers right out of the gate.
IMO, MM has done no event yet that required the wearing of Givenchy and the like…
Camilla and the Queen have higher status than Kate but I think Kate’s wardrobe does amount to being more expensive than theirs unless ceremonial wear. This is a new “rule” that showed up just for Meghan.
Also, Kate did wear expensive things right out the gate. She even wore McQueen to meet with riot victims. People remember differently because the token cheap things she wore made that much of an impact so points to Kate for effective image management. “Thrifty Kate” has stuck in the minds of the people!
@whywhywhy. I agree. Across the board, it makes no sense that the royals wear such expensive clothing to perform engagements. Across the board they need to tone it down.
The Fail puts the cost of Meghan’s outfit in every single headline. Not so for Kate this time around…
And they’re not even necessarily accurate. The DM priced a diffusion line Emporio Armani coat as between $3000 and $4000 when all other outerwear on the Emporio Armani site was under $1000 . And of course people ran with the DM suggested price.
So going with the notion that Kate’s clothes should cost more than Meghan’s because status and hierarchy, then they all should be spending less on clothes than does Queen Elizabeth. Conversely, Kate does the least in terms of public service out of all the royal women/wives; therefore, her clothes should not only cost the least but her budget should be the smallest. See how that works?
Yes, thank you. Do we really believe Camilla outspends Kate? Where was this convenient rule before Meghan?
@whywhywhy
“I like Meghan but I think she will have a higher clothes bill in 6 months than kate has ever had in a year”
Spending an estimated £17,000 on two outfits in a single day isn’t normal at all. They BOTH need to tone it down. But in the end their lives is a living absurdity,so I doubt these people are even thinking about it.
I love it! The fabric, the length, the neckline, the bejeweled buttons, the color of the sash, the clutch, the shoes oh man those shoes! I like the cut, the boatneck neckline, the length and I adore it seeing the wedges of doom had to stay home! She’s still too heavy with the blush but I can cope with that. She looks very appropriate fo her “position” & the occasion. This is a total win for me!! Hell I would wear that dress even with the bedazzled buttons! I wouldn’t wear it as well but I sure as hell would wear it. The Duchess of Buttons gets a YES! from me!
I love it also for all the reasons you stated. She looks fantastic. I love the outfit on her, and she had the height to carry off the length.
I absolutely love everything about this outfit, hair, makeup, accessories, color, fabric, design, shoes 🖤
This is absolutely fabulous! The nicest outfit I have ever seen her in.
my only concern is Kate isn’t drinking enough water. Her skin . . .
Water isn’t going to reverse years of smoking, extreme dieting, and sun worshiping. It is what it is.
Nota, tell us how you REALLY feel about Kate. You’re so neutral in your comments.
😉 took over a decade to get to this point, but here I am.
She absolutely looks amazing. Wow.
I really love it. Very fallish, she wears clothes well.
She looks beautiful here and I actually love this dress. That wine color is great for her! And I love Meghan too, it’s possible to like both 🙂
What a fussy looking dress! There’s way too much going on there, but it IS Erdem…
The cut of that dress is fantastic and it looks great on her. Separately, I like the material too but probably would have loved it on a different shape and I would have adored the dress if it was a different material.
I don’t like the dress. Thought it looked like a Home Ec project with the fringe, ribbon and mismatch buttons. But this is Kate and I rarely like what she’s wearing. I will give her points for trying something different.
I can’t quite put my finger on it but there is sth different about her. She def changed her make-up (less eyeliner), and no maniac smile anymore, so maybe that’s it? She looks much more at ease and natural.
Anyways, I love this whole look.
I saw this on insta last night and chortled, picturing Kaiser with eyes bugged out at the buttons!
Kate looks wonderful, glowing and happy.
A shame about the dress, and particularly the twee ribbon at the waist. Did she tie it in a bow in back with streamers?
Nice “work” to be chauffeured to a gallery for an hour of privately viewing your “hobby” photography.
The waist ribbon is Waity’s attempt to pretend she had a waist which she doesn’t. She has starved off everything that would give her a waist. Therefore the belts and waist things.
Btw. that violet ribbon ruined the dress cause it sucks up all attention and makes the dress look like an ugly old cloth. A slim black belt would have looked so sexy and daring. But nope, Waity goes for a violet ribbon.
I need the belt (slim and black ftw) 2 inches lower and the dress 3 inches higher. Love the dress anyway.
+100
Agree. The belt seem off as there is no waist per se.
Those Erdem earrings look like fashion jewelry and are definitely overpriced.
And the cloth of that dress looks as if it had had a full life circle before becoming a dress. It probably looked good on the drawing board but when it was sewn into reality everybody shrieked and somebody said: “Let’s give it to Kate. She ain’t got no clues and will wear it.”
Did Kate get new cheekbones (2nd pic)?
Yeah, I don’t mind the dress and shoes but those earrings, no. They just look like door knockers. Like in a bad 80s way. And I don’t mind a bigger or bolder earring, but naw homes. And I see she’s gone back to super thin. She just looks so much more glowy with a bit of extra weight; she’s always prettiest when she’s expecting or just after having a baby. She must put enormous pressure on herself to maintain that weight. I know I couldn’t do it, I enjoy food way too much.
Kate looks very nice. I like the dress – buttons, color, length, and all. ☺️
Her eye makeup has changed – a wee bit less eyeliner?
“Well, then I shall just give them more,” made me laugh. Good for her and I thought of Kaiser too as soon as I saw the buttons. She seems freer and leaning into the style she prefers, rather than toeing the line. I especially love the earrings, which seem a departure and the boldness of them is wonderful to me. My top lip is barely fuller than hers and when I see her I think: “Thanks for reppin’ us Kate.” I get tired of trying to picture a certain shade of lipstick on me when all the models have lips 5 times the size of mine. I envy them, but I really can’t think a shade is for me when this is the case.
I absolutely adore everything. I actually couldn’t give a fig about the buttons. Kate is looking gorgeous : happy, relaxed, comfortable. She’s lightened up on the heavy eye make up, her lighter coloured, shorter hair looks glossy and shiny, I love the little pop of color she’s injected into her accessories. Her skin is positively glowing. I think she is finally feeling ‘comfortable in her skin’ This really is the best I’ve seen her in a long time – if I look at other goss sites, they’ve used much more flattering pics of her and I’m smitten. Welcome back Duchess Kate
Waity Dolittle seem very Duchess Megan-esk!
Ummmm, this is 100% full-on dolittle style in all its glory: buttons, fug British pattern, a belt, overly matching shoes, and a spray tan. I’ll give credit where it’s owed but Meghan would not wear this unless she had to go back in time to like, 1912.
Dont’ care for this dress at all.
Yawn.
#SnoozeButton
I like her hair color. Kate’s hair color usually has more red tones but I think this version is better.
I love this look. She looks smart and professional. With just a buttony touch of whimsy.
She looks stunning! Love the whole ensemble. She has the height to carry off the length. And the shoes!!
Yuk, I absolutely hate this.
Hate the print
Hate the style
Kate look beautiful, but the outfit
It’s a no 😬
This is old school Kate, god bless it. I like it overall, but I’d have passed on the belt.
Shes so skinny
I agree, she is so so so skinny!!! She looks beautiful, but I just can’t believe that women eats a single thing.
She is STUNNING in these pictures. I don’t know that I have EVER seen her look better. EVER. I’m absolutely loving this look! The dress — the shoes — the hair — the makeup— the BUTTONS — ALL OF IT!!!
I love everythin about this look….
I think she looks fabulous
Love it. LOVE the shoes, praise Ishtar they’re not nude.