Something I’ll never understand: why the Duchess of Cambridge embargoes completely normal visits to her events until the very last minute. There are next to no photos of Kate arriving at her event on Thursday, and all of the photos from inside the event were pics selected by Kensington Palace. There were photos of Kate leaving the event, because (duh) the embargo was over at that point. Some people would say it’s a security thing, and while that’s possible – I think Kate and Meghan both probably face some unique security issues – I also think that Kate and the Kensington Palace Communications office really believe that they can carefully curate every part of Kate’s “surprise” visits, especially when those visits are just about “further research.” Don’t get me wrong – as we’ve seen many times, royals have in-house photographers documenting their visits and meetings all the time. This is not just a Kate thing. But perhaps it IS a Kate thing to want palace-sanctioned photos of her public events to be the ONLY record.
Anyway, all of that to explain why it took forever for most outlets to get photos from Kate’s event yesterday – it was hours after the visit before most outlets got these photos. It also took a while to get confirmation on Kate’s outfit. The blouse is for sure Equipment, a French label, and the blouse retails for about $300. On the other hand, Kate’s pants are from Zara, and are super-affordable at £30. There’s a lot of talk about how Kate is making the “culotte” style a thing these days. Can we not?? I’m not even comfortable calling these culottes. They’re mostly just trousers which are too short. Kate has an issue with proportions, on skirts, dresses and pants.
And finally, at her event, Kate talked about how she can’t believe how old George is already. One of the moms, Chloe Koroma, said: “She said children grow up so quickly and she can’t believe that George is six already.” I’m telling you, Kate is broody. She’s exactly the kind of woman who likes to always have a baby in the house. Prince Lou is already walking and getting toddler-ish. Kate will be preg by Christmas, mark my words!
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon and Backgrid.
Good point about Kate being broody but eventually she’s going to have to get used to not constantly having babies in the house…
It’s pretty sad
Why is it sad? Because she genuinely loves children and having babies around brings her joy?
I have two children. I cannot have more. They are both in double digits and it breaks my heart every day missing them being tiny. Of course I’m glad they’re growing up and becoming more their own people daily, but there is nothing wrong with missing that.
I am lucky to be able to keep two darling babies in my home while their mothers work so I still get my baby fix without the exhaustion and I get paid too.
Even though I don’t like how Kate behaves I can empathize. She just likes babies. Nothing sad about that.
It’s like my husband told me: you do know that babies and puppies and kittens don’t stay that way. They all “grow up”.
Uh…with all due respect to your husband, not true: furbabies stay furbabies.
I got broody like that too. Now I have teens and am so glad I didn’t act on it!
I’m the opposite…my kids were cute babies but I preferred them when they got a little older and could interact and talk to us. Babies make me anxious in a way, they are so helpless.
Same here I adored my daughter as a tiny human and sometimes I miss the moments, but I really love her more (if possible)each day and enjoy watching her and interacting with her as mother of an almost 17 year old!
Minx I agree, babies are cute for a while but when they stop needing diaper changes, don’t wake the entire house up multiple times at night, and can verbalize their feelings, it’s hard to go back.
i refused to deal with my niece & nephews on my own until they were old enough to order off the menu at Shoney’s. We then proceeded to have a whole lot of fun.
They could be giving them away for free and I still wouldn’t want them.
Trousers that length are extremely popular in Florida. I see them quite often but they tend to be in more “beachy” type fabrics.
I feel like they are the sort of style that look great on some people, and just awful on others. They are not for me, that’s for sure
They’re everywhere right now. I bought a couple pairs myself for work way before Kate wore them yesterday. I think they’re very on trend at the moment.
I like loose trousers. They’d be fine on me. With a bit more hemming-up, they’d be full-length on me. 🙂
They are extremely popular in Paris too, where I am sitting now wearing them.
Same here, I just came back from shopping and they are everywhere…
Same. Beat me to it!
Same, ugly.
For a second there I thought you were talking about puppies & babies. Never mind!
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼👶👶👶👶👶👶😂
Me too! LOL!
I thought you were referring to babies until I read the other comments and I was like “SAME!” Regarding Kate’s outfit, she would look much more elegant if those wide leg trousers were full length.
Like I said yesterday – that outfit would have been a total win for me had she worn full-length trousers. I get that culottes are a thing again, but I think like many trends they have to be styled carefully, and I am not sure this look pulls them off.
But, in general, this is the kind of look she should go for. She looks fresh, comfortable, etc. This blouse would look cute with slim trousers, with jeans, with a pencil skirt, etc.
I still think the constant embargoing of events is weird, and while I understood some of the defenses people put forth yesterday, they don’t quite ring true for me. It really does feel like she just doesn’t want people to know she plans to do something.
I think full length trousers would have been better too.I am long torso and slim,and for some reason I don’t look my best in the skinny jeans look,I’m happy to see wide leg styles coming back, I actually think most people can wear them,but it’s all about styling and proportions.
My daughter is slim but curvy,(think Kim kardashian before sooo much plastic surgery)and she wants to wear the wider leg look,but has to be careful to not get swallowed up in it.OTOH,I have to look like I’m not just wearing too short of pants.
Kate has been tweaked but its nice work as she looks fresh and well rested rather than waxy and tight.
I like her in this get up.
+1, I’m often suprised about the harsh comments on her looks because IMO she looks good.
I do too
“I’m not even comfortable calling these culottes. They’re mostly just trousers which are too short.”
But Zara, the retailer, has them listed on their site as culottes.
And they are not trousers. They are way to wide for that. They are like gouchos or short palazzo pants
Just what I was going to say! Definitely gauchos.
Zara is wrong!! 😉
They are definitely not culottes.
I had a pair of culottes when I was in middle school. I wore knee socks with them because they much shorter than pants.
P.S. I’m sure I looked dorky as hell.
I’m sure you did!But I say this with much compassion as I too wore them in elementary school with knee socks and oh my….😅😅😅😅😅😅
It’d be so nice if she wore something from Meghan’s capsule collection. It’d make her look great, lay the feud rumours to a rest and just be a general win for everyone. I wonder if she ever will.
IDK, I like this idea in general, but after the whole #katemiddletonsuccessstory debacle, I think wearing from the collection would be a little much.
hmm, I don’t know either. Meghan should of course continue to wear stuff from her collection to promote it further, but Kate might get backlash for it (eg she is trying to piggyback off Meghan’s successs etc.)
Agree,it could be a win/win or a lose/lose situation for both women at this point.
Like Meghan’s collection very much though.
Nuh-uh. Meghan’s garms are nowhere near button-ey enough for Kate.
LOL! So right!
Those are totally not culottes. Also, how is that blouse is worth $300?
a crime
a crime
Those are cropped pants, Culottes are shorter and fuller, so they look like a skirt.
Yes! Thank you Another Anne. It drives me batty when people call these culottes. These are cropped trousers, maybe gauchos. I like the look though, and have bought several pants like this recently for the office.
Agreed. The fashion industry is trying to redefine the word culottes. Culottes are shorter, wider, and resemble a skirt. These are wide legged cropped trousers.
I don’t really like how Kate styled them. I think they’d look better with a sweater and some stylish boots.
IMHO, the purpose of cropped trousers is to show off fabulous foot wear. The kind of footwear that Cathy Cambridge never wears. The trousers need traditional boots, funky booties or some fabulous caged sandals.
@Tampabay, you’re right. A cropped pant will look so much better with interesting footgear. And that is something that seems to escape Kate. For a rich lady she’s got the most boring shoes.
Kate desperately needs a professional stylist.
Exactly, that is what I was going to say! Wide legged cropped pants but not culottes. Either way I don’t like them. I like cropped pants that have a skinny leg, not a wide leg with fabric flapping around.
Those are totally culottes.
I don’t know what it is, but in lots of photos lately she is looking a “little bit Fergie”. The third photo, when I just zoomed past it, I thought “What has Fergie got to do with this?” Then I went back and it was Kate.
I noticed that too!
omg. I scrolled three times because I did NOT see the resemblance to Fergie – of the Black Eyed Peas. LOL.
I would love to see more of the natural “hair down” Kate.
She’s always so contrived.
Just because they’re cheap doesn’t make them any more attractive. There are nicer things at Zara. Queen Letizia of Spain wears them all the time.
Kate’s posture still sucks, just like her work ethic. WOW she went to a place for a few hours! Let’s see her do something for a few months with a tangible outcome that affects change (I don’t count that stupid garden. Who did that benefit?). I am really over how she gets applauded for the bare minimum and Megan gets trashed for just breathing. White privilege at its finest.
Totally agree – I am regular shopper at Zara and they have a wide range of styles. The culottes are basic, nowt special about them.
Zara is Spanish. She can’t find cropped pants from a British brand, being the most English of the English? Ugh, this girl 🙄.
Those pants? culotts? capris? remind me of a rhyme we did in the 80s.
The flood’s receded.
The lands are dry.
Why do you wear your pants so high?
LOL
I died laughing at this!
Well I’ll just sit over here by myself thinking the pants are cute.
You’re not alone! I’ve seen this style everywhere also. Ayesha Curry wears them in a commercial.
I actually like them, as well. I couldn’t wear them (I’m already short enough, so let’s not emphasize it with culottes) but they look nice on her.
Yes, these look great on her. A trendy nod to a classic look, and very professional. This definitely isn’t the *best* way one should wear pants, but it’s nice for her to mix it up!
Embargoed = control. This is the Cambridge’s and KP controlling, or attempting to, the narrative around Kate. They are desperate to push this ‘poor hard working mother of 3 children’ narrative to combat her laziness and lack of interest in her duties.
TBH no one really cares about W&K, they could do 100 engagements in a week and it still wouldn’t generate the kind of interest the Sussex’s, esp Meghan. will get. At the end of the day its a boring, middle aged couple who really can’t be bothered v’s a younger, dynamic couple who are full of energy and ideas.
Yep- control is the game. KP just released some unseen images of Kate “working”. It’s so obvious.
I believe Meghan is a year older than Kate. Regardless of age, W&K are just plain boring. No spark at all. Her contrived manic smiles and feigned interest make her appear so fake—and perhaps she is. When I see Kate, all I could think of is a social climbing doormat, which is such a turnoff.
I think she’s about 5 months older. Meghan just turned 38, Kate will be 38 in January, Will turns 38 in June. But, overall point still stands. H&M are just more interesting.
I mean Will and Kate are still pretty popular in the U.K. I know that statement will be rejected around here because some may live in a bubble, but The Cambridge’s are just as popular than the Sussex. You may be right about the interest in the US regarding Meghan/Harry, but I think Kate is still generally liked there as well. I don’t think anyone in the public actually views the two couples as competition.
Kate is generally well liked here in the States, but I know more and more people who are losing interest in her, even if they weren’t huge fans to begin with. Like they don’t dislike her, they just sort of gloss over her and pay more attention to other celebrities/royals.
Outside of this group, I have never once had a conversation about how much interest someone has or is losing interest in British royals.
I wouldn’t mind the trousers if they were just a bit shorter.
Maybe she’s bRoody, or maybe she’s happy to actually be done with pregnancies? Time will tell.
Culottes or not, she can’t pull the look. The brown “culottes” atrocity at the Garden show didn’t do her any favors either. Yeah, it’s 100x better than jeggings, but Kate should stick to full length trousers. She has no edge and no style. She doesn’t have “it!”
As far as being broody, is she in competition with Hilaria Baldwin?!?
Oh man I had forgotten about those brown ones. That was an awful look too. And the pants she wore to the regatta! with the buttons!
It’s nice to see her trying something new but I think she needs some guidance.
She does need some help! With her figure she could look amazing in some really great ensembles.
Totally agree @Vava and @Becks1. She’s in desperate need of a good stylist. And dear G-d, please reduce the hair volume! The Breck shampoo fluffy hair went out of style decades ago!
When I first saw her, I didn’t even notice or care about what she was wearing. Her horrible posture overshadows everything. It screams insecurity to me. She’s not that tall. Her being 5 ft 8in is no big deal. I’m 6 ft but as a confident professional person, I naturally stand tall. If she worked more with projects that she really cares about and was devoted to instead of just showing up occasionally and then disappearing for long stretches, she might feel she’s doing something worthwhile and therefore gain confidence and stand up straight. JMO
I’m sure the British media will accurately note the non-British labels Kate wore. According to them, Kate ALWAYS wears British designers while terrible Meghan ONLY and PURPOSEFULLY wears non-British. 😞
Did you read Richard Palmer’s tweets? He has the theory that Kensington was reluctant to publish the brands due to a series of articles that compare hers and Meghan’s outfits.
I actually think there may be some truth to that (I didn’t see the tweets, but as a general notion.) There is an article out about how Kate’s outfits, on average, cost more than Meghan’s, and I think its throwing the whole “thrifty duchess” narrative for a loop. There has been so much criticism over Meghan’s clothes – the cost, the brands, whatever – and I think Kate/KP encouraged that, so I think they are probably now trying to shield Kate from that same criticism. Like was said elsewhere today – social media is a whole different ballgame and I don’t think the old school courtiers or the RRs are prepared for it.
@Sof and Becks1, Until I know EXACTLY how much they are paying (not MSR list price) for clothes I am not going to start complaining and or commenting. They both could be shopping at TJ Maxx for all I really know. I know I read somewhere years ago that neither Diana nor Fergie paid full MSR list price for their clothes.
@bay – you may not want to comment, but its pretty standard for the cost of the various pieces of an outfit to be published – by RRs, and also by fan sites like WKW and WMW. so its interesting that KP has grown reluctant to share things like the brand of a blouse, when previously they were quick to share that info.
You know, I’m fine with the embargo. Regular companies/CEOs only want their preferred photographer on-scene and want control of the photographs. I can’t fault KP or Kate for wanting the same thing.
I’m alright with it, too. I just don’t think it’s a huge deal.
They could still announce the engagement and close the event to the media. Besides in this case Rebecca English from the Daily Mail was there so they obviously wanted some outside media. This was very likely a last minute addition to the empty schedule to not look so bad. She just sat there and didn’t do anything of substance so it’s not like this couldn’t have been arranged in a few days. The media could easily ask when the place was first contacted about the visit and yet there is silence. Meanwhile places like SmartWorks mention all the unpublicized visits done by Meghan to work on the project.
Eh, she did an event. I don’t care when it was scheduled. (That said, I don’t actually care that she did an event, either…but I don’t see the point in tearing her down for this one.)
She doesn’t get kudos from me for doing one event this week. The bar is so low it’s underground for her. This new thing of making the once a week event a surprise embargo event so as to distract people from just having done one engagement this week should be criticized. Had she done four engagements in one week and one of them was embargoed then maybe she gets credit. Not on this.
In a weird twist, I actually like this outfit, minus the shoes. I think something else would’ve gone better but I can’t put my finger on just what that something else is. And her posture. STAND UP STRAIGHT, KATE! This would look 100% better with proper posture, even with the questionable shoes.
So Meghan gets criticized for contributing to fast fashion with her Smart Set collection, but Kate gets praise for wearing affordable fast fashion pieces from stores like Zara. Okayy, got it.
It’s because Kate is white, didn’t you know it’s ok for white Royal’s to wear fast fashion.
That cutie’s face. *chefs kiss*
You cannot BS children and animals. They know.
Thank you for pointing that out Tiffany. I can’t stop laughing at that little girl’s eye roll game!
I know I criticize Kate a lot, but I do think she honestly likes children. Which is why I find it weird that the children she visits don’t really seem to engage with her. I suspect (as always, all I have is speculation) is that she’s used to plastering a full, fake, smile on her face when doing an event, and that turns off little kids. And/or the press and security she brings with her makes the kids nervous (but if that’s the case, maybe she shouldn’t be visiting little kids).
I have the same pants but in hot pink. They’re super comfortable but the zipper sucks. I got them back in May. Most of the ones that were on the rack had broken zippers. Super annoying. They were 39€ in Paris. But they are pants on me. They reach my ankles and I’m 5’6.
And no Waity didn’t make this a thing. Frenchgirls have been wearing this style for at least 6 months but with chunky sneakers. Like Balenciagas . I have a few pairs from before summer. In fact the look is over now. Trust her to come in at the end.
I have two almost identical pairs of pants in a very gauzy fabric in military green and bleachy-yellowy off white.
I think Sussex fans do not give Kate enough credit.
It’s easy to believe that William alone is scheming against his own brother, but if I am honest I think Kate is just as complicit. She just does so via outfits, following Billy’s lead etc.
I agree. W&K are certainly two peas in a pod. I don’t buy the claims that Kate is “dimming her light to avoid outshining William” because her laziness dates back to her 20s. She’s almost certainly happy coasting along on the rare appearances and doesn’t give a damn about doing actual work. It is what it is and it’s time people stop making excuses for this nearly 40 year old woman.
She also has a competitive (and mean) streak, looking at her history again. We’ve heard about the (once?) fraught relationship between her and the York girls for years, the way she would act like a guard dog if any girl so much as looked at William…and then there’s the way she and her mother worked the press during the dating years.
The refusal to report where her outfits come from and how much they cost when that used to always happen ore Meghan is definitely something she is complicit in. Only the British outfits get reported by KP. She playing games too because god forbid she actually works more.
Long culottes are called gauchos and I think they are really cute. I’m Really over the skinny jean look and these are more comfortable. Then again I prefer capris to long pants as well.
I loath skinny jeans. I’m looking for bootcut jeans right now on amazon because all the shops in my city only sell skinny ones. Most of my friends are so over skinny jeans, too. so if someone from the fashion industry is reading this: please start producing different types of jeans again! 😉
Hey there Elisa,
Have you tried Goodwill for jeans? It can take me days to dig through the jeans in my sizes at the local Goodwill stores. I’m with you on the desire for other Jean styles! Just an 💡
Hey nicegirl, thanks you! Unfortunately Goodwill is only available in the US, not in Europe. 🙁
I liked the shoes with the block heel I thought they were cool. Liked the blouse too not a big fan of the cropped wide legged trousers but that’s just my personal preference they look smart and professional .
I’m a big fan of “shorty pants” but they’re styled completely wrong with those shoes. Kate’s got a sh!t shoe game, for sure, and she always manages to make ALL clothing look cheap, even Chanel. I don’t shop at Zara, but I do shop at Mango, which is also cheap … but better.
Why do people on here shop at such cheap stores? Money problems? The last time I bought something from crap quality high street shops was when I was a teenager! Quality over mass produced cheap clothes and shoes, always. Yeah, paying £400 for a shirt, or £500 for a pair of trousers, or higher for a skirt, but at least I know these pieces will last. The others look like they would tear after a few wears!
yep, I work at a university and I earn close to nothing. so I can only afford to shop at cheaper stores (or amazon). You CAN find OK quality there as well, eg shirts made of organic cotton etc.
I can’t afford a car either, but the good thing is that my reduced lifestyle is now en vogue. 🙂
I like…at 5’7″ I would wear too.