The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stepped out today for their first in-person joint appearance since… the sheep, I think. William and Kate have had such a weird vibe this year with all of the joint appearances, and it’s mostly been William tagging along on Kate’s events, like no one trusts her to do solo events all of a sudden (or like William doesn’t have a lot going on). Today’s event was a stop by youth charity The Way Youth Zone in Wolverhampton. The focus is supposed to be Mental Health Awareness Week/Month, so Kate and William met with kids and Baldingham played some football.
Kate’s look here is notable because several pieces appear to be new-to-us. The blouse is from Tory Burch and it retails for $278. The trousers appear new to me, but I’m probably wrong. Kate did invest in some of several pairs of proper trousers with a wider leg a few years ago when she saw You Know Who wearing that style. These could totally be from that era. What’s really bugging me is the fact that her navy dress coat, trousers and blouse are all just a few shades “off” from each other. I know she loves blue and navy and she probably thinks that everything “matched.” But this would have been a great moment to go monochromatic with a navy blouse and navy trousers, and then pull out a lighter coat in white, red, purple or green. A lack of imagination when it comes to styling, as always. And I’ll always, always believe that she loves polka dots because they remind her of buttons.
Can’t wait to see Will and Kate vlog about their visit!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Hem your pants. ugh
And as usual, overacting with the facial expressions.
Seriously. I wore pants like that back in college and would trip over them half the time because they were so baggy and wide. They would also just get destroyed in the back from being dragged.
At least with the mask on those exaggerated guffaws cannot be seen.
Plus one on the pants hem. And isn’t it hilarious that no one ever seems to be having as much “fun” as Kate?
This is the tell for me about her facial expressions – I used to just think that it was just the moment that got photographed, but when you look at the people around her….she’s always the most over the top.
Yes, the cognitive dissonance is so weird, almost like Garfield Without Garfield. Lol.
Totally. And who wears this to hang with kids outdoors?
Are the pants dark blue or black? I assumed they were black but now idk
Bottom line: there is nothing aspirational about this look.
At least her jeans + chloe boots look how a lot of (middle age white) women want to look in jeans and boots. But like so many of her choices, this is so uninspiring. And I wholly agree about all the colors being too close. Weirdly it makes it look thrown together, not put together.
Yes to the hems. Also as someone who does archery her form in that photo is giving me anxiety.
At least there’s a cap on that arrow. No-one wants to see Keen let loose with a bow, or indeed any sharp objects.
@Midge It’s as if she has a stock book of facial expressions – surprise! Laughter! Mirth! Horror! Caring (rarely seen – especially when told about the mutilation of Indian children)! Concern! Of course, there’s so much botulinum toxin in there that she can only move the bottom portion of her face; hence overdoing all of the above.
(Bitchy, I know, but after her cruelty to Meghan, the cruelty she encouraged through lying and evasion, I really don’t feel at all charitable towards the woman. She epitomises white privilege.)
MAY I PLEASE SPEAK WITH HER STYLIST? AND TAILOR? PLEASE!!!??? I CAN HELP!
WE ALL CAN HELP!
Bad hem line on the pants.
Do they both just coordinate everything about their public outfits around Diana’s ring now? Looks that way…
now that vaccinations are open to 39/38 year olds in the UK, it will be interesting to see if Will and Kate get jabbed on camera – if they weren’t already vaxxed back in January with the Queen.
I’ve just had my first jab – yeGods, the agony: I think it’s worse as I’ve had Covid, but I feel as though Mike Tyson has gone ten rounds on my arm, I feel desperately vomitous, my bones ache and I have a fever of 101. Still, it’s a lot better than death.
One of the doctors was on CNN yesterday, and he said the stronger the reaction to the jab, the stronger your immune system is, so it’s a good thing! It means your systems is learning quickly how to fight off Covid.
I’m with you. My 3 days of misery were WELL worth the alternative of 3 months in intensive care/being vented.
If/When we have to get boosters, I’ll be first in line. Sore arm/fatigue etc. for a few days beats long term illnesses/death any day of the week!
Stay strong. I go for my second next week. And we had a dear friend pass yesterday from COVID. Stay strong.
I’m 5 hours in after shot #2, and prepped for shivers and such but so far nothing. I’m torn as to whether I *want* to feel ill or not, ha.
Hot tip: I learned a year ago that doing a “funky chicken arm flap” movement a dozen times or so before a shot, and more occasionally in the minutes afterwards, seems to prevent arm soreness. Maybe it’s placebo, but I’ve had no soreness for any shots (flu, tetanus or covid) doing so. Hope this info might help someone else! 🙂
I had a hellish response to the second Pfizer vax last week. The really awful part (fever, chills, body aches, & headache, topped off by insomnia) lasted 24 hours, but it was several days before I felt like myself again. I am glad it’s behind me. Hope you are feeling better soon!
Anyone remember when Meghan used to get abuse for wearing trousers, especially long wide trousers, because they were “unroyal”?
Anyway…
@Belli: I was trying to avoid mentioning Meghan but it can’t be helped when Kate gets absolutely no criticism for wearing pants now. Kate also taken to wearing long coats now as well.
Along the same lines without mentioning a name: Why is Kate wearing Tory Burch? I thought Kate only wore British designers as is protocol of the BRF.
@BayTampaBay, maybe she thinks Harry’s American-made happiness will rub off on her.
Huh. I actually think she looks nice. The different shades of blue are a little annoying but overall this is a nice look on her. The blouse is a little fussy but not too bad. The coat appears functional. she’s wearing a mask. She looks professional. If she could just work on the facial expressions…..
I doesn’t escape me that every time these 2 try to look “cute” they don’t even look at each other.
@Cecilia In the anniversary photos they were looking past one another. Anything to avoid sharing space…
Yeah, I don’t hate it (aside from the collar on the blouse, anyway.) It’s very hard to perfectly match shades of any color, as I have learned through experience, lol. I wish the trousers were shorter but then again I don’t like super long trousers on pretty much anyone.
I won’t get started on her facial expressions, there isn’t enough time in the day!
@Becks1…if that’s the best you can say about her looking nice…LOL!!!
She loves blue, polka dots, a frilly collar, long coats, and a manic grin. They are so boring.
The shirt reminds me of one of her dresses which had a similar collar, was the same colour blue and also had white polka dots.
It was the same dress Meghan’s friend, Abigail Spencer, wore to her wedding: https://people.com/royals/royal-wedding-troian-bellisario-abigail-spencer-rest-feet-slippers/
Yes…Kate DOES have the EXACT dress; wore it in Charles’ birthday “BENCH” pic: https://www.etonline.com/kate-middletons-polka-dot-dress-is-the-same-one-abigail-spencer-wore-to-the-royal-wedding-106821
Pippa also wore the exact *style* dress (just different fabric) to Louis’ Christening, just w/out a belt: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a22098778/pippa-middleton-dress-prince-louis-christening/
The SWF in that family is mind-breaking!!
I thought she was wearing a coat over one of her sister wife dresses. Should have known it was something new. She is not going to bother with repeats now that she doesn’t have to.
Cute outfit but the pants are too long a la Victoria Beckham!
Unhemmed pants, wearing pants instead of a dress, American designer. I better hear the outcry Meghan got for the same things, right?
William doesn’t have a lot going on. Earthshot is it, whatever it turns out to be eventually. A travelling awards show for the environment. Lol.
The lack of news for Earthshot and the nothing going on at The Royal Foundation, makes me really see how great Archewell is. It has only been up for maybe a year and already there have been some great partnerships and donations to some incredible organizations. W&K have nothing going on and it should be a bigger story that their foundation doesn’t even seem to be doing anything. Where does the money go? Is there any money at all? Isn’t earthshot supposed to be awarding people soon? Where is the press for that?
Their ambition now is to go global w/ their projects. How can they go global when they can’t even mount successful local projects? Hello !?
I’d have thought it’s pretty hard to mess up a Tory Burch piece but… here comes dull as dirt Kate.
How anyone can claim that she didn’t discover trousers when Meghan started wearing them, is bonkers to me. I would take this outfit over anyone of her coat dresses. On another note, I the long hem on Kate’s tall figure than on Meghan’s petite stature.
The one look I really didn’t like on Meghan was the off white trousers she wore to Wimbledon when she attended with Kate – they were far too long, so long they entirely obscured her shoes. Usually I like her trouser game, though. She may be petite, but her legs are long relative to her torso, and she looks elegant – particularly in dark trousers.
This. The dragging pants are terrible on anyone.
I agree. I didn’t like the long hem on Meghan and it looks just as bad on Kate. It’s a dumb trend that ends up being impractical to walk in without destroying your hems.
Don’t hate the coat, don’t like the blouse and I think the trousers are too long.
Outfit aside, yeah has Kate even done a solo engagement in public since the Oprah interview 2 months ago? I’m sure reporters covering the event get told which questions to ask and when so it’s not like anyone is gonna go “So did you make Meghan cry?”.
Last week at the National Portrait Gallery was her first solo engagement since the Oprah interview. The royal rota is very protective of Kate so they won’t ever shout questions at her
1 engagement in 2 months doesn’t seem like much but then again Kate doesn’t really work so maybe it is!
Maybe this is them trying to market themselves as a team? It would explained why their social media handle went from “kensingtonroyal” to dukeandduchessofcambridge”
And it immediately adds to the “engagements” tally
I think this is a big part of the tag-teamed events — giving the illusion that they are a “team” like a certain other couple, except they were genuinely good at portraying that dynamic.
I def think its partly about the engagement tally – they each get an event and its the same amount of work for their staff.
Yikes. I have never seen two people work so hard to not work.
Cecilia, that’s exactly what I think, too. They get a tick in their engagement tally for each of them, and they are trying to become recognized as a team. Just as Harry & Meghan are. The only difference that I see is that do Keen and Mean really not want people to know them as future futures?
In fairness, the pandemic isn’t over. Everybody is doing less in public. Observe the Oscars.
Why does she always wear children’s masks? So weird. Is it to cover as little of her face as possible?
It’s bizarre. They are too small and kind of clamped to her face, like a gagged kidnapping victim.
Came to say the same thing
The mask looks painful on her face tho
This could be easily fixed–just replace the elastic with a longer piece. She must have someone on her staff that could do that for her. Right?
Apparently new blouse and coat. This would have a good opportunity to wear something a bit more casual.
oh man, really? (regarding the new coat.) HOW MANY COATS DOES SHE NEED?? I just assumed it was a repeat because she has so many blue coats lol.
Exactly, how could you tell when everything looks the same?
The Kate stans say it’s a new Catherine Walker coat.
Wearing late Diana’s fav late designer again? There are plenty of other designers out there, live ones with new ideas, who would welcome her business. Why keep cosplaying with Diana’s?
I’m sorry, but I think the pants are ill-fitting. Her clothes wear her.
She always keeps a coat on like she has one foot out the door.
She never will change.
She’s become so painfully thin since the early years of her marriage that I’ve often wondered if she wears coats all the time just to keep herself warm.
I love the pants, but come on, she can afford to have them properly hemmed. Maybe skip the new earrings and fix the fit.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but laugh that the Cambridges are suddenly “working.” Schadenfreude.
The Daily Beast had an article about how the Cambridges are now the “fun and exciting” couple and so much more interesting than Harry and Meghan. This is all due to their YouTube channel. So I guess this outing is part of the “fun and excitement”. Ahem.
Yes. There are now the fun and exciting couple…after H&M left. Just keep telling on yourselves then. And if you even have to mention the Sussexes in a story about the Keens, then W&K must not be that exciting.
fun & exciting because all they do is fluff. major social and economic crises worldwide, but especially in the uk, and they havent meaningfully touched one. v easy to appear fun when all your work engagements look like field trips.
DIdn’t she wear this blouse for those pictures for Charles’ 70th birthday? When they were all in the garden together and on the bench? Or is that a different blue polka dot blouse?
EDIT: Never mind, it was a dress that looks almost the same.
OMG you’re totally right. That was a dress, but essentially the same pattern, color and cut as this blouse. Good grief.
I posted links above about this. That dress is the EXACT dress Abigail Spencer wore to Meghan’s wedding….and the exact dress (in another fabric (blue of course!)) that Pip wore to Louis’ christening.
Both Mid women have NO originality whatsoever.
There’s something about her proportions that always makes her look weird to me when she’s wearing belted pants with a shirt tucked in. Like it looks like the belt is too low, not on what should be her natural waist, but if the pants and the belt were higher on the waist they’d be super high-waisted and that would also maybe be a weird look on her. As it is, she always looks like she’s wearing some dated old lady pants that come up too high on the waist to be stylish but not high enough to actually be on-purpose high waisted-style pants. Like what are these pants *supposed* to look like? Are they meant to be high waisted but she just had such a long torso? Or are they meant to sit lower on the waist but she has them altered to be more granny-style for whatever reason? Is she just wearing pants that are too big for her so she has to hike them up a bit? I want to see her wear pants without the shirt tucked in, I think it would make a huge difference. I’d also like to see her wear pants that are a bit more fitted around the waist and hips, especially if they’re going to be so long and wide legged. She always looks like she’s swimming in her pants and if we took off the belt, they’d just fall straight down to the floor.
Like Kate Moss, I think Wiglet is long-waisted with short legs.
You can see it when she wears anything tight or is in a bathing suit. Her torso is extremely long. I always used to think she had long legs (because to me at 5’1″ everyone does), but it’s really just an illusion created by her long middle area.
What is up with the weather there? She is always dressed like it’s cold and in the pictures, there are kids in short sleeves and short skirts. Who is dressing appropriately for the weather?!?! The kids or her?
I think she’s been dressing to hide how thin she is. Those photos of her in the sundress at the children’s hospice last summer drew a lot of attention to her weight. Since then, she’s been covering up and tossing in bulkier pieces like these coats. Makes you wonder if she’ll continue the pattern for this summer…
I think this is it. She’s almost as thin as the pre teen children standing next to her in these photos.
Why the hell must Wiglet dress like a Sloane Ranger ca 1982? She looks frightful, and her style is so ageing.
(Hint, Wiglet: since you SWF everything else to do with Meghan, try copying her style. Eight out of ten times, Meghan nails her look and is effortlessly chic, youthful and charming; she wears the clothes, rather than the clothes wearing her, and they don’t detract from her message. Kate should stop dressing as if she were a good 35 years older than she is.)
She dresses like Carole. Maybe Carole picks out her clothes.
I can just hear the ladies at GFY shouting “HEM YOUR PANTS”.
Overall not a fan of this look, definitely something ‘off’ (I think it’s the colours, it looks mis-matched) and giving a weary chuckle at the effort these two are putting into their “work” now. Sigh.
i actually like her duplikate style when she cosplays as a professional woman. the belt clashes on this one though.
Good look for her but god they both love to pose like they are in a catalogue shoot.
The pants are too long and dragging on the ground. All I can think of is that viral meme song “Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.” Separately these are all nice pieces but Kate has a hard time with separates I’ve noticed (I do too, it’s hard to get it just right). The polka dot shirt doesn’t work here and is the white collar part of the shirt or is there another shirt underneath?
Why are her masks so tight that there’s bound to be a line on her cheeks form the elastic? They look so incredibly silly.
Is she trying to show her filled cheeks??? I just don’t understand why she insists on wearing children’s masks
Wear a mask Karen when so close to people, also again with the token blacks. Parents have got to stop letting them use their children of color to score points
For someone who does one appearance every other week, she looks exhausted,
I like polka dots too, but that blouse is a bit too prim. Also, I think it’s funny she’s wearing Tory Burch because that always makes me think of Buttons. Tory and her signature logo buttons, though I don’t see any of those here.
Yeah, her pants are too long, what’s with that? She’s tall! No excuses.
Her overdone hee-haw facial expressions are off-putting.
Kate wears clothes at event. Photos get taken. Good press is written for her…. what exactly got accomplished for anyone else? Do charities exist to prop her up?
Remember when Will and Kate Royal duties used to be broadcasted everywhere? Seems like it’s only relevant to the UK and Royal watchers now.
William tags along because he doesn’t have anything going on. I don’t think they are worried about her saying anything because she rarely says anything of interest to begin with. Also, there won’t be any gotcha questions because they are all in it together. The RR want to project a certain image of the BRF. The only time we’ll get shouted out questions are when the royals want to tell us something, like William’s “very much not racist” response. Heh, maybe they don’t trust Kate to convincingly deliver that message. Who knows.
I don’t like the blouse. Solid color would have been better. The different shades of navy are annoying, but not a deal breaker. And the trousers need a good hem. Oh…and she’s back to the child size masks. Don’t they leave marks on her face?
The whole outfit looks… mismatched. Wide legged trousers don’t suit her. She should stick to skinny jeans or cropped trousers. And the look would have looked better with a ponytail. Open hair doesn’t look good everywhere.
Disagree. Those styles are TIRED.
She’s a tall woman. There is no reason she should be wearing her pants that long. It makes her look like a beanpole. She needs to hem them. That look may work on Meghan but on her it looks gauche and sloppy. Don’t like the schoolmarm blouse and her proportions are off with the long coat, the long hem on the pants and the different shades of navy are distracting. Too busy and fussy.
These joint appearances are nothing more than look-how-happy-and-solid-our-marriage-is-we-should-be-next-for-the-throne events.
Always with the black children/children of color as props. I really hate this.
I do think “sporty” is Kate’s best type of event, where she can take a few action shots with photogenic kids, not a lot of interaction or actual speaking required. No pie charts, no speeches! New PR team knows what they are doing, at least.
I like to think that the Cambridges are being forced into a show of “togetherness” as part of their “our marriage is very strong” messaging, but also because their new PR people don’t trust either of them to competently do an event solo.
Question:
I know that QE2 wears bright colors because as she once said ” I have to be seen to be believed ”
Is it possible that Kate wears what she does to stand out from the crowd?
I am not giving her or him a pass or an endorsement, I am just wondering.
MerlinsMom1018, If she wanted to stand out in the crowd, IMO she would have worn taylored pants and a red, or whatever blouse. That would have worked with the all navy look she has going on here. A light blue blouse would have been pretty, too. It’s not that difficult to dress appropriately. I wonder if the problem for her is that she’s never worked in an office environment so that she really doesn’t know how to do this? It’s not difficult and it doesn’t have to be exceptional.
Has anyone else noticed that the Other Brother and Consort are being photographed with people of colour since the H&M Oprah interview?
Why yes! Now how in the world could these two be called racists???? (that was sarcasm)
Oh, yeah. They couldn’t be more obvious. Jerks.
So I co-sign on the fashion criticism but here is my question: What is the point of events like this? Is it just general awareness/drawing attention? I didn’t question it before but I guess now in comparison to the Sussexes, these now seem rather lightweight. So what? You hung around with kids? Did you fundraise? Did you partner on something of lasting merit? What have you created? Those questions are the ones that are going to do the monarchy in. I think we expect more from our institutions now, and just showing up won’t be enough. I am not sure the BRF really get that.
I agree completely. These visits basically act as a photoshoot for will and Kate, but do nothing for the organization. I think the comparison to the Sussex foundation that is donating real tangible things, money, supplies, is the real problem. The royal foundation is basically defunct right now. Weird.
Is it just me but her face looks really different?
I hate her stupid baby masks.
ETA: I’m all for mask wearing. Just, ya know, in a size that fits your face!
As I observe the images, I cannot ignore the messaging of the optics. One assumption of the continuing joint appearances is that they present as a team, to offset allegations of marital problems or indicate an non-existing intimacy. After ten years she should have enough experience and confidence to do solo outings.
Cant wait for him to kick her and her family to the curb — they’ll have to destroy everyone to make Willy look good but so be it, it isn’t like they don’t deserve to be taken down a few pegs.
I’m starting to suspect William is tagging along because Harry and Meghan do a lot of joint things and this is his “See? I love my wife too!” cosplay.
Are tiny novelty watering cans going to be William’s thing this year?
The look on that little “token black child’s” face when Kate is trying to shoot the fake arrow is priceless. Must every dark skinned child in England now be used by the monarchy to deflect their racism claims?
The cringe is so fierce with her. How tiresome must your marriage be if you have to force so much emotion into EVERYTHING, because you literally have no idea what it’s actually supposed to genuinely be like?
“Haw haw, Wills! Watering cans! Containers! With water! Inside of them! Can you believe we’re doing this?? Together??!? William?!?!! Haw!! HAW!!!”
“Small child! You make me appear motherly because I have three children!!! Haw!! Let me grin at you!!! Isn’t this FUN?! WILLIAM!!! This is FUN!!! Together!!!”
I want her to get back to this sort of thing, actually. Her best moments early on were when she was being sporty. Hopefully with the new PR team, there will be no more snotty leaks about M&H, and she and her worse half will stay in their boring, mildly pleasant lane forever after.
I am a mid-west, mid-level IT professional, suburban soccer and my clothes are better than Kate’s. And that makes me sad…
What is the point of being a Duchess and future queen and have no zazazu? She’s so boring.
The collar, extra long coat, and way she’s holding the arrow in that first pic are giving me odd Willy Wonka vibes.
I dont think willie tagging kate to protect kate.
The one who was making mistake when he is yapping was willie.
1. The royal not racist.
2. I no nothing about gardening to the men mental health gardening group.
3. Hhahahahaa covid is funny.
Thats all on willie.
Kate always looks aged.
I am surprised by her choice of full-length coat in May. After the red one, she has now debuted the navy.
(She did look far too cheery in the red as she posed with a book about the devastating effects of the pandemic).
However, in Europe it is custom to stop wearing full-length, wintery looking coats in spring. So with only two weeks until June, the start of summer, she really does look out of season in the above photos.
I had no idea this was the mental health engagement they had that was supposedly “overshadowed” by Harry’s podcast appearance, which discussed mental health. I think one paper described it as a “lovely day out”, so didn’t think they did anything big to commemorate Mental Health Week ( month in US). Didn’t they also write a letter?