Last night Kate made her first official solo engagement, stepping in on behalf of Prince Charles, who was in Saudi Arabia paying respects to that royal family following the death of the Crown Prince.
PHOTO: Paul Burns
The event was a small dinner for In Kind Direct, an organization that takes surplus goods and redistributes them to appropriate charities. From an In Kind Direct news release:
We were delighted that the Duchess was able to step in at such short notice after our founder was unexpectedly called away. The Duchess hosted a very special evening with absolute professionalism and charm.”
Kate was stunning in an aqua Amanda Wakeley gown. The dress had Grecian lines, featuring brilliant rhinestones on the criss-cross straps, an empire waistline and godets in the skirt.
Our thanks to @MrsRegalEyes on Twitter, along with Duchess of Cambridge Style and WKW Facebook friend Leila Tannaz for identifying and confirming it was a Wakeley piece. The dress is from the designer’s fall/winter 2006-2007 collection. In this photo you can see the two frocks; I also included a shot from the back of a Wakeley Rahjastan bridal gown to show the similarity in strap treatment.
Paul Burns/Amanda Wakeley
Kate sparkled from head to toe, reprising her Jimmy Choo Vamp shoes ($750 USD), first seen at this summer’s BAFTA gala in Los Angeles, (more here), as well as the glittering diamond bracelet and earrings we have seen previously.
Jimmy Choo/Zimbio via Diana's Jewels
From the Telegraph’s story:
A palace aide said: ”The Duchess had a little bit of time beforehand to prepare for the engagement – it all went very well.
‘She was so pleased that her first solo engagement was for the Prince of Wales, who has shown her so much support over the years.”
Kate wore her hair half up and half down, an elegant look ideal for the setting and gown.
One note about Kate’s hair, there were multiple reports she was wearing hair extensions; the Daily Mail corrected its initial story to say the Palace confirmed what they called extensions was in fact a 3″-4″ scar from surgery she had as a child.
It was interesting to see feedback to the ensemble, some Facebook friends felt the dress wasn’t the proper look for the occasion, that the bare shoulders may have been inappropriate. I didn’t have that reaction, and the dress made sense for the event. Anyone else have thoughts on the issue?
Regardless, it looks like Kate was quite comfortable stepping into what had to be an intimidating function, her first appearance on behalf of the royal family without William at her side looks to have been a success.
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Number 2390 corresponded on the spread sheet to:
WhatKateWore.com
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WhatKateWore.com
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by the way, you quickly need to edit the style of the jimmy choo shoes. you mistakenly wrote “ubai” instead of “vamp”. the “ubai” was her clutch.
My oops! Thank you for letting me know, I corrected the post. (That saying about someone’s brain being like a steel trap? Mine is of the steel sieve variety.)
Oh, so that beautiful dress was then bought when Kate was still Kate Middleton? I wonder if she has used it before, it’s a beautiful gown and suits her very much!
I can’t wait to see her tomorrow in Denmark.
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hope you had a great weekend!
congratulations to victoria who won the french sole giveaway.
The straps on this gorgeous Amanda Wakeley gown (though I dislike the colour) are not beaded or rhinestones. (If they were, you can bet they’d be Swarovsky crystals, not rhinstones.) They’re just made of a rippled or folded or ruched strip of ribbon — that’s the best I know how to describe it. You can see this on other sites that have closeups of these photos.
I love Kate in this dress. It makes her bust look fuller and shows off those lovely toned arms. For those who think she’s wearing a bra — of course not! These kinds of dresses have built-in cups. Very flattering on her.
What a controversy over the scar! In closeups, I have to say it sure looks more like a barrette or clip than a scar.
i was wondering: why didn’t camilla step in for charles?
there have been no reports camilla went to saudi arabia (not surprising since there would have been no place for her, literally, at the funeral).
wills was working. so we know why he didn’t attend.
harry is in america, training.
do you think there was a conscious decision to pick the glamorous, media-magnet kate over camilla? charles is v loyal to camilla, so it’s hard to imagine he would ever imply such a thing.
unless this is part of a bigger strategy to give kate periodic royal jobs, so she is not accused of not doing anything? by making the job a “stepping-in” for an emergency (and with the happy families side story of “darling daughter-in-law” and supportive charles), they stick to the official line that she is a service wife and do not build expectations of her doing anything more, esp without wills.
What do you think? The story is as it appears, or do my machiavellian fantasies have grounding?
I wondered about Camilla as well. I can not imagine she is too happy about this young star… then again, Kate may end up Camilla’s age and still waitng to be queen as well…
But it’s been known since Charles and Camilla married that Camilla will be known as Princess Consort when Charles takes the throne. Not Queen.
Also many times when Charles is out of the country on royal business his wife is with him.
I ve been wondering why they did not just have camilla step in Charles. Though am sure Kate made a more charming substitute.. but yup wondering why…
From the charity’s standpoint, it certainly makes more sense to have Kate step in rather than Camilla. Kate at your event gets your charity mentioned in newspapers and magazines around the globe. If Camilla hosted the event, that would not be the case.
I do think that your Macheviallan strategy makes sense: the Royal Family has created a plan where anytime a royal can’t make a scheduled appearance, Kate will step in so that she can be seen as busy but not expected to do too much.
I don’t think Camilla was in Saudi Arabia with Charles as Charlotte suggests. The CP’s funeral was on the the 25th, Camilla was in London the 26th to open a community equestrian center, and the charity event was on the 27th.
Camilla had a prior engagement, and she would not cancel that to stand in for her husband at this function if someone else could do so! From the Court Circular (the official list of the Royal family’s public engagements, published daily in arrears) for October 26:
“The Duchess of Cornwall, President, the Lady Joseph Trust, this evening attended a Reception at the Cavalry and Guards Club, 127 Piccadilly, London W1, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (Sir David Brewer).
The Duchess of Cambridge, on behalf of The Prince of Wales, this evening held a Dinner at Clarence House for In Kind Direct, of which His Royal Highness is Founder”
I think the Kind Direct group would feel flattered that the Duchess made an effort to put on a bit of glamour for them. Although the red dress with sleeves she wore to her previous engagement with Prince William might have been more the expected look, I actually thought that style rather too matronly for an attractive young woman.
Similar dress for sale at eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230692910749
In that last full length photo she looks a bit like Diana Rigg. Love her!
Now that is an elegant dress for a duchess. Hair back too. Beautiful. Absolutely!
She looks stunning in that dress. She is young and beautiful and gets away with the sleeveless look. I like it that she wears heels with confidence, even thought she is fairly tall. I’m between 5.7′ and 5.8′ and often wore low heels or flat shoes since I felt I towered over most people. Kate’s hair always looked real to me. My hair is like that too, same length, fullness, color and style, but unfortunately I’m not her size anymore. I just love her style.
Stunning! Beautiful Lady
I loved her hair and look, and the dress… also liked the dress in the second pic on the right, with a wrap on her shoulders. Kate is really pretty, and i love the fact that she genuinely seems to enjoy her role. However that said, I think she could have gone in for slightly shorter heels to blend in a little more rather than tower above everyone else. Also I kept seeing the pics…thinking something is missing, until i realized its Wills… they look perfect together, and he really is her best accessory
Adore seeing the small gestures of love they show….
I like this dress a lot. But I realize that I care far more about her day to day clothes, and we aren’t getting many of those pics. Black tie events are few and far between in my life, but work appropriate dresses and weekend looks are why I like to see what Kate wears. Those looks I can use to inspire my own wardrobe and style choices. And occasionally, I will track down an exact Kate owned item if 1) I love it, 2) I can afford it, and 3) I also think that it is good value for the money.
She’s gorgeous, but this whole look doesn’t quite come together for me. The demi-chignon is a good choice, because with this kind of exposed top you want hair spilling over your shoulders, but I think it’s the sort of poufy way they pulled the hair back over the top of her head (instead of letting it fall in a part and then taking it back, or just taking it back without any teasing) plus curls makes it look a little dated. Combine that with her younger than usual feel off the dress (not a fan of all those straps right next to her armpits) and something feels offkey. The fact that I am not a fan of this pastel mint color doesn’t help either.
I think this looks just lovely. SHe is a bit bare compared to the other attendees, but surely many of those ladies would have gone bared armed were they blessed with lovely arms like Kate. It’s a black tie evening event, so I think her amount of bare-ness was completely appropriate, and they all look delighted to have her there! (No one seems at all disappointed at the substitution).
I love this dress. I love that it is young and fresh, goes so well with the room (that color!), and is formal and sparkly without being too much. I wonder if what makes some people wonder about its appropriateness is that it is sexy. V-neck, clingy fabric, lots of straps in key places. Michelle Obama recently wore a off-the-shoulder dress to a state dinner and I don’t think that it would have raised any of these questions. I think what makes Kate’s style so compelling, but no one can talk about, is that she does sexy in a tasteful and appropriate way: long hair, v-necks, dangling earrings, necklaces that hint at cleavage, wrap and bandage dresses, suede boots with short skirts, awesome heels: these are not the polka-dots and stiff taffeta of Princess Di.
Kate herself looks beautiful (I doubt I could look even half as elegant at a black tie event with only a day’s notice!), but the dress isn’t really to my taste. I also think she would have looked more seasonally-appropriate with a wrap around her shoulders.
This dress is one of my Kate favorites already – young yet completely appropriate. Couldn’t be a more flattering fit on her either.
Hmm. I like the dress but it did seem a somewhat odd choice for winter. I can’t believe she wore those shoes again! They must be pretty comfy to be able to tolerate wearing such high heels for so long. It looks like the empire is higher on her then on the runway model. So shes had this dress hanging around in her closet since 2007? Wonder what she initially had it for.
Ah, she could be like me… I bought a dress some time ago, which I still haven’t worn, not because of not attending the event it was purchased for, but rather it was such a good bargain (on sale, my size, and ridiculously reduced) that I grabbed it without an event to wear it to. Or she might have just fallen in love with it, given she probably has had a much higher budget for such things than I do!
I don’t buy clothes only for specific events. I buy with the expectation that the item will be appropriate for various future events that I cannot necessarily foresee. Given that the Duchess has worn clothes from past collections within the year since her engagement, she obviously operates that way, too. It’s smart, because you never know when something might crop up suddenly, leaving you with no time to go shopping.
it’s funny I was thinking about the same thing with the dress being from 2007. I was picturing her deciding what to wear when she got asked to do the event at the last minute and pulling this fabulous dress from the back of her closet!
She looks SO incredibly gorgeous–it’s honestly making me a little depressed right now!! I absolutely love the dress; it’s beautiful!! I think it’s quite approproate.
Even though I like her hair any way she does, I *am* glad that she opted for the demi-chignon; it looks very nice. 
Another absolutely spectacular turnout for our favourite Duchess!! 
♥
Speaking of Kate’s scar from a childhood injury…didn’t William get konked by a toy golf club or something similar when he was about 7-8? I remember he had to get stitches in his forehead and there was quite an outcry because Charles didn’t stay long at the hospital, opting to go to a previously scheduled engagement instead. It seems that in England the mere act of receiving stitches is referred to as surgery…(?). Anyway, I think it is quite ironic that both William and Kate had the same type of injury as children.
Yes, he did! I’ve read that he actually has poor vision in the eye that was hit and wears glasses when he’s not doing a public appearance.
What a gorgeous dress!
xo, tasha
twenty-something blog
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She looks young and beautiful and event appropriate. I don’t think fancy dresses have quite the same “seasons” as other outfits. You can wear lighter colored evening gowns, like the white gown above, or this silvery green, any time of the year without it being out of season.
I disagree. It’s not so much a matter of cut as of color, though a very light, spring-like color and a very bare design together really suggest warm weather to me, evening dress or not, indoor event or not. I just prefer rich, intense colors in the fall and winter. This dress in the red of the unfortunate Beulah dress would have made for an interesting look.
She looks fabulous!! I love the dress and the accessories. I LOVE that she did something different with her hair.
I think the dress is apropriate for the occasion and for Clarence House. She’s not in the Palace, so it is not necessary to cover her arms like she did at her last charity event. I think it might have been advisable to have the dress altered so that the fabric went up to the criss-cross at the shoulder to make it more modest. I think if just that bit of skin was covered there would be far less talk of immodesty.
Ok, I think she looks great, but for a reception for only 30 people (most of them older) I think she was too bare. If she wore this instead of the Red Dress and wore the Red dress to this event, she’d have been more spot on.
I think this look is too done for a last minute substitution. Also, the woman who cuts my hair said from the engagement on… Hair Extensions…. the very very very expensive kind…like thousands… may explain why her hairdresser had to go to Canada with her.
If it were extensions, wouldn’t it stand to reason she would have a line on both sides of her head? In the second and third image, it’s pretty easy to see it’s only on one side…
Ideally you would not see it on either side. If you look at how gingerly she touches her hair, it adds fuel to the idea. Look at videos of her touching her hair. It is like she was trained how to do it.
I am sure we will here more of extensiongate… Me thinks the woman protested too much…
The event is black tie and in the evening–it’s a perfect dress, and she looks stunning in it.
Kate often goes that extra-step-beyond in what she chooses to wear – for example, highlighting Canadian designers on her Canadian tour and wearing Amanda Wakeley to the cancer hospital (see posting September 29). I doubt it is a coincidence that this beautiful dress coordinates so well with the draperies and carpets in the room? She knew this would be a much-photographed appearance – did she consider the decor when choosing the gown? Inspirational!
I like the style, but would only change the color and wear it in a different season. Everything else looks great! Like the bracelet and earrings. Sidenote: She has gotten so thin, the dress emphasizes her tiny waist, but her arms looks better, she should show them off. Where is this scar people are mentioning?
On her head its through her hair.
I absolutely love this look! I think people are just surprised to see her shoulders since she has gone for far more modest looks recently. Personally, I don’t think she should ever hide those magnificant arms!
Funny how we never noticed the scar before….
It’s visible in other pictures of her. The Daily Mail, once it corrected its claim that she was wearing hair extensions, pointed out that the scar could be seen in pictures taken when she and William went to a St Andrews University celebration before their marriage. She was wearing a red suit with a black bow belt that day, you may recall.
This is a vast improvement on her last evening dress: simple and sleek, but very elegant. My only quibble is that the color and design are really better suited to spring and summer. However, since she was basically a last-minute substitution for the Prince of Wales, she probably didn’t have time to look for a more seasonable dress.
I also thought it beautiful but a bit summery. Perhaps if she was staying at the same location she didn’t have to go outside. Otherwise it was stunning and I like her straps better than the picture of the runway dress. Her straps seem lighter in color whereas the runway dress appears to have black straps.
WOW As I always write here “i like Kate but not her way of dressing”, today i think this outfit is perfect: the perfect classy and classic hostess.
As her custom, she picked a never-seen-before old dress out of her wardrobe – brilliant!
Perhaps unwittingly, she is a chameleon: red Beulah on red carpet, aqua Amanda Wakely on aquamarine carpet and curtains!
Bare shoulders are inappropriate in a holy place, according to the bon ton.
(Congrats Victoria!)
LOL, I also noticed that she likes to match the room. It looks smart on pictures and she always looks at home.
…looks at home… with two faithful guardian angels: look at 5th picture, are Emma Probert and Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton behind her? She is now part of the Firm team!
I love the dress, and she looks fantastic! My only reaction was “Isn’t it kind of chilly to be in such a thin dress”?
What on earth is that scar from? I’ve never heard of her being in an accident (or requiring major surgery).
About her height – I know there’s some debate as to how tall she really is, but I’m guessing she’s about 5’7″ and just wears really high heels. She’s towering over just about everyone in the recent pics.
Childhood surgery.
Megan, I noticed her height is these pictures too. Maybe the others are just petite.
I loved her look and do not think that she looks like she has put on any weight. She looked beautiful!
Those shoes have 5″ heels. I actually think she’s about 5’8″, so the shoes would raise her to 6’1″.
In my opinion, I thought the dress was PERFECT!!! It is her best look yet, except for her wedding attire, of course. That dress is stunning and the jewelry is perfect.
She was not the only one wearing bare shoulders at that event. Look at the women in the back on the first picture on top…
Kate has nice athletic shoulders, I am happy that she is allowed to show them once in a while.
When I first glanced at this story, I thought the Duchess had gone to Saudia Arabia in this dress… After being dumbfounded for a moment, I reread the headline, realized that she was attending a charity event, and it all made sense again. I don’t find the dress inappropriate for the event, though I think this may be the most daring neckline we’ve seen her wear since the wedding. It is a truly stunning color and gown. And I am so glad that she did something with her hair! So beautiful. So classic. So Kate.
She looked lovely! And I am so glad that the DailyMail corrected their (rather mean) story!
I agree! I felt so bad for Kate after reading that story, and I hope the journalists responsible for it feel just as bad today! Kate has beautiful, thick hair, I couldn’t believe she would need hair extentions, and I was right.
.. what a beauty! yay, Princess Kate!- and the color is gorgeous- celadon? or pale aquamarine- can’t tell.
I’m amazed at how many did the LondonSole ‘competition’. Congrats to the winner! whoever she is. (I’m a Repetto girl or I would’ve maybe joined in the race..)
I think she looked just gorgeous. This might be my second favorite look of hers (my all-time favorite is the Jenny Packham gown she wore to the ARK dinner). I’m glad the extension gossip got cleared up, but now I’m all-the-more curious about what kind of surgery she needed! Nosies like me want to know.
I like the color, and I Love her jewelry. All in all a good look, I just wish she wasn’t so thin. She looks thinner here, and it’s a flowy dress.
I don’t think she is too thin. Very far from having a eating disorder like Diana. That’s accually a good weight for her. Otherwise her face get’s puffy and looks tired. The only time where she looked more thin was on her wedding day but that’s normal…she was just one meal short if you ask me. Not the end of the world.
I think Kate’s height is no more then 5.8 and her weight is never less then 115 ( on her wedding day she was around 115). In fact, these days it must fluctuate between 118 and 125 depending on her activity level and her cycle…
That estimate is based on myself.
I am 28 years old…5’8”, 120 pounds with an athletic background. I look taller and skinnier that I really am. It’s am optical illusion.
Please tell me how to replicate this optical illusion!
I think she looks gorgeous, from head to toe. She is young and stylish, and she brings her fresh approach to the clothes she wears in such occasions. Very good!
she looks like a goddess. Im glad the gossip magazines were wrong her hair is too lovely she doesnt need extensions
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