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It’s ASOS Maternity for Children’s Centre Visit, The Duchess Talks Due Date, & A Longtime UFO Is Resolved

The Duchess opted for a $63 polka dot dress from ASOS Maternity for today’s visit to Brookhill Children’s Centre in London

Ben Stevens / i-Images

Ben Stevens / i-Images

Kate was at the Centre to learn more about Home Start-UK, which operates the Brookhill Centre. The organization describes itself as “a family support charity that helps parents to build better lives for their children.” More from The Daily Mail:

Home-Start is one of the UK’s leading family support charities, it recruits and trains unpaid volunteers to support parents who have at least one child under the age of five.
The charity was set up in 1973 and now has 288 local Home-Starts, among them Home-Start Greenwich which has been running since 1993 and last year supported 200 families and 350 children.

Kate meeting volunteers and families receiving assistance from Home-Start UK. More from the Home-Start Facebook page:

The Duchess of Cambridge is now talking with volunteers about our new programme Big Hopes Big Future which will get children ready for school. She’s also hearing about the regular family support they provide.

The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English shared a photo of Kate admiring an oversize card the children at Home-Start UK made for her.

Rebecca English, The Daily Mail & Mail Online

Rebecca English, The Daily Mail & Mail Online

A video from the Press Association’s Alex Diaz:

More from The Daily Mail’s piece:

Kate also commiserated with some of the mothers at the coffee morning about sleeping patterns and feeding routines. ‘It can be hard, can’t it,’ she said sympathetically. ‘So often it’s about giving you the confidence to interact with your baby.’

She also spoke with a group of mothers, who did not wish to be identified, who had suffered with post natal depression. ‘The Duchess made clear in advance of the visit that she was keen to speak to them as post-natal depression can have such a knock-on effect on every aspect of family life,’ explained head of communications Annie O’Brian.

(Alex Lentati/NMA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

While at today’s engagement a volunteer asked the Duchess about her due date; Rebecca English’s tweet has Kate’s response:

Rebecca English, The Daily Mail & MNail Online Twitter (@RE_DailyMail)

Rebecca English, The Daily Mail & Mail Online Twitter (@RE_DailyMail)

Kate looked vibrant and healthy, eager to learn about the programs offered by Home-Start UK.Ben Stevens/i-Images/Polaris

As mentioned earlier, the Duchess wore an ASOS Maternity dress, the brand’s exclusive Wrap Skater Dress in Polka Dot ($63).

ASOS

ASOS

The dress is rayon with 4% elastene for stretch; it features three-quarter length sleeves, a broad and deep vee neck, empire waistline seaming, and wrap styling. ASOS notes the frock is designed to fit through all stages of pregnancy. It is $63 and out of stock. However, the folks at The Mirror Royal Twitter account shared that ASOS expects to have more dresses in stock next week. Our thanks to Charlotte at HRH Duchess Kate, she quickly IDed the frock.ASOS

The Duchess accessorized with her Mulberry Bayswater clutch.Polaris/i-Images

And her Stuart Weitzman Power pumps ($355).Nunn, Polaris/i-Images, Polaris

The shoe is black suede with a 3-3/4″ heel.

In the jewelry category we saw the Kiki McDonough Pink Morganite Earrings ….

Kiki McDonough

Kiki McDonough

…Kate’s Mappin and Webb Fortune Pendant

Polaris/Mappin & Webb

Polaris/Mappin & Webb

…and her Cartier Ballon Bleu wristwatch.

i-Images/i-Images

Back to the UFO (Unidentified Fashion Object) Coat mentioned earlier in the post. Not only did Rebecca English of The Daily Mail fill us in on what Kate said about her due date, she also resolved one of our longest and most perplexing UFOs. Remember this photo of Kate back in October of 2012?SplashNews.com/Weir Photo-SplashNews.com

The Duke and Duchess had enjoyed an evening out at Loulou’s, a private club in Mayfair. Upon seeing the photographs many of us were intrigued (a slight understatement) by the coat the Duchess was wearing. It turns out the garment was made by “Kate’s private dressmaker,” according to the information Rebecca received today.

We had several requests via Twitter and Facebook for enhanced images to better show the coat details. Here is one graphic showcasing the ruffle trim at the front coat placket; it looks like pleated/ruffled black tulle. I do not believe it is actual fringe, it is more of a ruffled or pleated embellishment.Ben Stevens/i-Images

Carly at Kate Middleton Style has a very interesting theory about the “private dressmaker,” you can read about it in her post today.

Because some may not have seen the info regarding the dress Kate was wearing that evening, it was the ‘Rozalia,’ from a 2009 Reiss collection. This was a major Tip of the Tiara to Julie G on the WKW Facebook page, as well as Beth, who found the link to an eBay auction for the Rozalia. (There’s a bit more info about the ID in this post from 2012.)

SplashNews.com/eBay

SplashNews.com/eBay

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A quick update from our friends at Seraphine Maternity: Kate’s ‘Marina’ coat is back in stock.

Seraphine Maternity

Seraphine Maternity

The Duchess wore the wool tweed coat when arriving in New York last December.

PA Wire/Splash News/i-Images

PA Wire/

The coat is available in all sizes, is $495.

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One additional note: Kate and William have three engagements next week in South London.

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Kate's Great

Wednesday 25th of March 2015

Just wanted to say thank you Susan, for such a lovely blog. As always :)

Megan

Wednesday 25th of March 2015

It feels like such a long wait until Friday for Kate appearances! :-)

Caroline

Monday 23rd of March 2015

I'm not quite sure what message exactly it is that Kate is meant to be sending out. Look at me, I'm a Princess who wears affordable high street fashion, making it look like I'm trying really hard to be penny wise; but on the other hand I wear a Cartier Ballon Bleu watch, (worth nearly £3000), Stuart Weitzman Power pumps costing three figures in English pounds, and a rock on my left hand worth numerous x's of pounds. Don't get me wrong I love most of what Kate wears, but at least with Diana is was all designer clothing, and you knew what message you were sending. I get very confused regarding Kate's wardrobe.

Lena

Thursday 26th of March 2015

"hey, an inexpensive dress can look good too!" "let's sell dresses off the racks at asos too and boosst the. british economy" "well you can emulate me and get free shipping with asos"

..........

those are some of the messages. you missed her missive?

Lili

Monday 23rd of March 2015

If there's a "message," I don't think it's any more complex than "Hey, I like less expensive clothes, too, and I don't have to be decked out in nothing but high-end garments and jewelry, not least because we royals recognize that it might be somewhat pretentious and bad public relations in this day and age to appear in nothing but items the average person couldn't possibly afford."

I don't think there's any need to feel confused. Is it possible you're overthinking the matter? It's also worth remembering that this is a woman who, unlike Diana but like her non-royal peers, spent years wearing relatively affordable clothing before her marriage, whereas Diana got thrown right into high-end designer wear at the age of only 19 without ever having had time to develop a real personal style and taste. For years, she wore pretty much what the fashion editors asked to advise her told her to wear.

It makes sense to me that the Duchess, on the other hand, older, more mature, and more independent at the time of her marriage, feels very comfortable mixing high-end clothes and jewelry with the lower end style to which she's always been accustomed.

Kimberly

Monday 23rd of March 2015

Kate looks absolutely radiant and healthy and glowing! I love that she always looks so effortlessly put together even at this late stage in her pregnancy.

Lavender

Saturday 21st of March 2015

I really like this look, even though a variation on a look over many years, Kate still looks splendid in it. Even though shorter, it was EXACTLY the right length today! Looked amazing and like a pregnant woman should - hope everything goes well!

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