The Duchess In Ralph Lauren for First Solo Engagement Post-Baby

For her first solo engagement since Princess Charlotte was born 4 months ago, Kate wore Ralph Lauren.

The Duchess was visiting the Anna Freud Centre, a charity specializing in children’s mental health. The Centre’s name may sound familiar; more from Rebecca English’s story in The Daily Mail:

Anna Freud was the sixth and last child of the legendary Sigmund Freud, and followed her father into the field of psychoanalysis.  In fact some consider her to be one of the founders of psychoanalytic child psychology.

In 1952 she founded The Hampstead Clinic, the first child psychoanalytic centre for observational research, teaching and learning. After her death in 1982 it was renamed the Anna Freud Centre.

Simon Perry, People Magazine Instagram (@SPerryPeopleMag)

The Centre concentrates on mental health challenges children and young people face, using a holistic approach to the issue. The Centre has a Community Campus, where ” experts in mental health, neuroscience and education” work with children and families to find news ways of dealing with mental health care. The Centre is expanding that Campus, with plans to house all of its efforts there, including its training efforts, teaching more than 3,000 professionals a year. Below, Kate looking at a model of the planned expansion; back to The Daily Mail:

After a private briefing on how the charity is working to cut mental health problems in children and young people, she was shown plans for the new Campus and asked questions about it to Jonathan Robinson, Campus project lead and architect Mark Rowe, partner at Penoyre and Prasaad.

Looking at the architects’ model, Kate said: ‘It’s quite a unique approach.’ She asked: ‘Have you had any problems in terms of planning or have you been very well supported?’

Below you see Kate at the school’s interactive learning centre; the school is in a temporary site until the new Centre can be completed. It will “be at the heart” of the new complex.

As many readers already know, Kate has a deep interest in children’s mental health issues. According to the Palace the Duchess will continue her focus on the issue; more from The Telegraph.

The Duchess wants to play a part in the open discussion around the emotional and mental wellbeing of children.

She is particularly interested in supporting early intervention programmes that tackle complex social issues, especially those that provide support to vulnerable families or children to build their resilience to cope with life’s challenges from an early age.

The Duchess appeared relaxed, enjoying herself with the students and staff.

For today’s engagement, Kate wore a Ralph Lauren Black Label dress, the brand’s ‘Austin’ silk shirtdress.The frock is described as the “quintessential shirtdress, this houndstooth-patterned silk style flares at the skirt for a supremely flattering fit.” More design elements on the Austin:

• dress and lining are 100% silk
• a sleek patent leather belt
  
• concealed front button placket with mother of pearl buttons
• barrel cuffs on the long sleeves

The dress comes in two lengths. Kate wore the longer length, shown below left. This dress is available at multi-brand retailer Farfetch, where it is still available in sizes 6 & 8 (£1146). The shorter version is offered at Ralph Lauren’s US website, available in all sizes ($1595) and on the UK website (£1245) in limited sizing.

Kate accessorized with her Stuart Weitzman ‘Power’ pumps and Mulberry ‘Bayswater’ clutch.

Here you have a better look at the heels and clutch; our photo shows a leather style, while Kate’s is suede.

Unfortunately, the black suede pumps Kate wears are sold out everywhere but at Russell and Bromley in the UK. If fond of the style, it is still offered in black patent and adobe at Nordstrom and black patent at Amazon; the heels also come in ‘Fire Quasar’ (there’s a color name!) at Stuart Weitzman, where they are 50% off, $178; oops, this color sold out while writing the post!

We saw Kate bring back her favored Annoushka pearl drop earrings.

The Pearl drops are available at Annoushka; they were worn on Kate’s Kiki McDonough Yellow Gold/Diamond Hoops.

The Duchess as she leaves with a hug for Michael Samuels, who is Chair of the charity’s Board of Trustees.

Below you see Mr. Samuel with his wife, Julia Samuel, arriving for Prince George’s christening; Ms. Samuel is one of George’s godparents. She was a close friend of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. On the far right is Hugh Grosvenor, another of the Prince’s godparents.

UPDATE: We have a number of comments about Kate’s ring(s) when she was leaving…here is a closeup photo when she is just steps away from the car. On previous occasions we have seen Kate’s engagement ring ‘swing around,’ and the stones aren’t visible as they are on the inside of her finger/hand. Perhaps this is what people are referencing.

UPDATE #2: I forgot to mention that today was the s/s 2016 Ralph Lauren spring runway show at Fashion Week. From a very quick glance at pictures, it seems there is a lot to like, with plenty of light, floaty, feminine pieces, as well as the designer’s usual nautical and prep references, executed with elegance and élan. There are some paratrooper-style pants I wasn’t crazy about, and some dresses with cutouts that didn’t seem fabulous, but overall it looks like a stellar collection.  You can watch the entire show on Periscope here, you will need to sit through about 8-10 minutes of people arriving and being seated before the show begins. I thought it worth the wait, but others may prefer to see photos of the collection.  They are available in several places, including here at Vogue.

We leave this portion of the post with ITN’s video of today’s engagement.

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Also today, word about a new engagement: in late October Kate, William and Harry will attend the premiere of the new James Bond film, SPECTRE.

This is 2015’s Royal Film Performance, a benefit for the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. The movie stars Daniel Craig as James Bond, it is his fourth time in the role.

More from The Telegraph:

The countdown can finally begin: the team behind the upcoming James Bond film, Spectre, has announced today that the world premiere will take place on Monday October 26. The screening will be a royal gala, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry among the first to see the film. For the first time ever, the film will open at UK cinemas on the same night.

Joining the royals at the high-profile event will be the film’s leading actors Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, David Bautista, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes

Many will remember the Duke and Duchess attending 2013’s Royal Film Performance, featuring Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

PA Wire/Splash News

The Duchess wore her Roland Mouret ‘Lombard’ gown, previously seen for a private dinner in May of 2012. (This dress is the ready-to-wear version of Kate’s gown.) In announcing the engagement Kensington Palace used a photo of William, Kate and Harry at the Sun Military Awards in December of 2011.

Kensington Palace Twitter (@KensingtonRoyal)

The Duke and Duchess also attended the premiere of War Horse in 2012, when Kate wore the black lace ‘Amoret’ gown by Temperley London.

We can expect to see a glittering red carpet at this event, and a party frock equal to the occasion.

NEXT ENGAGEMENT: Kate, William and Harry attend the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony tomorrow (Friday, September 18) at 6:45pm London time, that’s 1:45pm EDT / 10:45am PDT.  This is the ‘pre-show’ for the opening ceremony, it starts at 7pm. Following the festivities the trio are expected to watch England take on Fiji in the tournament’s first match; that game begins at 8pm locally, 3pm EDT/Noon PDT.

NOTE A gentle reminder about our focus here at WKW: while not always successful, we try to remain focused on what Kate wears. We stay away from posting/commenting on Kate’s weight (unless it specifically relates to how a garment fits, something is too big, too small, etc.), steer clear of speculation about her state of mind or marriage, and generally try to avoid *too* much discussion of hair and makeup. I have become a little loose on this front recently; knowing the general interest in Kate’s haircut, I included photos of the new look in last week’s post. This topic has actually been fine: it very much relates to the dialogue when worn in specific styles relative to an outfit. It’s not become the sole focus of posts and/or comments, so if everyone is fine with it having a somewhat bigger role than in years past, so am I. (Truth be told, I very much enjoyed learning a few things about pre- and post-natal hair issues the past few weeks!)

It’s a fine line we tread as a community and the lack of new engagements over the summer contributed to my being somewhat lax regarding comments. I want to mention it because we’re seeing more comments related to Kate’s weight, state of mind, makeup and other topics. Many of them are founded in genuine concern about the Duchess’s health and well-being; I respect those sentiments, but these issues are not a focus of the site. Some comments I am able to do a very quick edit on, while others cannot be published because they have little or nothing to do with what Kate is wearing. And as always, comments insulting Kate, fellow readers, or the community as a whole are immediately deleted.

I apologize if things have edged closer to areas we generally avoid.  Additionally, we are blessed with an abundance of new readers joining us and the change of seasons is always a good time to welcome them and share a bit of background on preferred practices. Do let me know if you have any questions or concerns, Susan@WhatKateWore.com is the best way to get in touch. More than anything, thanks to everyone who contributes and makes the WKW environment a nice place to visit.

LINKAGE:

• Visit the Anna Freud Centre’s website here, follow the Centre on Facebook, if interested in donating click here
• The Daily Mail’s story and robust photo gallery may be seen here, The Telegraph’s story (with a video) is here
• The Mirror’s live blog is here, the paper’s story and photo gallery are here
• The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund website is here, the organization’s Facebook page is here, and Twitter feed is here
• The Express has a nifty piece looking back at 67 Years of Royal Premieres
• Speaking of Kate’s hair, Getty has some nifty photos of the ‘ of Cambridge’s Hairstyles over the Years’

Getty Images (Click photo to see Kate’s Hairstyles over the Years)