Kate In Michael Kors Suit for Sunday Church Service & Gallipoli Ceremony

This morning Kate and William attended services at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

The couple joined HM and the Duke of Edinburgh at church. Also attending, Pippa, James, Carole & Michael Middleton.

Close friends Sophie Carter and James Meade, two of Princess Charlotte’s godparents, attended services as well. It’s possible, if not likely, some were on hand to celebrate Kate’s 34th birthday yesterday.

Prince Philip, Prince William and Penelope Meredith Eastwood, a friend of the royal family. 

More evidence of the wardrobe sharing among the Middleton women is shown below; Pippa Middleton wearing a hat today the Duchess has worn previously, we show Kate wearing it to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2006.

My friend Kelly of The Duchess Diary suggests Carole Middleton is wearing Kate’s Betty Boop hat. I think she is correct, and also posit Mrs. Middleton may be wearing Kiki McDonough earrings. UPDATED: Kiki McDonough tells me Carole Middleton was wearing her earrings. Also, closer examination and helpful input from savvy fashion watchers lead me to believe Mrs. Middleton’s hat is not the same as Kate’s.

Below, Kate curtseys to HM.

Following the service, there was a brief ceremony honoring the 100th anniversary of the doomed Gallipoli campaign.

HM, the Queen and Prince Philip placed wreaths at the Sandringham war memorial.  The Duke of Edinburgh is royal patron of the Gallipoli Association.

The Duke and Duchess.

More from The Daily Mail:

William and Kate then spent few minutes chatting to members of the Royal British Legion, old soldiers and the families of soldiers who fought at Gallipoli.

The ceremony was a poignant one as more than 100 gardeners, gamekeepers, farm labourers and servants from the Sandringham estate fought in the ill-fated campaign while in the Norfolk Regiment.

UPDATE JAN 11: There has been some discussion in the comment section and elsewhere about the color of HM’s ensemble.

Initially a few thought the color quite light for a winter’s walk and outdoor ceremony. It turns out that as she so often does, the Queen selected this look for a distinct reason. In this case, it is most likely because lilac is actually a color affiliated with mourning; more specifically, a phase referred to as ‘half-mourning’. The following is from a piece written by Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion Era:

A widow would mourn for two and a half years, with the first year and a day in full mourning.

In the final six months a period called half mourning began.  Ordinary clothes could be worn in acceptable subdued shades of grey, white or purple, violet, pansy, heliotrope, soft mauves and of course black.  Every change was subtle and gradual, beginning firstly with trims of these colours being added to the black dresses. 

Here additional information, it comes via a post on English funeral and mourning clothing from England: The Other Within.

Once a widow had completed her first year, she dressed in ‘secondary mourning’. This had a less rigorous dress code, and white collars and cuffs … were permitted. After nine months came ‘ordinary mourning’, a three month stretch during which women were permitted to wear shiny fabrics such as silk and velvet … Finally a widow entered the six months of ‘half-mourning’, when muted colours such as grey, purple and lilac were permissible.’

Our thanks to Mrs. Cambridge for her comment on the post sharing information on this topic as well as a link to the Fashion Era story.

Many will recognize what Kate wore, it is almost identical to what she had on when attending church the Sunday after Christmas, the Duchess wore her Michael Kors Collection suit.  It is nice to have such a good look at the front of the ensemble.

A closer look at the jacket.

This offers a better view of Kate’s hairstyle.

The Duchess wore her ‘Fairy Tale’ style hat by Sylvia Fletcher for Lock and Company again.  I think we can now declare this her favorite chapeau, or certainly the hat worn most often publicly since 2011. (This does not include today’s appearance.)

Kate carried her go-to suede Mulberry Bayswater Clutch Wallet.

It appears she wore her Imogen gloves by Cornelia James.

Kate also had on her ‘Rhumba’ boots from Aquatalia. Sold out for some time now in the US and Canada, the boot remains available at Russell and Bromley where it is known as the Hi and Dry (£415, about $620).  We have had some comments and questions wondering if perhaps Kate is wearing a newer pair of the boots, that perhaps these are not quite as scuffed and worn as what she had been wearing. Here is a closer look for those curious about the topic.

Aquatalia suggests the ‘Raine’ model as the Rhumba replacement, that boot is on sale at Nordstrom ($435).

Kate wore her Kiki McDonough Citrine Drop earrings.

A look at Kate this week and on the 27th. The only things changed between the two appearances are the earrings and hairstyle.

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One other note: for those who may not have had a chance to vote yet in our annual polls, now’s the time to let us know your favorite special occasion look.

We also need your vote on your favorite new dress worn by the Duchess in 2015, below you see some of the choices.  

And we’re also asking you to vote on your favorite repeated look seen last year. (Scroll down through that post for the second poll.)

A gentle reminder for those commenting: this isn’t the forum for discussion about wearing fur.

LINKAGE:

• Visit the Gallipoli Association website to learn more about the topic,
• PopSugar’s gallery of large photos is here, The Daily Mail’s image-laden story is here & The Telegraph’s gallery is here 
• To read the entire Pauline Weston Thomas article about the stages of mourning fashion click here