Kate In Green McQueen Gown For Awards Appearance

 Clothing, Jewelry, Kate's Pregnancy, London 2012 Olympics, Official Appearances  37 Responses »
Dec 162012
 

Kate’s made an unexpected appearance tonight, taking part in the BBC’s annual Sports Personality of the Year awards.

BBC via The Daily Mail

It was the Duchess’s first official engagement since being released from the hospital on December 6th, word of her appearance at the event was only released this morning.

In this screen shot shared by Paul Harrison of Sky News you can see the Duchess with David Beckham, he also took part in this evening’s show.

BBC via Sky News Royal (Paul Harrison)

Kate presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Lord Sebastian Coe, a four-time Olympic medalist and Chair of the London 2012 games.

The BBC via The Daily Mail

It was a full house at tonight’s festivities.

BBC via the Daily Mail

Red carpet arrivals included two-time Olympic champion Mo Farah and his family, all doing the ‘Mobot.’

The BBC

Heptathlete Jessica Ennis also brought home a Gold Medal for Team GB, she was in a deep red gown.

The BBC

Paralympics swimmer Josef Craig was named Young Sports Personality of the Year, he was the youngest Paralympic gold medalist at the London Games.

12 athletes were in contention for Sports Personality of the Year, tennis ace Andy Murray, cyclist Bradley Wiggins and golfer Rory McIlroy were among those on the short list.

BBC Sports

Click here to see the entire group of twelve. When votes were tallied the winner was Bradley Wiggins.

The BBC via Huffington Post

The runner-up was Ms. Ennis.

BBC via the Daily Mail

More on tonight’s appearance from the Daily Mail:

Her decision to honour the engagement after being forced to cancel her last four public appearances is a sign that the 30-year-old is slowly recovering after spending several days in hospital with hyperemesis gravidarum earlier this month.

Kate’s role as an official ambassador of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic teams made her the perfect choice to make the presentation, below we see her at the Paralympics.

L-London 2012, R-Channel 4/The Paralympic Broadcaster

She also attended multiple events with William and Harry.

London 2012 Website

Kate wasn’t well enough to attend the entire 2-1/2 to 3 hour show. William has returned to Anglesey and is continuing his shifts with the RAF.

Kate chose the Alexander McQueen Bell Sleeve Floor Length Gown, shown below in black. I believe Kate’s dress is the ‘bottle green’ colorway.

Alexander McQueen

The gown is described this way:

Black crepe wool floor length gown with bell-sleeves, deep v-neck, trompe l’oeil belt waistband and sweeping central thigh-high slit.

Kate’s dress originally sold for $4,325, it is now on sale at $1,739.00. Below, the short version of the dress, it better shows the details.

Alexander McQueen

Kate accessorized with her Jimmy Choo Cosmic Pumps.

Jimmy Choo 'Cosmic' Pump in Black Suede

The shoe runs £435, I believe it is becoming an exclusive for Net-a-Porter. Currently it is still available in a few sizes at Jildor, on sale at $347.50. 

For jewelry Kate wore her Kiki McDonough Blue Topaz earrings.

UK Press Association/Rebecca English, The Daily Mail

And brought back her Asprey Button Pendant.

Asprey

We’ll update with more photos when they are available.

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A few other items that may be of interest, beginning with the Queen’s Christmas Party tomorrow at Buckingham Palace: Kate was originally expected to attend, I imagine that will be contingent upon how she is feeling. Another expected engagement is Christmas Day, The Telegraph has more:

Spending Christmas with the Queen at Sandringham is one of the traditions of marrying into the Royal family, but the Duchess of Cambridge will miss the experience this year.

She is to spend Christmas Day with her family at their house in Berkshire as she copes with her difficult pregnancy. The Duke of Cambridge faces a dilemma over where he will spend the day.

Obviously speculation on this topic changes almost hourly, if not more often. It is doubtful any decisions will be made until much closer to Christmas Day. Those decision will be driven by how the Duchess is feeling, with proximity to a hospital also a likely influence on where she spends the day.

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Also, LK Bennett is taking email signups for its upcoming collection by Caroline Issa (no relation to the clothing label), the line launches February 19.

LK Bennett

More from the LK Bennett website:

This vibrant, chic capsule collection of shoes and bags, features statement sandals, ankle-strap stilettos, shoe boots, the kitten heel, and a loafer as well as catch-me-if-you can clutches.

Anyone interested in being updated via email about the collection can email customerservices@lkbennett.com with the subject line ‘L.K.Bennett London by Caroline Issa’.

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Although it’s not even Christmas yet, fashion brands are showing their Pre Fall 2013 styles, a season that has become increasingly important on the fashion calendar.  We share a brief look at Temperley London’s Pre Fall collection, beginning with several looks that could be ideal for someone beginning to show. The dress in the center would need careful tailoring, it could look lovely on Kate.

Courtesy Photos via Women's Wear Daily

Obviously these are pieces unavailable to the general public, but I am guessing Alice Temperley would be happy to make them work for Kate.

Three more styles, I thought the sweaters below left and far right might be perfect right about now. The longer, tunic style top in the middle could work for someone with Kate’s slender form.

Courtesy Photos

And a final few styles suited for after the baby is born.

Courtesy Photos via WWD.com

LINKAGE:

  • the BBC’s story on tonight’s award to Bradley Wiggins, it’s story on Lord Coe’s award is here 
  • the Daily Mail’s story on the evening is here

Kate in ALICE by Temperley for Team GB Palace Reception

 Clothing, London 2012 Olympics, Official Appearances  94 Responses »
Oct 232012
 

Kate chose an ALICE by Temperley piece for today’s celebration at Buckingham Palace honoring Team GB’s Olympic and Paralympic medalists.

John Stillwell/PA Wire

Above we show the Duchess chatting with Paralympic Swimmer Stephanie Millward, winner of multiple medals this summer. This has been a triumphant year for Great Britain on the Olympic front, hosting the hugely successful London 2012 Games.

Team GB’s triumph on the medal podium was another enormous accomplishment, bringing home 65 Olympic medals, 29 of them gold, and 120 ParalympicsGB medals, 39 of them gold. More on how the athletes handled those medals this evening from the Mirror:

The athletes arrived at the palace in their official Team GB formal wear of suits, which included a special inside pocket for their medals.

From the looks of things some athletes chose to wear their medals outside the specially designed pockets, something that makes perfect sense to this observer.

A better view at the embellishment on Kate’s dress.

John Stillwell/PA Wire

It looks like this is a modified version of the ALICE by Temperley Esmeralda dress.

ALICE by Temperley Esmeralda

While the dress above has a number of different design elements, it is all one color, keeping it out of the “too busy” category.  The various horizontal lines that are defined, belled sleeves and tiered skirt are a few of these elements.

On the other hand, Kate’s frock features multiple colors and materials in addition to those design features, creating the impression there is an awful lot going on with the garment. Part of the squared neckline is sheer, as are the sleeves and the lower tier of the skirt. There is a bow at the front waist in another fabric that looks to be a black satin. The exquisite floral work on the sleeves and top is done in ivory bordered by gold, the gold a lovely nod to the medalists on hand.  On the embellished portion of the skirt it looks like a third color has been added, a dusky rose or soft pink. (Unless I am completely blind and the the colors are a soft silver, gold and bronze, Kate has proven to be more-than-adept at adding subtle elements to pieces she wears that are a discreet nod to her surroundings or event.) One’s eye encounters a bit of busyness with this dress.

Kate kept accessories simple, wearing her black suede Jimmy Choo Cosmic pumps.

Jimmy Choo Cosmic Pump

She also wore the elegant diamond bracelet we have seen on several occasions, and carried the unidentified black suede clutch.

John Stillwell/PA Wire

Many will recall Kate in her role as an official Ambassador, she attended multiple Olympic and Paralympic events this summer.

London 2012 / PA Wire

William and Harry were also Olympic Ambassadors, the Duke of Cambridge joined his wife for many events and also attended several with Prince Harry, before heading back to work in Anglesey.

Mirrorpix / Splash News

Charles and Camilla were expected to attend the reception, but were forced to cancel because of bad weather, they needed to be on time for another function this evening, the gala premiere of the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. Below we see Her Majesty greeting guests.

Team GB

Tonight’s party saw the return of the Tweet Suite at Buckingham Palace.

British Monarchy Twitter

Several athletes took the opportunity to share their thoughts, including boxer Anthony Ogogo, a Bronze medalist.

Anthony Ogogo Twitter

Paralympic Gold Medal cyclist Sarah Storey also tweeted about the reception.

Sarah Storey Twitter

There will be another Olympic function at the Palace next spring, a garden party honoring volunteers, athletes and others who worked to make the Games such a success.

It looked like a wonderful party, Kate seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself. She clearly embraces her role, smiling as she spent time speaking with the women’s Team GB Hockey Team, visiting with other royals, chatting with Prime Minister David Cameron. As we have noted previously, my thoughts on what Kate wears matter not one whit, the only vote that counts is Kate’s, she was clearly in her element this evening, making the look a resounding success.

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A few other tidbits we want to share, beginning with news about Pippa Middleton’s book, “Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends.”

Penguin Books

The book goes on sale this Thursday, but it doesn’t appear Kate will be at the official launch event Thursday night.  More from CNN’s Max Foster via his Twitter feed:

Max Foster CNN Twitter

You can learn more about the book at Amazon, or our friend Carly’s Pippa Middleton blog, or by visiting the Facebook page set up for the book.

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Our final morsel today is one we’re very excited to share, something we learned about yesterday.

TIME Twitter Feed

It turns out Time magazine selected What Kate Wore as one of its Best Blogs of 2012. Eek!

Time Magazine

Our thanks to Harry McCracken for including us, you can see the List here, it makes for wonderful reading, regardless of WKW’s inclusion. We will be re-reading it once someone scrapes us off the floor! :)

Linkage:

 

Kate the Quick Change Artist at Paralympics Day Four

 Clothing, London 2012 Olympics, Official Appearances, Specific Designers  33 Responses »
Sep 032012
 

We have a very brief post to share on Kate’s appearances for Sunday’s Paralympics. She started the day in casual pieces, worn to watch rowing at Eton Dorney.

London 2012

She reprised pieces we have seen previously at the Games: Team GB apparel, skinny jeans and red Adidas trainers.

The Duchess then made a change to something more formal, she was presenting medals for the winners in the Discus competition.

Stefan Rousseau/PA

Kate was able to award the Gold Medal to Team GB’s Aled Davies.

Channel 4 - The Paralympic Broadcaster

Kate brought back her Pucci blazer, Paralympics Scarf and Corkswoon wedges for the appearance. Some may remember the blazer from Kate’s visit with the Team GB Hockey teams back in March.

Slefridges/Lia Hervey Twitter Feed

Above she is seen chatting with David Faulkner during that March function. The blazer is a classic double-breasted style with peak lapels, double vents, gold buttons on the front and cuffs.

Stefan Rousseau/PA

We see the return of Kate’s Team GB Paralympic scarf.

Next UK

Next UK still shows the scarves as being available, the small size is discounted to just £2.50, roughly $4 at today’s exchange rates.

Mr. Davies had already won a Bronze Medal this week, he shared his excitement at winning in this Tweet.

Aled Davies Twitter

The athlete also posted a photo of himself with Kate after the ceremony .

Aled Davies Twitter Feed

We aren’t positive about what Kate wore beneath the jacket. We don’t believe it to be the Roland Mouret Manon dress, as some initially thought, that frock has a slit at the back lower hem and an exposed zipper, traits missing from the piece Kate wore.  My guess is that it is a dress and not a skirt, the bunching and wrinkling at the upper hip (two photos up) look like what one might see with a dress, not as likely with a skirt. We’ll update when we find out. It was a fine look for the Duchess, very much in keeping with the low key styles she has been wearing since the Olympics started in July.

One quick note from Links of London USA, the company is doing free shipping on all orders over $300 through midnight tonight.

 

 

 

 

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