Kate Middleton’s Going Away Ensemble: a Zara Dress & LK Bennett Shoes

Hello to our new visitors, as well as our old friends, it’s so nice you popped in for a visit! Our focus today is the ‘going away’ ensemble worn yesterday by Catherine as she and Prince William departed Buckingham Palace.

Going away suits and dresses are not what they were twenty, or thirty years ago, with friends and family gathered as a couple made their departure, and in many cases, watched the bride throw her bouquet. In this case, the informality makes perfect sense for a variety of reasons: the couple is getting on a helicopter at Buckingham Palace, they were not leaving any kind of formal sendoff party or gathering of friends, and this is technically not a honeymoon, that has been indefinitely postponed.

Dubbing her the “new people’s princess” (ahem), the Daily Mail writes:

“Eschewing designer labels, Kate stepped out in a cornflower blue £49.99 Zara dress with £129.99 black patent pumps from LK Bennett (the same pair she wore for her King’s Road shopping spree the day before her wedding), paired with a simple black jacket.”

We recognized the shoes immediately when looking at yesterday’s photos. Those paying attention to detail will recognize the shoes. We originally thought they were a pair of Lanvin Espadrille Pumps at Net-a-Porter. We have since learned they are by a brand the Duchess is very fond of, LK Bennett.

The Greta Pump is not found on the Bennett site, but several sharp-eyed shoppers have said this is the specific shoe worn by the Duchess.

As for the Zara dress, the most similar style we have found in the Lookbook is simply called the “Pleated Dress“.

Zara

The sleeveless dress with vertical pleating is made of 100% polyester, certainly a practical fabric. I like the keyhole closure at the upper back of the dress, and the soft way the pleats fall. The color is more of a Wedgwood blue, not that rich royal blue seen on Kate yesterday, but the cut and detail looks the same.  Here is a closer look at the front of the dress.

Courtesy Zara

Keep in mind that different versions and colors of garments are made for varying parts of the world, what is available at Zara in the UK is not always the same as what is seen at the retailer in the US. The garment seen above and available here in the States retails for $89.90 USD.

One important FYI: Zara does not offer online shopping in the US. Actually, they don’t offer it almost anywhere, they are currently testing it in a handful of countries. We spoke with the Zara on Fifth Avenue, they do not have the dress in stock anymore. If interested in locating the dress our best suggestion is that you contact a store by phone.

As far as the black jacket and belt go, we do not yet have any detail on those items but will jump in to update the post as if/when we learn more.

The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge look quite happy together, it is lovely to see.

UPDATES:

1. This is the correct Zara dress, please see the comments below for more. Thank you to our readers for letting us know! 🙂
2. The LK Bennett shoes are apparently from an earlier season, so finding them will be even more difficult than we thought.

ED. NOTES: Special thanks to our Twitter friends According to Nina and MinnesotaGirl10 for their insight on the shoes.  (We are @WhatKateWore on Twitter.)