Last night Kate made her first official solo engagement, stepping in on behalf of Prince Charles, who was in Saudi Arabia paying respects to that royal family following the death of the Crown Prince.
Paul Burns/Clarence House/PA Wire
The event was a small dinner for In Kind Direct, an organization that takes surplus goods and redistributes them to appropriate charities. From an In Kind Direct news release:
We were delighted that the Duchess was able to step in at such short notice after our founder was unexpectedly called away. The Duchess hosted a very special evening with absolute professionalism and charm.
Kate was stunning in an aqua Amanda Wakeley gown.
Our thanks to @MrsRegalEyes on Twitter, along with Duchess of Cambridge Style and WKW Facebook friend Leila Tannaz for identifying and confirming it was a Wakeley piece. The dress is from the designer’s fall/winter 2006-2007 collection. Here you can see how Kate changed the waistline of her dress, raising the belt/waistline significantly from that seen on the runway gown.
Kate sparkled from head to toe, reprising her Jimmy Choo Vamp shoes ($750 USD), first seen at this summer’s BAFTA gala in Los Angeles, (more here), as well as the glittering diamond bracelet and earrings we have seen previously.
A closer look at the earrings and bracelet.
From the Telegraph’s story:
A palace aide said: ”The Duchess had a little bit of time beforehand to prepare for the engagement – it all went very well.
‘She was so pleased that her first solo engagement was for the Prince of Wales, who has shown her so much support over the years.”
Kate wore her hair half up and half down, an elegant look ideal for the setting and gown.
One note about Kate’s hair, there were multiple reports she was wearing hair extensions; the Daily Mail corrected its initial story to say the Palace confirmed what they called extensions was, in fact, a 3″-4″ scar from surgery she had as a child.
It was interesting to see feedback on the ensemble, some Facebook friends felt the dress wasn’t the proper look for the occasion, that the bare shoulders may have been inappropriate. I didn’t have that reaction, and the dress made sense for the event. Anyone else have thoughts on the issue?
Regardless, it looks like Kate was quite comfortable stepping into what had to be an intimidating function, her first appearance on behalf of the royal family without William at her side looks to have been a success.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Also today, we know everyone is interested in the London Sole contest winner, here we go. We used Random.org to select from 1448 comments totaling 3101 entries:
Number 2390 corresponded on the spread sheet to:
WhatKateWore.com
And that spread sheet? Oh. My. Word.
WhatKateWore.com
To be honest, the volume of entries surprised even your trusty scribe! It was loads of fun and best of all…. this isn’t the end of our giveaways. We’ll be sharing an equally spectacular one in November.
ksstocker
Tuesday 1st of November 2011
by the way, you quickly need to edit the style of the jimmy choo shoes. you mistakenly wrote "ubai" instead of "vamp". the "ubai" was her clutch.
admin
Tuesday 1st of November 2011
My oops! Thank you for letting me know, I corrected the post. (That saying about someone's brain being like a steel trap? Mine is of the steel sieve variety.)
Frances Ross
Tuesday 1st of November 2011
Camilla had a prior engagement, and she would not cancel that to stand in for her husband at this function if someone else could do so! From the Court Circular (the official list of the Royal family's public engagements, published daily in arrears) for October 26:
"The Duchess of Cornwall, President, the Lady Joseph Trust, this evening attended a Reception at the Cavalry and Guards Club, 127 Piccadilly, London W1, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (Sir David Brewer). The Duchess of Cambridge, on behalf of The Prince of Wales, this evening held a Dinner at Clarence House for In Kind Direct, of which His Royal Highness is Founder"
Char
Tuesday 1st of November 2011
Oh, so that beautiful dress was then bought when Kate was still Kate Middleton? I wonder if she has used it before, it's a beautiful gown and suits her very much! I can't wait to see her tomorrow in Denmark.
ksstocker
Sunday 30th of October 2011
i keep forgetting to tell you that i work at one of the LINKS in the US and we recently received a shipment of the effervescence stiletto earrings so if any of your readers are interested they can let me know and i can have the earrings mailed to them. we also still have a couple of the hope egg available as well.
hope you had a great weekend!
congratulations to victoria who won the french sole giveaway.
arlie
Sunday 30th of October 2011
The straps on this gorgeous Amanda Wakeley gown (though I dislike the colour) are not beaded or rhinestones. (If they were, you can bet they'd be Swarovsky crystals, not rhinstones.) They're just made of a rippled or folded or ruched strip of ribbon -- that's the best I know how to describe it. You can see this on other sites that have closeups of these photos.
I love Kate in this dress. It makes her bust look fuller and shows off those lovely toned arms. For those who think she's wearing a bra -- of course not! These kinds of dresses have built-in cups. Very flattering on her.
What a controversy over the scar! In closeups, I have to say it sure looks more like a barrette or clip than a scar.