Kate’s dress choice for yesterday’s Tuvalu events and the couple’s return home demonstrates once again her fashion savvy. Knowing they would be changing planes in Brisbane, Kate wore a label founded by an Australian, Dannii Minogue, and the UK’s Tabitha Somerset Webb, Project D London.
Kate’s dress needed to work for another ride on the thrones created for the pair. Then it was off to Australia for a change of planes. Here we see William and Kate on the tarmac in Brisbane. The image is significant, it is the first time Kate has set foot in Australia as a member of the Royal family.
Mirrorpix / Splash News
Kate wore Project D London, selecting the ‘Penelope’ dress in ‘Pale Powder Pink’ in silk crepe de chine, a good weight for the day’s activity in Tuvalu’s heat and humidity. Many thanks to WKW Facebook friend Sarah for identifying the dress and sharing the info with us.
Project D London Penelope, Photos via Lyst
The Penelope features a fold-down collar, cuffed short sleeves, box pleats and a detachable self belt. As you can see in the next photos, the garment also has an invisible zipper on the front.
Project D Penelope Dress
The dress originally sold for $515 at My Wardrobe (about£315), subsequently it was discounted to $433 and then $215. Project D is carried at several shops Kate frequents, including Austique and Moda Rosa.
The dress is a spring 2012 release, it also came in the label’s ‘Bluebird’ pattern. If that design looks familiar it may be the result of seeing Kate’s sister Pippa wearing the Phope Peplum dress in Bluebird when she and Kate were at Wimbledon.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA WireThe Duchess wore a pair of earrings with the dress that were new to us, the Azuni Semi-Precious Drop Earrings, a tip of the hat to Caroline for locating the earrings and alerting us all on Facebook about their identity. The earrings are shown at John Lewis, where they sell for £22.50 (and international delivery is available), which is roughly $37 USD.
John Lewis
They are described as “ethnic-inspired drop earrings feature a textured 24ct gold plated brass disc and semi-precious stone drop.” If sold out at John Lewis, Azuni’s website and Facebook pages are options, they have said on Facebook the earrings may be ordered.
Azuni London
The designer, Ashley Marshall is a fascinating man, he studied in South America and Central America, his work is also influenced by Native American culture. (Mr. Marshall was previously a chef for more than 10 years at notable establishments like the Dorchester, he is clearly more-than-talented.) Some of those influences are clearly seen in his work, we recommend a visit to the company’s website.
At the airport Kate changed into her standard skinny jeans for the next flight.
She wore a white jumper (sweater) or knit top, and a brightly colored Temperley scarf, in the Lotus Leopard print ($385), many thanks to WKW Facebook friend Tammie for identifying the scarf so quickly.
Brisbane Airport Facebook/Temperley London
The scarf is one of Temperley’s standard prints (the Lotus), the fabric is 90% modal and 10% cashmere, a nice blend.
The Duchess remained true to form when it came to footwear, wearing her LK Bennett Sledge pumps for both segments of the journey. She also carried her Longchamp Le Pliage tote, a good choice for traveling, the nylon fabric is durable, it takes a beating well and somehow still looks good.
Longchamps Le Pliage at Neiman Marcus
This is the medium size (with the short handles), it runs $118 just about everywhere, including Neiman Marcus in the US, in the UK it is £67 at Selfridges and many other outlets.
Linkage:
- the Daily Mail’s story about the couple’s return trip is here
- The Baltimore Sun has 50 fabulous Tour photos
- Hello! magazine’s photo gallery of the Tour is here
- to see the Telegraph’s video of the couple in Brisbane click here
The Telegraph
Jessa
Friday 5th of October 2012
I just bought a scarf at Target that is pretty similar to the one Kate wore in the airport. Here is a link. It's not 100% exact, but it is close and the price was only $12! http://www.target.com/p/merona-blue-bold-floral-print-scarf/-/A-13897668
MJ
Sunday 23rd of September 2012
Thank you for these posts of our favorite princess! Her clothes are stunning and your details (from retailers to price) is always impeccable!Thank you for all your hard work. I really appreciate it :)
MJ -Papersidewalks.blogspot.com
AnneH
Thursday 20th of September 2012
Silk crepe de chine is lovely, and Kate looked wore this dress well. Nevertheless, this was a miss. Not appropriate for airport tarmacs. I was dismayed to see a repeat of the Canadian wardrobe malfunction. She's 30, after all. How many learning experiences like this are necessary?
I admire her for the care she obviously takes in choosing appropriate clothing for the job at hand, and I wish she would give herself the gift of knowing she can down the airplane steps and across the tarmac without fear of the wind blowing her dress up. Nobody looks elegant or dignified when holding one's dress down.
ElizaMo
Friday 21st of September 2012
I'm relieved to see someone else holds similar views to my own on the malfunction. I agree with you about the dress -- it is lovely, though I thought the pattern looked a little thin somehow -- with so much white/cream the floral detail seemed a little lost. I may have become accustomed to royals in the old days wearing bright block colours to stand out. I imagine all Catherine wants to do right now is hide!
Lili
Thursday 20th of September 2012
Well, given that I am not a great fan of either prints or shirtdresses, I think this little silk dress is attractive, though I wish she hadn't worn the ever-present nude patent-leather pumps with it. The beige wedged sandals would have worked better. The dress may be silk crepe-de-chine, but it has an easy, casual feel.
Ditto for the jeans, top, and scarf outfit, which was terrific for air travel wear, but not with those pumps! AAAGGHHH!
As for the, er, wardrobe malfunction, I suspect that she IS weighting her skirts, that she's been doing so for a while, that she received advice about this eons ago. It's simply beyond credibility that no one has yet talked to her about it or that she's been blithely ignoring the advice. However, I know from personal experience that even weighted hems, on dresses and skirts made of light fabrics, can fly up in a brisk breeze. You'd need really heavy weights to prevent this, and they would cause significant problems with the hang of a skirt, especially if that skirt were made of a light silk.
Both Diana and Princess Anne had embarrassing skirt-and-wind interaction events, and I've no doubt that both of them wearing weighted skirts. The Queen, it should be noted, rarely appears in public in a dress without a matching coat, and the coats are not going to fly up in a wind.
ElizaMo
Friday 21st of September 2012
I'm impressed with your theory that she may have had weights in the skirt and thanks for pointing out that the fine fabric couldn't cope with heavy weights. I thought when Diana suffered from similar breezes, the worst that showed was petticoat. I remain non-plussed at the insistence on wearing nowt but a thong underneath, not a garment which originated from particularly respectable origins. I enjoy seeing her outer garments but have never relished having more than necessary seen or discussed about the underpinnings.
I've always liked shirtdresses -- a particular favourite with me. For work purposes I've appreciated its element of the businesslike coupled with a degree of comfort and femininity.
At least she's given us plenty to talk about while she takes a well-earned break.
nancy2001
Thursday 20th of September 2012
Kate looks lovely in her charming floral dress.