Kate in ALICE by Temperley for Team GB Palace Reception

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

Below you see 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. Below, the Duchess looks at Paralympic Swimming Medalist Lee Pearson’s gold medal. 

And here she chats with (L-R) Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin and Scott Brash.

Now for our look at what Kate wore. 

It looks like this is a modified version of the ALICE by Temperley Esmeralda dress. While the off-the-rack dress has a number of different design elements, it is all one color, keeping it away from the “too busy” category. The various horizontal lines we see defined include the waistband, belled sleeves, and tiered skirt.

In addition to those design features, Kate’s frock features multiple colors and materials, creating the impression there is an awful lot going on with the piece. 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, seen below left. Below right, the back of the satin sash and the vertical detailing on the back of the garment.(This is tough to see but there are five verticals rows of raised stitching or pleating.)

A closer view of the embellishment on Kate’s dress. 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 blind and the colors are 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.) Here is a detailed look at some of the embellishment. 

One’s eye encounters an awful lot of things going on with Kate’s version of the dress. 

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

The Duchess carried the unidentified black suede clutch.

UPDATE: This has been identified as a bag by Mascaro, the brand’s Suede Clutch with Grosgrain Bow Detail.  

And wore the elegant diamond bracelet we have seen on several occasions.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.”

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:

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.

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

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:

• Visit Team GB’s website here, or its Facebook page here, Twitter page here
• View the ALICE by Temperley Spring 2013 Collection here, and the Temperley Spring line here (there’s lots to like!), and the company’s collaborative pieces with Barbour here
• The Mirror’s story with photo gallery is here
• The Daily Mail story is here
• ITV’s story is here with many lovely pictures, to also see the video story be sure to scroll to the bottom of the piece
  

  ITV