Kate wore several new pieces for today’s visit to the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.
Hospice CEO David Burland spoke about Kate’s visit:
“The Duchess is a committed supporter of children’s hospices & showed great knowledge about our vital work supporting children with life-limiting conditions & their families. She took the time to speak to families, volunteers & staff to learn more about the impact of our work & the wider palliative care network.”
Parts of the visit had to be emotionally draining, as explained in Richard Palmer’s story in the Express:
In a private room she comforted the parents of a one-year-old girl who died on Tuesday. The parents lost their five-year-old son from the same condition, spinal muscular atrophy, six weeks ago.
Kate seemed to enjoy the music therapy session she took part in.
The Duchess gets a hug from Demi-Leigh Armstrong, aged 5.
The hospice also wrote a story about Kate’s visit:
Louise, mum of Shaney and Chesney, said: “Kate was so sweet, absolutely lovely and she really puts you at ease because obviously you are a little tense to meet someone so important. She was down to earth but had a real aura about her.”
“She asked me about my boys and how we use Shooting Star CHASE and I told her how they like messy play. She said she has just introduced George to messy play and what fun it was.”
Richard Palmer shared notable news in his article, word of Kate’s plans to do even more with the children’s hospice movement:
The Duchess also met volunteers who help out at the hospice. She plans to launch a new initiative to encourage more people to volunteer in hospices.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry is currently developing a pilot for a volunteering programme to support families of children with life-limiting conditions. “A key component of today’s visit is for The Duchess to meet a group of Shooting Stars volunteers, to better understand how they support the hospice and its families.”
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On to the fashion news. Kate’s jacket is by Reiss, it is called the Delaney.
The jacket is available on the Reiss US site for $520s, in the UK it is for sale at John Lewis (£275) as well as at Reiss.
The Delaney showcases that fit and flare silhouette Kate is so fond of, in the clean, tailored lines she likes. The piece is constructed with multiple gores, elbow darts, and that little extra something, a flourish we frequently see with the Duchess: in this case, it is the triangular point of interest in the center back. There are also slit pockets on the front. Reiss describes the color as cool grey, and the garment is a mix of wool and polyamide with a rayon lining.
The Delaney also comes in navy; that color better shows the subtle pattern in the fabric. Below, the navy version at Bloomingdale’s ($555) in the US, and navy is also available at John Lewis (£295).
Kate was in a new pair of trousers as well.
They are a deep navy color; I lightened this image slightly to better show the texture of the fabric.
At this point, I am leaning toward J. Brand’s Skinny Corduroy Trousers. Below is a swatch of their stretch corduroy as seen on a pair at Farfetch. The color is clearly off, but the fabric texture looks very similar. The brand offered a pencil leg in corduroy much like Kate’s, Shopbop also carried the same (or very similar) style (also sold out) and the Outnet has a few pairs in the 511 mid-rise style. We’ll keep hunting for the proper pair and update as soon as we have new info.
We also saw a new pendant on the Duchess today, this is another piece we’re still trying to ID properly. Kate wore her green amethyst earrings from Kiki McDonough.
Here is another look at the necklace.
Kate was sporting a new pair of booties from an old favorite: Aquatalia. Only available at Russell & Bromley, the style is called the New Dry. The booties are made of weather-resistant suede and lined with faux fur for warmth; they also have a wedge heel and platform, so perhaps they are not as high as one might think.
This is the third Aquatalia style we have seen Kate wear.
From left to right: the Rhumba ($698 at Nordstrom), the Royalty ($450 at Nordstrom), and now the New Dry (£225, about $375 USD) at Russell and Bromley.
Many thanks to everyone on Twitter & Facebook who made this such fun today, especially Rene, Anna, Cambridge Follower, Ashley Marie, Dawn, Franciele, Susan, Kate Kate Kate, Betty, Food Fash Fit, What Would Kate Do, and others.
We have one more footwear update to share:
- the Corkswoon is back in stock at Stuart Weitzman ($398), thank you to Stephanie for giving everyone an update on the WKW Facebook page, this is a favorite for many Kate fashion fans. (Something yours truly could never even attempt to walk in!)
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NEXT APPEARANCE: Wednesday, December 11 William and Kate attend an advanced screening of Sir David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3D. The screening will be at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.
LINKAGE:
- Read up on Shooting Star Children’s Hospice by visiting its website here, follow their Twitter feed here, or visit the organization’s Facebook page here
- You can read the entire story the Hospice posted on its website here and visit the
- Read Richard Palmer’s entire story in The Express, Lucy Waterlow’s Daily Mail story is here, and Victoria Murphy’s Piece in the Mirror may be read here
Jasmine Willa
Friday 5th of March 2021
I LOVE Aquatalia! I have a pair of knee-high suede boots from them that I wore for 2 years in Boston and they still look great. Warm, comfortable, and waterproof. Highly recommended and I'm sure your boots will keep very nicely!
Anne P
Wednesday 18th of December 2013
I like Kate's whole outfit. Absolutely appropriate for the event - casual, but lovely. Well done Kate.
Danielle
Saturday 14th of December 2013
Hi there, I was shopping for boots and came across these, which reminded me immediately of Kate's on this outing. Thought you might like to share the anais suede ugg style with your readers!
Penelope
Friday 13th of December 2013
I was able to buy the same jacket the duchess has worn from the reiss website in the UK And I have to say it looks great in the flesh: tailored, elegant and with minimal lines.
Individually I like all parts of this outfit including the wedges, I'm not bothered at all by the combination of the jeans with the jacket (I tired mine with Ralph Lauren jeans and riding jodhpurs in both blue and black and the jacket works well with both of them). Even the wedges have started to grow on me a lot, the only thing I'm not still not sure off is the combination of the wedges with the particular jacket and the fact that the wedges are teamed with very skinny pants.
I do have a question for Susan or anybody else who can advise on the matter: given that people are not 100% sure which type of jeans from (probably) J Brand she is wearing, what is the closest approximation that is found on line? Could it be the 815 velvet skinny in blue steel? I want to buy a pair closet to that look and it would be good to get some advise.
Many thanks
Lilly
Wednesday 18th of December 2013
Hey penelope....
I definetly think that these are the jbrand in navy (or steel blue) - i have ordered them in velvet - think they are the best joyce!!
Lilly
Thursday 12th of December 2013
Hey guys,
I Need your advice bout the Outfit: I have bought the Jacket Kate is wearing in Navy - would you think the navy blue jacket fits with a dark blue Velvet Jeans from JBrand?
Many thanks
Penelope
Friday 13th of December 2013
Yes I think in principal they should go together if they are both quite dark. What dark navy jeans from J Brand were you thinking of matching them with? Perhaps the 815 velvet super skinny in blue steel?
I've also bought the jacket but in cool grey same like the duchess's and I want to buy the jeans but it seems that people aren't sure which pair it is? See my individual comments above. It's lovely jacket isn't it? Can't believe I was able to get an xsmall from the reiss website in the UK, It sold out so quickly.
tracey
Thursday 12th of December 2013
Yes, I do think they would go together, quite possibly, but would like to see a pic of the shade of dark blue of these velvet jeans, and how thick the velvet pile is, also, to confirm jacket's formal lines don't fight with what I think are more casual pants, which was Kate's main problem. I think the darker shade brings your jacket into more casual zone than Kates pale dove grey, which will help with this.
I think I would lean to the cigar pant/tailored trouser look others mentioned for helping out kate's look, but I think you have to put your pieces together and see how it works --your look may be amazing, and right shirt, accessories, etc., could really make it all come together -- successful fashion is often about unconventional choice pulled off with panache or personality, as I see it!
I may be old school in this, and welcome other opinions, but when my jacket and pants are in similar primary color like black, blue, brown, I think they must either match nearly identically or be different enough to make a nice contrast. When they are very close in shade, but off by a noticeable bit, enough that it is clear they are not a match, it can look sloppy or not well thought out.
And to save this all-navy ensemble from looking overly corporate, unless that is your intent, i would have the shirt be in fun jewel tones that complement your skin tone, maybe a pink shade, gold, orange or a fun print mixing these, my go-to is magenta, fuchsia, or a print mix for navy but that works for my skin tone.
However, I live in Los Angeles, though, where one can wear bright colors like this year round, so grain of salt re shirt colors if you are somewhere with real winter weather. If you go too bright or light, may risk looking strangely out of synch for winter, unless you are going for a colorful sweater?