Pick Your Favorite New Dress Worn By The Duchess On Tour

We are back with the first of our polls looking at what Kate Wore on tour. Today our topic is only new dresses worn by the Duchess, we will do Kate’s coat dresses and repeated dresses separately.

The first new frock was the Tory Burch Paulina in black and ivory, worn for the Plunket playdate Prince George and Kate enjoyed with other parents and children. The Paulina is an open knit with short sleeves, a defined waist and tassel-like fringe at the sleeve cuffs and hemline.

For an official State reception at Government House Kate returned to one of her favorite designers, Jenny Packham.  The Duchess’s dress was below the knee, with a modified bateau neckline, long sleeves and the real showstopper: an embroidered fern on the left shoulder done in crystals and silver beading.

While we were unable to see how this piece looked on Kate underneath her Erdem coat, I still thought it merited inclusion in our poll. The Budding Heart silk tea dress by Suzannah is based on a 1930s style; it has a bias-cut skirt, a deep v-neck, smocking under the bust and at the upper shoulder seams.

When attending Palm Sunday services in Dunedin the Duchess wore a dress from another of her favorite designers, Emilia Wickstead.  This is the ‘Alice,’ a design most readers will recognize, we have seen Kate wear the identical piece in a soft pink.

For the family’s arrival in Australia, Kate opted for a frock by another favorite, Roksanda Ilincic.  The customized version of the designer’s ‘Ryedale’ dress is made of wool crepe, with short sleeves, an off-center front slit, and an exposed back zipper. The piece is from the spring/summer 2014 collection. (For details on what changes differentiate Kate’s dress from the off the rack version, click here to see our original post.)

When William and Kate visited Australia’s famed Blue Mountains we saw another return to a favored designer and dress style. The Duchess wore a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, the ‘Patrice.’  It features DVF’s classic cross-over wrap front with self-fastening waist tie, three-quarter length sleeves, a hidden side zipper and pockets.

Kate chose a dress from an Australian brand for the Royal Easter Show in Sydney and two other engagements, wearing the ‘Roamer Day Dress‘ from Zimmermann, part of the label’s Swim and Resort Collection. Crafted from a textile we know Kate is fond of, broderie anglaise, the dress hits just above the knee, has a high neckline, elbow-length sleeves, and a defined waist.

Yet another Kate-favored brand had a dress showcased in Australia; when visiting Brisbane the Duchess wore the Lasa Poppy Print dress from LK Bennett’s spring collection. The knee-length dress is a cotton/rayon blend, with a squared neckline, back zipper, slit at the back hem for ease of movement and that rich blue floral pattern strategically placed to flatter one’s figure.

The final dress in our poll is another design from Roksanda Ilincic, the greyish/taupish variation on her ‘Lovina’ style, worn for a visit to the National Indigenous Peoples Training Academy.

This weekend we’ll have the two other dress/coat-dress polls.

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A quick note for those interested in purchasing a pair of the Mint Velvet plimsolls Kate wears: they are back in stock.

The company *will ship* to the US, as well as select other countries, below we share one of their Tweets today with directions on who to contact for international shipping.

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One other footwear note, the Imperia espadrilles in ivory are back in stock at Dune London, while the black is available inmost sizes.

WKW friend Food, Fash, Fit has a Facebook post comparing the Dune London version of the Imperia with the Pied a Terre version, with both brands under the same corporate umbrella now.

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