It’s Erdem for Tour de France Launch, And Bargains at Kate-Favored Designers/Retailers

Kate, William and Harry gave the 101st Tour de France a royal sendoff today.

James Whatling/Splash News

The race’s Grand Départ took place at historic Harewood House in Yorkshire, where Kate cut the ribbon for the start.

Before the start all three young royals spoke with riders, fans, organizers, and others. Prince William is seen speaking with British cyclist Mark Cavendish. Unfortunately, during the actual race Mr. Cavendish had a very serious crash, resulting in a dislocated shoulder and ruptured ligaments. As of this writing it isn’t known if he will start tomorrow’s race

Clarence House Instagram

This is all part of the Yorkshire Festival of Cycling that started yesterday, it is being hosted at Harewood House.

Yorkshire Festival of Cycling

The crowds watching today’s race were enormous, more from the BBC:

Organisers said “well over” a million people watched along the route, with initial estimates suggesting there were 230,000 spectators in the centre of Leeds and more than 10,000 watched the riders on the steep climb at Buttertubs Hill.

The course for Stage 1 of the race went from Leeds to Harrogate. At the end of today’s race Germany’s Marcel Kittel took the yellow jersey for 1st place. It was officially presented to him by the Duchess.

Prince Harry presented Peter Sagan with a white jersey, awarded to the best young rider taking part in the race.

At the finish line Kate also met with athletes from the Yorkshire area who are receiving SportsAid assistance, she is Patron of that organization. Tomorrow’s course travels from York to Sheffield, on Monday the Stage 3 course runs from Cambridge to London. More on today’s events from Hello!:

Despite not joining his parents and uncle on Saturday, Prince George was acknowledged by the famous cycle race’s organisers and gifted with his own mini yellow jersey, the item given to winners throughout the Tour de France.

Royal fans, who lined the Yorkshire streets to cheer on the cyclists, were also keen to talk about George, with one little girl asking where he was to which Kate replied “he’s asleep in his bedroom”.

The Duchess also gave an insight into what the little Prince enjoys playing with, telling one well-wisher that George is “interested in helicopters and anything with wheels.”

Most readers will recognize today’s coat, it is the Erdem ‘Allie’ wool crepe coat first worn in New Zealand.

Beneath the coat, Kate wore the Suzannah Budding Heart Silk Tea dress (£475, roughly $720), as she did in New Zealand. It was also worn when the Cambridges were seen at the Splendid Butterflies exhibit last week.

Kate carried her Avona clutch and wore her Sledge platform pumps, both items by LK Bennett.

Kate wore the emerald and diamond earrings we have yet to identify. She also had on her Cartier Ballon Bleu wristwatch.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many retailers use the July 4th holiday as a launch point for their sales. Today we offer a brief list of sales at Kate-favored brands. We begin with Beulah London, their spring/summer sale started this week.

Beulah London

Pieces on sale include the April Dress (originally £425, now £295), the Cara Scarf, (discounted to £105 from £125) and the Jade dress originally (£495, now £395) and

Beulah London

Those seeking deep discounts will appreciate Temperley London, where a sizable amount of inventory is discounted by 60%.

Temperley London

Looking at dresses in the sale category we found the Myra dress (below left), it is now priced at $245, it originally retailed at $465. On the lower right, the Primrose Dress, selling for $785, marked down from $1565.

Temperley London

There are accessories among the discounted items. Below we show the Lace Bicouloured Scarf in fuchsia mix and maroon mix, the two seen lower right are the Poppy Print Scarf in the blue and pink colorways. Both scarves originally sold for $195, they are now priced at $80.

Temperley London

You can view all of the Temperley sale merchandise here.

Zara’s sale has been underway for almost a week; we did some quick grazing and thought we would share some of the jackets that are on sale. Below left, the Classic Blazer in pink is $69.99 (originally $119); the Structured Double-Breasted Blazer in navy blue is $79.99 (originally $139); on the right we show the Peplum Jacket in sea green, it is selling for$49.99 (originally $99.90).

Zara

At Jimmy Choo there are quite a few styles on sale. Two shoes that Kate wears are discounted in different colors/material: below left we show the Cosmic in petrol glitter (now $388 , originally $775), on the right it’s the Gilbert in Navy Suede ($398, originally $795).

Jimmy Choo

There are some outstanding bargains at LK Bennett, there are almost 500 items in its sale section. Better yet, shoppers receive an additional 30% off those sale prices through next Monday (July 7th), use promo code ID30 at checkout to receive the discount. A few pieces we saw on sale: the Marissa Zip Dress is $486.50 (originally $695), the Peto Maxi Dress is $347.50 ($695 originally), the Cyrene Crossover Front Dress is $322.50 (originally $645). NOTE: The prices shown above do not reflect the additional 30% markdown.

LK Bennett

Not on sale but worth noting: the Lasa Poppy print dress is sold out on the LK Bennett US/Canada site, but available in limited sizes on the UK/International website (£245). The blue Detroit dress so many of us liked is available: it remains priced at £225 on the UK site in a broad range of sizes; on the US site the dress is still $395, but it isn’t available in as many sizes.

LK Bennett

Back to bargain hunting, Reiss has also added inventory to its sale category and taken deeper markdowns. The Venice Formal Tailored Dress (reminiscent of the Shola in styling details) is priced at $283 (originally $360); the Bridge Cow Neck Dress is $180 (originally $360); the Cipriano Keyhole Detail Dress is $252 (originally $360).

Reiss

Erdem launched its new website in June. One of the biggest site enhancements is ecommerce capabilities, you can now order pieces directly from Erdem. There is also a sale section on the site. From that category (l to r): the Allegra Floral Dress originally priced at $841 is now $583; the Adora Embroidered Dress is now selling at $2856, discounted from $4083; on the far right we show the Daina Dress, it’s $1192 now, the original price was $1192.

Erdem

Updates from other retailers:

At Alexander McQueen there is also a broad selection of sale merchandise, with discounted jewelry, clothing, shoes and handbags.
Jenny Packham doesn’t sell clothing on the website, but they do offer accessories. Some of those items are on sale.
Topshop is taking an extra 30% off sale merchandise
Stuart Weitzman has a selection of styles 40% off
Hobbs is offering up to 70% off in its sale section

Apologies for the delay with today’s post, I had an out-of-town commitment.

LINKAGE:

the Tour de France website is here, the Facebook page is here, and the Twitter page is here
the Harewood House website is here, its Facebook page may be seen here and
the Daily Express photo gallery from Stage 1 of the race can be seen here, the Daily Mail’s picture-heavy story is here & its 2:30 video story can be watched here
the BBC‘s coverage can be found here; for a video story about the Red Arrows flyover of Harewood House click here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Leah

Tuesday 8th of July 2014

Ahhh, Wills and Harry are twinsies.

I've always wondered: Does Kate own anything "business casual?" She seems to almost always overdress when William goes a bit casual. I love her style for the most part, but I wonder if it's a kind of overcompensation for being born upper middle class, but not aristocratic.

Letthemeatcake

Saturday 12th of July 2014

Nothing to do with that...Diana was an aristocrat and she was usually dressed to the nines even for 1980s standards.

ElizaMo

I'd have thought that one of the greatest qualifications Kate has for the role of Royal lady is precisely her tendency to dress up, there can't be that many women around these days as willing as she is to wear frocks, even for everyday shopping outings.

I agree it looks odd against the two brothers but I'd say AshleyOlivia has hit it on the head, Kate couldn't risk looking casual for launching the world's biggest bike race or the press would have been down on her like a ton of bricks. The rules are just so different for women in business and public life.

She also needs bright colours to stand out for the photographs, and maybe this coat also gives a nod toward a "racing green." She needs showier outfits to fulfil the expectations of many for something "princessy" and a bit special, not everyday. Just a thought!

AshleyOlivia

As an American, I feel particularly unqualified to comment on current British perceptions of social class, but I would be more tempted to characterize the Duchess's tendency to overdress as the result of gender. In general, men can get away with dressing more casually than women. I know from personal experience in my own field that at event where a business suit is de rigueur for a woman, a man can sport nice jeans and a blazer without causing any raised eyebrows. Also, it is simply more work to project a particular level of formality or informality in women's clothing. For a man, a suit equals formal and a pair of khakis equals business casual, but the Duchess (and all women) have so many more hurdles to navigate (and we all know that an accessory or shoe can elevate or downplay a dress in many different ways). The Duchess may just feel that when in doubt, it is best to err on the side of formality in order not to risk offending anyone.

monalisa2

Monday 7th of July 2014

I actually don't remember this coat on the NZ tour, but I think it looks terrific. Love the colour on her, its well tailored, fits her well (maybe been tailored since NZ/Australia?) and its not too long - well, maybe an inch, nothing should hit right in the middle of the knee. She always looks good in Erdem. However, it does look too heavy for the sunny weather and too formal for the occasion. This is a sporty coat. Anything with zippers, especially double zippers as this is, can be informal. What I don't understand is Kate's buttoned up/zipped up look these days. It looks so last century schoolmarmish - and I mean 19th not 20th century. If she had unzipped it top and bottom so that more of the dress showed especially when she walked, it would have changed the feel of it both in terms of weight for weather and casualness. Would have read more as a jacket. That plus the tightly clutched clutch makes her feel a bit stiff. BTW agree about the boy's baggy jeans. These are people in their early 30s - lots of time to be old.

Georgina Pond

I think the coat is really cute on her but think it was too dressy or the event. The dress looks so cute, would love to see it not covered up! The dress would have been cute with some natural or white/natural wedge sandals and maybe a cute short jacket/blazer. But really she is such a lovely looking and acting woman not really feeling right making any criticism.

Karen

I, too, am a regular reader and really appreciate the thoughtful posts and respectful comments, there is always such interesting discussion!

While, I am not a fan of this coat neither in NZ nor here (it just seems too formal for the event, especially given that William and Harry were dressed down). I would have expected to see her dressed more casually as she usually is at sporting events...

However, there may be a more subtle reason for its choice: bright green is the color of the Tour de France Sprint points champion, a title Mark Cavendish has held many times, and was the main contender for this year until his injury. So this may have been a quiet nod to her support for a fellow Brit.

Also, it seems that she wears the same outfits over again whenever she would rather the focus be on the event, not what she is wearing to it. Or maybe I'm over-thinking all this and she just really likes it!

Meh.

I was one of the few who actually liked this coat on the tour, but it really feels too heavy for this event, both in terms of this being a more casual, sports-themed outing and the reality that she is provoking some scratching of heads by wearing a full-length coat in July (completely zipped, too, I might add!). While the visible zipper adds a slight sporty touch, overall this combination is too formal to celebrate a cycling race, even if it is the most famous one in the world.

I also have to add that while I am in general a fan of recycling, I think public figures, including the Duchess, should be wary of repeating an outfit exactly, particularly when one has just worn this identical outfit merely months ago. For those of us mere mortals with tighter budgets and smaller closets, exactly paired repeats are acceptable of course, but there is no need for the Duchess to be this frugal and--dare I say it--unoriginal. Adding even more to the blah factor is the reality that she wore the Suzannah just last week. Reach a bit further back into your closet, Kate!