2 Private Engagements for Kate & A New Brand Profile

We are back with a few quick updates and a look at a brand that may be new for some readers.

William, Kate, George and the Middletons have returned from their Mustique vacation. The Duchess dived back into work today with a visit to a school in southeast London; word of the visit was shared on Twitter.

The Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital school caters to students who are patients at either Bethlem Royal Hospital or Maudsley Hospital; both facilities specialize in mental health services.  As the tweets above note, Kate was at the school in her role as patron of Place2Be. More from a Press Association story in The Daily Mail:

“This visit was arranged through Place2Be, of which HRH is Royal Patron, after learning about their work during the Place 2 Reflect conference last year to further develop her knowledge of the sector.”

Kate had listened to the school’s headteacher Dr John Ivens, an educational psychologist, speak at the Place2Be conference on children’s mental health in June.

Students at the school range in age from 4 years old through the teen years, up to age 19. A parent with a child attending the school shared this on Twitter:

There is an art gallery on the grounds of Maudsley Hospital, the Maudsley Long Gallery. There is also a gallery at Bethlem, the Bethlem Gallery.  More on the gallery’s ties with the hospital from the Museum’s website:

The Bethlem Gallery primarily exhibits work by artists who have had contact with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s services. One exhibition a year is dedicated to work outside of this remit that has relevance to mental health, the hospital site or our historic collection.

The Duchess has shared her belief that art can play a key role in treating a broad spectrum of illnesses. One of her patronages, The Art Room, specializes in art therapy. When looking at the varying elements, the hospitals’ mental health focus and art galleries, as well as Kate’s charitable interests, one sees how today’s school visit fits right in.

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UPDATED FEB 11:  Kate had another private engagement, this one on Wednesday, February 11th. She attended a reception on behalf of the Royal Foundation. Once again we turn to the Press Association’s Twitter account for information.

If additional details about the function are released we will update the post.

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Many readers may have seen the photos of the Duke, Duchess and Prince George as they boarded a British Airways flight for the trip back to London from Mustique; if not, those images can be seen here and here. There have been suggestions Kate may have been in the crochet-collar top she was seen in when expecting George, as shown on this cover of Hello! magazine. I’ve not seen photos large enough, or with high enough resolution, that allow identification of what Kate wore at the airport.

In the airport photos, Prince William is carrying a bag by the British brand Joules.

Many initially thought it was a Cath Kidston piece, but that was not the case. William was carrying the Joules ‘Stopover’ in the overnight size, the pattern is called Bluposy.

The bag is sold out in that pattern, but I thought it offered a good opportunity to introduce readers unfamiliar with the brand to Joules. It’s a retailer I wrote about with some frequency when authoring a blog focused on preppy style. Joules was launched in 1989.

Initially Tom Joules sold merchandise at country shows and festivals, much the way Really Wild Clothing and others market their merchandise. It makes sense, many styles fit well in a country setting. There’s a slideshow on the Joules website offering info on the company’s history, it is filled with some fun factoids, including this one.

Joules is long popular with some favoring a preppy style aesthetic in the US, a not-too-distant-relative to the look attributed to a British Sloane. Below, a Joules fieldcoat from the a/w 2014 line.

When asked over the years to describe the brand I usually said it was something like a blend of LL Bean and Lands’ End, with a touch of Orvis, definitely some Boden, and a good dose of local country outfitters. Joules brand offers pieces in cottage prints, heritage tweeds, florals, and waxed cotton solids.

Several Joules coat styles have been popular with WKW readers, especially the quilted looks. Below left we show the Marcotte, below right, the Moredale, one of our more popular ‘CopyKate Clothing’ pins (and long since sold out), a good stand-in for those seeking the look of a quilted Barbour.

The company’s wellies were part of the original product line, and then equestrian items were added to the merchandise mix. Boots remain big sellers, in the USA they’re priced anywhere from $42 to $167.

One of the nicer things about sweaters in the USA outlet, now selling at $51, discounted from $120.

Spring 2015 sweaters.

There’s a knit top that looks like a splendid repliKate for the Breton strip tops worn by the Duchess…until one realizes the piece is actually a cardigan. (It looks like a splendid sweater nonetheless!)

Joules has an online outlet carrying discounted merchandise. Below we show an infant’s Zip Through Fleece Top ($32, was originally $45), women’s Bilson Cashmere Sweater (originally $154, now $102) and the Jaws Mittens (initially sold for $23, now $14).

Joules produces a broad range of handbags, totes, and luggage. Below we share 2 spring items, the Carrie Shoulder Bag and Kembry Weekend Bag, both are in the French Navy Garden design, shown at Bell Shoes.

Two leather styles: the Lycett (l) and the Witnell (r), both as shown at Country Attire.

The retailer has a good selection of menswear. Below, styles are shown at Jarrold, in Norwich (UK). The sweater in the middle is reminiscent of an iconic LL Bean piece, Bean’s Norwegian sweater.

Joules also carries clothing and accessories for the younger set, with merchandise for newborns/infants, plus baby boys and girls.

Along with regular children’s sizes. In addition to clothing and accessories, Joules UK sells items for the home, like bedding. The UK site also carries kitchen goods.

NOTE: While writing this post the UK, USA and Germany Joules sites went down, evidently for scheduled work. It appears the sites will all be offline until Wednesday evening. However, there is an upside to the outage: the company is offering 10% off orders from Wednesday evening until midnight Thursday. In the USA use promo code USFEB15, in the UK the code is FEB15, in Germany it is DEFEB15.

UPDATED FEB 11: The sites all appear to be back up and running, but you can still use the discount code until midnight tomorrow.

Boutique and specialty shops stock the brand, including Country Attire. It is also carried by some department stores, like House of Fraser and Next in the UK. In America the wellies are carried by Target (thanks to Sue B Do for that tip!), Nordstrom has a small sampling of wellies, the brand is also offered on Amazon in the US.

We’ll see you Thursday for Kate’s Portsmouth engagement.

LINKAGE:

• Learn more about Bethlem and Maudsley School by visiting the school’s website here
• Visit Place2Be’s website here to learn more about the organization, and/or visit Place2Be’s Facebook page here