New Engagements for Kate’s Calendar, LK Bennett Launches Bridal Collection

Hello and happy weekend to all, hopefully it’s an enjoyable one.  We begin today with new engagements added to Kate’s Calendar.

• Monday, March 9 (15:15 local time/10:15am ET): William and Kate join the Queen and other royals for a Commonwealth Observance Day service at Westminster Abbey. The Day is “Britain’s largest annual inter-faith gathering… organised with the Royal Commonwealth Society. Among the 2,000-strong congregation will be more than 1,000 children from schools and youth groups.” (This is via Westminster Abbey.) The service is roughly an hour long and will include music, readings and hymns.

• Friday, March 13th (11am local time/6am ET): William and Kate join other senior royals at St. Paul’s for a Service of Commemoration honoring those who served in Afghanistan. “The service will pay tribute to members of the Armed Forces past and present who served on operations in Afghanistan, and all those in the UK who worked to make the country a safer more stable place.” Following the service there will be a parade through the streets of London, a flyover and a reception at the GuildHall. “Members of the public will be able to watch the parade and from next week can visit the City of London police website for more information including timings and a map of the route.” The order of service may be seen here, there are also details here.
  • Obviously a solemn occasion, the service will be attended by senior political and governmental officials, as well as “members of the Armed Forces, veterans, the next of kin of deceased personnel, representatives of military and aid charities and organisations, and the UK’s NATO allies in Afghanistan from 2001 – 2014.”
  • During/following the parade there will be “… a flypast of aircraft used in the campaign, including Chinook, Apache and Sea King Helicopters, and Hercules and Tornado aircraft will fly over the parade and Cathedral in tribute.”
  • The service and parade will be aired live on BBC One starting at 10:30am London time.

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Next on our hit parade, a look at LK Bennett’s spring collection. We begin with a frock that is arguably the most versatile of the label’s spring dress crop, the Marlene Fitted Dress ($395). This one can easily be dressed up or down, paired with a shrug, a jacket, almost anything. The colors from left to right: cyan blue, jelly bean pink and dark navy.

The Mariana Fitted Dress comes in both black and blue; on the right, LKB’s Valorie Fitted dress ($425), shown in cyan.

The Sophia Suit Dress in dark navy ($395) is described as “a wardrobe essential – note the cap sleeves, longer length and chic square neckline,” an apt characterization. On the right, the brand’s Maria Pleat Dress ($425) in light cream.

Two softer styles from the retailer, the Azura Full Skirt Dress in an elegant creamy white, a piece that looks tailor made for the Duchess. On the right, the Occa 50’s Style Dress. (Currently these two frocks are shown only on the LKB UK site.)

Styles with a little personality include the Hannah Shift Dress ($345) in a delicate floral print, on the right we show the Largo Pencil Dress, almost all cotton with a touch of spandex for ease of movement.

The Salmie dress ($525) is done in a wool/silk blend, with black bands at the waist and back, and “a cape-like effect.” It appears the aqua color is only available in the UK at this point.

Below, the Luchia Racer Dress ($545) in a navy cotton/silk blend, along with the Wardour Lace Overlay Dress ($525) in jelly bean pink, also offered in sloane blue.

Takeaways after grazing at LKB’s dress collection:

• navy is the new black – the collection shows a number of basics in navy, a nice switch from basic black
• the brand continues to excel when it comes to updated office dress styles

For spring/summer footwear the Sledge remains part of the brand’s collection of basics, although the color palette is not as broad; from left to right, the Sledge in Clay, in Kate’s taupe, and in black.

There are loads of colorful styles coming into the stores, like the Jenna Bucket Bag and Alma Print Sandals.

There are some fun footwear prints this spring. On the left, the Fern Patent Leather Point Toe Pump in black polka dots ($345), and the Florete Printed Leather Point Toe Heel ($345) in a paint spatter pattern.

The Hazel Suede Almond Toe pump ($325) comes in the power pink shown below left as well as blue denim and black; the Flossie Suede D’Orsay heel ($325) is offered in blue denim suede, beige trench leather and citrus patent leather.

LK Bennett has just launched its bridal collection, offering heels and handbags. Below, the Floey Embellished Suede Point Toe heel.

There is no shortage of glitter; from left to right: the Clemmie Glitter Slingback Platform ($375), the Fern Glitter Pointed Toe Pumps, and the Megan Glitter Suede Platform Sandal ($395).

The Palma Glitter Knit Strappy Sandal ($375) and coordinating Flo Glitter Clutch ($345).

The Erica Glitter Peep Toe Wedge ($360) also coordinates with the Flo clutch shown above. To see the complete lineup of shoes in the bridal collection, click here.

For those not near an LK Bennett store, Nordstrom does carry a selection of the label’s footwear. This includes a few pieces I didn’t see on the LK Bennett site, like the Elsa Espadrille ($195) and the Priya Wedge ($275).

There are also shoe colors that I believe are exclusive to Nordstrom in the USA.  For example, Nordstrom has the Irene Pointy-Tie Pump in red, while the LK Bennett US site does not; both Nordstrom and LK Bennett have the shoe in black patent; in the US the pink marshmallow color is available only at LK Bennett.

It’s always fun to look at spring styles, it makes spring’s arrival seem just a teeny bit closer.

We will see you in a few days!

LINKAGE:

• Learn more about Commonwealth Day here, visit the Royal Commonwealth Society website here, see the group’s Facebook page here, its Instagram page here & YouTube channel here
• You can learn more about the Service of Commemoration at the governmental website here, view the order of service for St. Paul’s by clicking here