Kate was in a new dress by Eponine London for her first engagements of the year.
The Duchess was visiting the Anna Freud Centre to learn more about its Early Years Parenting Unit. Kate is the Centre’s Royal patron.
More from Rebecca English’s story for The Daily Mail:
The EYPU, which opened in April 2011, offers an assessment and treatment programme for parents with personality disorders and their children who, because of the issues affecting their parents, are at risk of being taken into care.
After the Freud Centre visit, Prince William joined the Duchess for an engagement at Child Bereavement UK.
More from the Child Bereavement news release:
The Duke of Cambridge has been Royal Patron of Child Bereavement UK since 2009, a charity which supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement.
The 1-year anniversary of Child Bereavement’s Stratford location was celebrated with a special cake.
Now to what Kate wore for the day’s appointments.
She was in a design by Eponine London. I call it a “coatdress” in the title of the post because that is what it looks like to me. It is difficult to tell without a better sense of the fabric weight; it may well be a dress.
The piece is from the 2016 autumn/winter collection.
As many commenters pointed out, Kate had the dress altered. You can see in the photos there are only four buttons on her garment while the Eponine product shots show five buttons.
This offers a better view of the multiple panels on the bodice; you can see the curving seam that creates the dropped shoulder.
Here you have a closer look at the back of the garment.
Kate first wore the brand in March of last year.
More about Eponine from an Emma Spedding story for The Telegraph, quoting the brand’s founder, Jet Shenkman, talking about Kate’s suit.
While she does create a series of outfits you can buy online such as the Duchess of Cambridges’ suit, the main focus for her label is made-to-measure custom pieces. “I like that with each client you get that very individual collaboration. What we do is pretty unique and every woman is given a lot of attention. We take the finished product so seriously, we really do. If it’s not perfect someone has to come back for another fitting,” she says.
She carried her navy suede Muse clutch by Stuart Weitzman.
The Duchess wore her Rupert Sanderson Malory heels.
Kate also had on her sapphire earrings and Cartier watch.
©Splash / PA Wire
She wore her hair partially pulled back.
LINKAGE:
- The Child Bereavement website is here, the organization’s Facebook page is here, its Twitter feed may be seen here, and the Instagram page is here
- The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families website is here; the info page on the Early Years Parenting Unit is here; the charity’s Facebook page is here; you will find the Twitter feed here, and YouTube channel here
- The Daily Mail’s story is here
monalisa
Tuesday 17th of January 2017
Looking at this dress and the coat from the previous post, it is obvious she had them retailored to significantly shorten the bodice. In the case of the coat, she even had the pocket flaps raised to accommodate the much higher waistline she decided to create with the belt. With the blue coat dress it is clear the bodice has been shortened because the original version has a waistline and belt that falls below the fifth button. Kate's falls at the fourth button, and the fifth is gone completely having been swallowed by the higher waistline. I have two issues with this - it invariably throws off the line of the garment that the designer created. So much of design is about cut and designers create their garments just as an artist would. I find this repeated "savaging" of the original design insulting to the designer. These are not tweaks but changes that actually ruin the line and design of the original. The garment actually looks like it was poorly designed and doesn't fit her better. Which brings me to the seond point - whatever the reasons for the changes, they don't make Kate look better - rather the opposite.. The changes to the blue coat dress make her look fat, frankly. Between the high waist and the hairclips, she looks like a girl, not a sophisticated stylish woman in her mid-30s. Maybe she thinks the high waist makes her look younger? Last, but not least, would it be possible for someone in her entourage to suggest something other than a fit and flare coat dress? I now groan every time I open this blog, which is in no way a reflection on its excellent content.
BerlinLondon
Sunday 15th of January 2017
Actually I don't find it too bad.But it seems to confuse many people if the waistline is neither "normal" nor clearly low (which would be 1920s) nor clearly high (which would be 1810s).Kate's coat here is somewhere in between normal and high.I don't mind it since it makes her legs look long.I would not mind a statement making "clearly high" empire waist on this piece either, but I am sure many people would hate this too, because it would make her look "pregnant".Or it would be considered weird on a tailored coat.I think a long sleeve would make the higher waist here more "intended" and less like the top is somewhat shrunken.
Sandra
Sunday 15th of January 2017
The high waist looks like it's disguising a baby bump.
Becca
Saturday 14th of January 2017
Love this coat dress and the collar is so chic, it makes the outfit.
Hilary
Friday 13th of January 2017
I agree with the short waist comments. A shortened waist is good for shorter people who want to make their legs look longer. However, the Duchess is tall and does not need to do that. On the other hand, she does it a lot, so maybe she likes the look. Personally, if that's the case, I think she should reconsider. She is tall enough and proportioned enough that she shouldn't do that. She did it with the coat she wore to church on the weekend - that belt was also too high. It really is distracting, isn't it - I think she might find that if she wore the waist at her natural waist line, she'd find her clothes look a lot better.
And the hair clips are a big "no" for anyone over the age of 7. She may have forgotten they were there when she did her makeup - let's give her the benefit of the doubt and go with that theory! Or maybe Charlotte helped her do her hair and she just forgot to remove them when she got in the car. Either way, when she got home, she probably thought "aaaaach! I can't believe I left those in my hair!" She is human after all.
Karen
Friday 13th of January 2017
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the hairclips. They help keep long hair from blowing all over your face on a windy day. I'm well over 7 and I know many others my age who continue to wear them for this very reason. I think Kate can get away with just about anything she wears because she is a normal person who has her okay, good, great and best days out just like the rest of us.