The Duchess wore a new suit by Oscar de la Renta for tonight’s engagement.
Kate and Prince William attended the UK Guild of Health Writers conference. More from Simon Perry’s People story:
The theme of the writers’ conference was ‘The Anxiety Epidemic” and featured a number of guest speakers, including Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, which is part of the Heads Together coalition.
From Gordon Rayner’s story in The Telegraph:
The Duke of Cambridge has stressed that “silence can kill” as he urged people struggling with their mental health to tell someone about it.
Addressing an audience of health writers, he said he had benefited from a working environment as a helicopter pilot in which all crew members were encouraged to admit to feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope.
Kensington Palace
Kate and William also listened to presentations by four experts on the anxiety epidemic theme.
Now to what Kate wore for tonight’s event. It is the first time we have seen the Duchess wearing Oscar de la Renta. (The Duchess has worn a pair of OdlR earrings several times.)
Pool/James Whatling
Both pieces are from the Fall 2015 collection, crafted of a stretch wool boucle. The three-quarter sleeve tailored jacket features a fitted bodice with a pleated, flared hem. There are dual front besom pockets, a pointed collar, and slits at the end of the sleeves. This piece also has multiple panels and seams below the yoke on the back and the pockets on the front. It was originally priced at $2190.
Moda Operandi
The full skirt is constructed of the same material; it showcases box pleats and a hidden back zipper. The skirt originally was priced at $1290.
Moda Operandi
The exact fabric blend is 65% wool/32% polyamide/3% elastane, and the color is officially called ‘ultraviolet.’ Both pieces were made in Italy. More on today’s look from The Telegraph’s digital fashion editor, Bethan Holt:
Although it’s ultimately a conservative look, the suit is further evidence that Kate is experimenting with the brands and silhouettes which she buys, whilst always making sure that her look ticks the all-important appropriate box.
Fall 2015 was an important collection for the brand, it was the first designed by Mr. de la Renta’s handpicked successor, Peter Copping. More from Vogue’s review:
On one side of the catwalk arrayed to the left and right of Oscar’s widow, Annette, were dames like Barbara Walters, Nancy Kissinger, Mica Ertegun, and Mercedes Bass—honest to goodness buy-a-dress socialites as opposed to the borrow-a-dress socialites fashion manufactures for the front row nowadays. On the other side were BFFs Taylor Swift and Oscar favorite Karlie Kloss wearing coordinated, colorful frocks and attracting the eyes of everyone in the room.
Kate’s suit is classic de la Renta. As I mentioned to a friend on Twitter, I wasn’t surprised she elected to wear pieces from the label. Once we saw her in the CH Carolina Herrera coat during the Canada tour I thought it would only be a matter of time before we saw her in this brand.
The two fabled design houses have overlapping clientele and share some similarities in their approach and aesthetic. More about Mr. de la Renta from this British Vogue obituary following the designer’s death in October of 2014.
“Of all the designers in the world, Oscar de la Renta was the most reliable at designing clothes that made you feel beautiful,” British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said this morning. “He stuck to his conviction about how women should look – elegant, joyful, feminine – no matter how fashion changed, but his designs never felt old or hackneyed.
Mr. Copping’s time as creative director at Oscar de la Renta was short; he left last summer after a little more than two years at the company.
Kate carried her Bayswater Wallet Clutch by Mulberry.
The Duchess had on her Mappin & Webb Empress earrings.
And her Cartier Ballon Bleu wristwatch.
Kate wore her hair down this evening.
A very interesting side note about the look: Laura F suggests on the WKW Facebook page this may be the mystery outfit worn by the Duchess to this year’s Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.
I think Laura and others are probably correct, the color looks very similar in the limited photos that are available.
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In this morning’s post on William and Kate’s Place2Be engagement, we mentioned that today is the Queen’s Sapphire Anniversary of her accession to the throne. Here is a Sky News piece on how that occasion was marked.
The Queen has become the first British Monarch to celebrate a #SapphireJubilee #SNT https://t.co/vsNMZG1PuY
— Sky News Tonight (@SkyNewsTonight) February 6, 2017
We’ll see you in a few days.
Mary
Saturday 11th of February 2017
I keep coming back to look at this suit and think about it some more, and I've concluded that yes, I really do like it. The colour is absolutely fantastic, I like the black/charcoal stockings, and although I'd wear the skirt longer and with boots, I am sadly neither 35 nor a duchess.
I really love the colour. Wow. It's not a colour to build a wardrobe around, but for a now-and-then pop of colour its fantastic. Were I Kate, I'd wear the jacket with jeans (and boots!) on the weekend.
Lavender
Saturday 11th of February 2017
Late to the party but I couldn’t resist making the 100th comments! I didn’t have anything to say about the red suit & didn’t know K&W had attended another event. This is a gorgeous colour & style. I believe she has only worn this colour once before, an Issy dress on her first visit to Canada; she obviously isn’t much of a purple person as she has very few items in this colour spectrum. I am biased; I love purples & wore these styles for day/evening when I was young, though the trend then was much longer skirts. I am puzzled though about what some refer to as ‘design principles’; I appreciate that ‘Clothes Designing’ is a form of art, that historically has echoed that of architecture, furniture design & painting styles. Buildings of the Mannerist period (Elizabeth I) were large, imposing looking & wider than they were tall – this was also how people dressed, wide frames for women & padded doublets & hose for men; the Gothic silhouette is the opposite, tall & slender. Similarly, similar suits were lower-calf length in the 80s, floor-length in the Victorian era, whilst Kate’s is above the knee & the models hem is just on it. Cheesecloth dresses with an Empire-line high waist were floor length for the Ancient Greeks & Regency aristocrats, but so short in the 60s that girls couldn’t sit on them – so which design principle is wrong? Weren’t rigid, hard & fast rules thrown out in the 60s anyway? Princes William & Charles have shown irritation at how much focus is given on Kate’s clothes. It has been reported that William prefers his wife to be known as a ‘workhorse’ rather than a ‘clothes horse’. I’m sure Kate feels that way too & her stylist is there to find clothes for her, but as a lot of things are just opinions & Kate will have studied art & design in all its forms for her degree, Kate has the final say on what she finds acceptable. I like this suit so much I fancy making it, but it would be ever so fiddly with all those panels, Kate is VERY fond of multi-panels! I can’t get worked up over a couple of inches space between the jacket & pleats but I see what people mean about the watch. Whilst it isn’t an ‘evening’ event, (yes, the time may be, but it’s a corporate-style talk, probably because attendees have a job in the daytime) the suit is such a pretty colour in such a ‘romantic’ (art/design in the Victorian era) style that it deserves a pretty gold bracelet watch with a dark face.
Bonnie
Sunday 12th of February 2017
With a name like Lavender, no wonder you love purple. Either this is your real name...or one you aspire to. :-)
Mary
Friday 10th of February 2017
I really enjoy the "girly", cute, whimsical additions to Kate's style. I can't understand the complaints about the fullness of the skirt. The little white collar that she wore with the green skirt suit was a very pretty, adorable touch. She has decades to dress old in the future. Let her have fun with fashion. Would you prefer to see her in the same Angela Kelly dresses that the queen wears?
MPW
Friday 10th of February 2017
Fab-u-lous. No more to be said.
The Way We Were
Thursday 9th of February 2017
Stunning color but IMHO the flare is bit too juvenile...
npr*girl
Tuesday 7th of March 2017
Yes-- exactly. I feel like she too often dresses like a 12 year old or a 65 year old and rarely somewhere in between. And when she does go a little risqué, itself all the wrong reasons (a ruffled wool mini skirt? Really?)
susan d
Friday 10th of February 2017
I too love the color on the DOC but find the extreme flare of the skirt off......otherwise love the rest of her look. It has almost a vintage look which doesn't balance with the rest of the outfit.