The Duchess Shines in Shimmering Erdem Dress at Palace Reception

Lovely post, she looks lovely! Can you correct the spelling of Gandhi? It's misspelt as Ghandi

I really like this look. Although it's not the word I would usually use for something with this much sparkle, I find it to be a very simple dress -- nothing extreme about it. I would dearly love a closeup look at the fabric. I bet it's amazing when you see it in person instead of just in pictures.

Hmmm. Kate looks nice, however when was it fashionable to match your shoes to your outfift? I don't like the matchy-matchy theme.

This is glittery, lacy, is a decent length & is what some call 'Beulah-esque' - which means I wish it was in my wardrobe! I'm glad she left her knees at home, there are no embarrassing photos, it suits her & she appears to be dressed much the same as anyone else there in overall-style - not over-dressed, like turning up for a reception & people are in lumberjack shirts and/or jeans. I thought at first that the colour/style was because the attendees were Indian; I noticed that when she wore the stunning dark blue evening dress/wrap covered with glitter in India, that most of the women there were dressed in shades of beige & blush, and the room was decorated with drapes in this colour scheme too & not much sparkle was about. I thought she deliberately dressed down but I changed my mind when I saw the Queen wearing a strong purple. Her Maj wore mostly pastel sparkly dresses when younger, she's branched out a lot more in old age, in her daywear too. Kate's hair looked gorgeous, she is young enough to be my daughter & I still have long hair, nobody worries about Indian or Middle-Eastern women having long hair either or if they have lots of children when sporting it. I always thought Diana's short hair didn't suit the ballgowns that she wore in the early years, it was too modern for the voluminous fabrics. At least you can do something that suits (the wearer) with length, you can't make it longer when dressing up.

What struck me the most about this look is timeless. Close your eyes and you could picture Diana in this dress, even a young Margaret. As a royal, her photos will be archived for long after we're gone and revisited many, many times between and after. I think it's wonderful when she embraces fashion-forward trends just like everyone else. However, for special events like these, I think that the idea is to capture something that will not just stand out for the test of time, but in ways still be relevant years, decades later. I think that is something that Catherine is very mindful of in general. We see it in how she dresses her children and the outfits she picks for royal engagements. It's a practiced image that sets her apart from other Royal ladies (not that their sartorial choices are any less important or poorly made. I just feel that this seems to be an English tradition more than anything) additionally; it doesn't make her the center of attention for the engagement (especially when the engagements are meant to bring awareness to social issues, the people present and people being honored, remembrances, and so forth.) I love that she always picks one (sometimes two, but small things) that makes her look shine; be it shoes, handbag, hairstyle or jewelry, there's a wink of her true nature in those choices.

I agree with many other commenters about her hair. She has beautiful healthy hair. There shouldn't be a mandate on when one cuts their hair and at what point styles become too young. I'm 39 and I have pink and purple hair. I'm no princess, and I'm certainly not young. But it makes me happy and looks perfectly fine (even as it fades, ugh, whyyyyy does it fade so quickly?) As long as Catherine is happy, why should she change it? I'd flaunt that hair all day if I could :)

Overall, I am very impressed with the look. I do prefer the appearance when it comes across as blush as opposed to the white, but she looks comfortable and beautiful either way. I can see these shoes becoming her new Jimmy Choo (I believe it's the Lance) silver sandal. The heel and cut are a bit more modern, and in colder months, the toe is closed and more appropriate. I don't necessarily think they look heavy, as other commenters, but could concede that in comparison to the nature of the dress they could come across that way. Either way, I'm still exceptionally happy with the look. The silver threading is a means to match the beautiful embroidery on the traditional Indian designs worn, without outright taking over the look. Just another way Catherine is great at making her sartorial choices symbolic (I believe the Queen is also quite adept at the same nods of symbolism and loved her look last night as well!) I'm anxiously awaiting what we see in Paris now!