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Kate in a Fan Favorite for Rugby Portobello Trust Visit

Kate returned to a favorite maternity brand for today’s engagement at the Rugby Portobello Trust in North Kensington.

More about the organization from The Express:

It is part of a network of centres that run programmes for children and parents such as homework clubs, sporting activities, social groups and tuition.
Additional info comes via Siofra Brennan’s Daily Mail article:

The Trust and the centre staff in Kensington have also been pivotal in supporting people affected by the Grenfell inferno which claimed 71 lives, including that of a stillborn baby, and left hundreds homeless.

Below, the building as it burned June 14th; on the right, the remains two days later on June 16th.
The Centre is not far from the site of the fire. In his People story Simon Perry reports on one of the things Harry, Kate & William are doing to help those affected by the fire:

….through their Royal Foundation, William, Kate and Harry have also established a support center to help victims cope with the mental health difficulties that have followed the catastrophic fire.

Thursday the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry will join Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Grenfell Tower National Memorial Service. (See our Calendar update section below for more info.)

While at the Centre the Duchess took part in a Christmas party put on by the Magic Mums.

The group helps mothers and their young children.

She also spent private time with some of the mothers. More from The Daily Echo:

The Duchess of Cambridge has heard the stories of mothers caught up in the Grenfell Tower blaze when she visited a centre supporting the local community.

Kate had a private informal meeting with a group of young women who have been helped by the Rugby Portobello Trust at its community centre in North Kensington.

Kate spoke with staff.

And heard about their work at the Centre.

The Duchess had helpers when she was assisting with setup for the afternoon Christmas party.

More from Victoria Murphy’s Daily Mirror story:

As the Duchess then helped set the table for the Christmas party which will take place later today, she asked a little boy: “Are you looking forward to Christmas time?”

The youngster, putting paper plates down, replied: “I like Christmas.”

Kate, laying Christmas crackers on the table, then asked him: “What are you going to do?”

The adorable boy told her he didn’t have a Christmas tree “or chimneys”.

I think the boy Victoria is referencing *might* be Yahya Hussein Ali, age 7, seen in this picture with Kate.

Victoria also posted a video on Twitter of Kate helping with preps for the party.

Kate with more of the Centre’s staff and management.

The Duchess made a brief speech thanking everyone at the Centre for their work and congratulating them on an award they recently received.

Kate receiving flowers as she was about to depart.

Now for our look at what Kate wore for today’s engagement. Many of you recognized the Séraphine Marina coat ($495) immediately. It rapidly became a favorite with quite a few Kate fashion followers after they first saw the Duchess wearing it. 

That happened in December 2014 when Kate wore it at the start of a brief trip to New York City.

The style was initially created just for Kate; this is from a 2014 Séraphine news release. 

The coat was then made available to the mass market. The wool blend bouclé has a bit of a sheen, attributable to a touch of metallic thread in the fabric. The design features an empire waist, front patch pockets, round neckline, frayed trim and velvet ribbon detailing. The product page notes that the piece is “…designed to wear before, during and after pregnancy; however, for customers not requiring a maternity fit, we recommend ordering one size down to give a more tailored look.”     

Responding to questions about the coat being a bespoke piece, that is how it was described by Séraphine when Kate first wore the style. I believe it was then available as a custom order for a period of time before it was mass-produced and added to the company’s regular inventory as part of the Luxe Collection.

Beneath the coat, I thought Kate could be wearing the Topshop Contrast Collar dress again. Below, two close-ups of the dress fabric peeking out the front of the coat.

But, as Laura pointed out on Twitter, we probably would have seen the white collar of the dress as well. So at this point, I am on the fence, and would lean toward putting it in the UFO (Unidentified Fashion Object) category.

We saw Kate’s go-to Bayswater Wallet Clutch by MulberryAnd her Tod’s suede pumps.

The Duchess wore her 167 Button earrings by Asprey ($4800).

The earrings are covered in pavé diamonds with an amethyst in the center.

She wore her hair down.

A final look.

A quick Séraphine shopping note from our Retail Roundup page. The entire Diana Award Collection is 30% off with promo code BABY30. This is the line with pieces made in the official Princess Diana tartan with a portion of sales going to support the Diana Award.

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Earlier today Kensington Palace announced that the Duke and Duchess are recipients of Gold Blue Peter badges. The badge is awarded by the BBC children’s program of the same name. More from The Telegraph:

They received their badges at the Blue Peter studios in Salford for their campaign work around mental health and mental health issues affecting children.

The presentation was made last week when Kate and William were at BBC Studios near Manchester. The BBC reports “Viewers can see William and Kate being presented with their badges in Thursday’s live Blue Peter Christmas special at 5.30pm on CBBC.” Here is a video of the presentation.

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As mentioned, we have updates to Kate’s Calendar. The first has specifics on Thursday’s service and the second provides dates for the tour of Sweden and Norway. : 

JANUARY:

  • Tuesday, January 30: At the request of the Foreign Office, Kate & William start their tour of Sweden and Norway. Today the couple will be in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Wednesday,  January 31: The Duke and Duchess have a second day in Stockholm.
  • Thursday, February 1: Kate and William start their tour of Oslo, Norway.
  • Friday, February 2: The Duke and Duchess wrap up their tour in Oslo.

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Also today, news on the white gown worn by the Duchess to the diplomatic reception on the 5th. (Better photo here.)

Heaven, an ace clothing identifier without whom we would all know less about Kate’s fashion, got in touch with Jenny Packham about the piece and received confirmation the Duchess’s dress was one of their designs. 

I have have been chatting with MF Fashion & Styling Perth about the design. We both think it’s possible the material used in the dress is a stretch silk. We also noted similarities in the neckline to two styles in the designer’s Resort 2017 collection, as well as the blue gown made for the Duchess to wear in India last year.

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We’ll leave you with a new portrait of Prince Philip that was released this weekend.

The portrait setting is the Grand Corridor at Windsor Castle.  More from The Telegraph:

Painted by artist Ralph Heimans, Philip is shown in the imposing setting of Windsor Castle wearing the sash of the Order of the Elephant, Denmark’s highest-ranking honour.

The painting will form part of a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work which is being staged at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark next year.

We’ll see you Thursday for the Service at St. Paul’s.

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Hannah

Thursday 14th of December 2017

I am like many others under the impression that leaving a coat on indoors gives a "cannot wait to leave"-vibe.

I noticed, that the fabric of the dresses she tends to wear beneath the coats always appears to be very light. Could it be that the coats are tailored so close-fitting that she can only wear very light dresses underneath and ergo would be cold when removing the coat?

Kate

Thursday 14th of December 2017

I'm surprised by the many comments about the Duchess wearing a jacket while indoors. From my perspective, her many 'coat dresses' or similar outfits are in-line with a gentleman wearing a suit jacket. I've had similar long jackets like this which are worn over a dress or shift and I'd never think that I need to take it off inside?

Bonnie

Thursday 14th of December 2017

First of all, Kate, a jacket is not a coat. And it is a coat that Kate is wearing inside. Likewise a coat dress is not a coat…there is nothing on but underwear beneath it. But a coat OVER a dress is a coat. And a man's suit jacket is not a coat, it is part of his suit. Should he wear an overcoat on top of his suit, this would/should be removed. Unless one is just popping by for a few minutes, the majority of people remove their coats inside. Does this make Kate an awful person? Of course, not, but it is a quirk that seems odd.

Jessica

Thursday 14th of December 2017

Honestly, her hair is so beautiful. I can't believe people find fault with it.

I love this coat and am happy to see a repeat. I am really enjoying the matte tights with the Tod's block heels, too--it's like a professional uniform for her lately, and I find that so relatable. I think they look really nice, too, and go with almost everything.

In terms of keeping the coat on while indoors, I think we're dealing with some cultural differences here. I imagine it's a habit of the British upper classes that goes back to the days of "calling," wherein you'd visit several homes in one afternoon. There were special "calling" outfits that included lovely coats and hats that were meant to stay on; you'd never have presumed to stay more than a half hour, and so taking off your coat would have implied you intended to overstay, and would have been thought terribly pushy and presumptuous.

I do understand that American sensibilities might find it rude to keep the coat on, but I believe I'm right that in certain circles in Britain it would be perceived as rude to take it off. It stays on as a sign of deference and respect. I think if you dig around a little you'll find that this social more is far from unique to the Duchess of Cambridge.

Dianne Stretch-Strang

Thursday 14th of December 2017

You make some very good points Jessica. I'd add that we also see the Queen keeping her coat on when she's indoors too and she doesn't get criticized for it.

BrendaJM

Thursday 14th of December 2017

Another thing to keep in mind is central heating or the lack thereof. My parents are British but I was born in Canada. However, we visited Northern Ireland several times while I was growing up and I lived in London for a year and a half about about a decade ago. Heating is expensive in the UK and many buildings are old and dependent on hot water radiators that are patchy at best. As a result, all British people no matter how posh wear layers and really don't expect room temperature to be a North American 22 Celsius.

SaraF

Thursday 14th of December 2017

That's an interesting insight. In the country in which I live, it's considered presumptuous to take off your coat when dropping into a come-and-go reception or similar event, unless you're a close family member or really good friend. It implies that you're planning to stay much too long. I guess it could be the same idea here, but I hope the people Kate's meeting understand why she's doing it.

TravelingBlush

Thursday 14th of December 2017

Love the color of this coat, and the length balances the formality of the style.

Good that they are being recognized for their work on mental health. So many celebrities take up causes and wreak havoc because they just do what they want and do not heed advice from experts.

JR

Thursday 14th of December 2017

I can't help wondering how many commenters would apply this same yardstick to HM The Queen - just how frequently do they think she removes her coat? And how long do the commenters think Catherine is staying at these events? I agree it gives the message that you aren't staying, but the reality is that she probably isn't there for long. Additionally, there are multiple photographed examples where she has indeed removed her coat, as recently as last week - she seems to style a significant number of her coats as more of a coatdress than outerwear, and this example looks like one of those times. It helps that there are no outer buttons or belt, and is close-fitting and showing some embellishment in the metallic twinkle. I am regularly surrounded by coworkers in short/cap sleeves while I am shivering in a sweater or multiple layers - that doesn't make me or them incorrect or rude, we all have different body temps. She looks lovely, professional, involved, and happy. This is a winning outfit to me.

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