Kate Brings Back Oscar de la Renta Suit for Royal Opera House Engagement

The Duchess was in Oscar de la Renta for today’s visit to the Royal Opera House.

Kate was there to learn about the costume department, the textiles it uses and its methods for creating the elaborate costumes worn by Royal Opera performers, as well as those worn by members of the Royal Ballet. (The Ballet is housed at the Opera House.) In a news release, Kensington Palace noted that “The textile and manufacturing industry is an area of interest to The Duchess.”

The Palace also noted that “Her Royal Highness’ great-great-grandfather, Francis Martineau Lupton, was a mill owner who ran the family’s successful textile manufacturing business, William Lupton & Company, with his three brothers.”

The Duchess with Morag Beaton, supervisor of the stockroom, in the photo above, and below.

Kate learned about techniques for coloring textiles, including hand painting and staining of fabric.

She also saw modern methods for applying color, like a state-of-the-art digital dye machine.

A video from the dye shop.

In the @RoyalOperaHouse’s dye shop, digital printing is used to reproduce historic fabrics. #RoyalOperaHouse pic.twitter.com/ojYzRTsZ2Q

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) January 16, 2019

A look at fabric that was digitally dyed.

Another exquisite piece of material from the same palette.

The Duchess spent time with Fay Fullerton, Head of Costume at the Opera.

Ms. Fullerton showed the Duchess Royal Ballet costumes.

Fay Fullerton, @RoyalOperaHouse’s Head of Costume, shows The Duchess ballet costumes during today’s visit to Covent Garden – which are especially designed to allow dancers to move freely. #RoyalOperaHouse pic.twitter.com/yKIxXCYOze

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) January 16, 2019

Here is a jacket from Swan Lake.

My guess is that this one is also from the Tchaikovsky classic. My guess was wrong, but thanks to a comment from Ballet Fan, we can correctly identify it as being from The Two Pigeons, the piece Kate saw being rehearsed (next pix).

The Duchess met several of the Ballet’s principal dancers; from left to right you see Laura Morera (dark purple top), Lauren Cuthbertson, and Vadim Muntagirov. 

The Duchess watching Ms.Cuthbertson. On the right, personal private secretary, Catherine Quinn.

As mentioned, the dancers are rehearsing scenes from The Two Pigeons, opening Friday.

The Kiki McDonough earrings Kate wore yesterday are part of the Lauren Collection, named in Ms. Cuthbertson’s honor. More from the Kiki McDonough site:

When you visit Kiki McDonough on Symons Street in London, the influence of ballet is clear from the moment you walk in. You’ll see a framed, signed Margot Fonteyn ballet shoe, with the programme corresponding to the ballet she danced in the 1960s in that very shoe – Giselle. Kiki also has shoes signed by Lauren Cuthbertson, “a great favourite of mine – we did the Lauren collection together….

The ballerina and jeweler. 

Thank you, Stephanie Champion Helton, for alerting me to that info!

Now for our look at what Kate wore this morning, starting with her Oscar de la Renta skirt suit consisting of two pieces from the 2015 a/w collection.

From our initial description of the jacket: 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.

Both pieces are made of a wool bouclé that is a wool/poly blend with a touch of Elastane for ease of movement. The skirt has box pleats and a hidden back zipper.

The set was first worn to a Health Writers conference in February 2017 (center); on the right, the separates as shown on the runway.

Kate’s shoes are a new pair from Rupert Sanderson, the ‘Nada’ style.

They are adorned with a ‘pebble,’ an embellishment the footwear designer offers. Here you see two different pebble styles.

Our thanks to Gabi and the UFO No More team for the ID work on Kate’s heels.

The Duchess carried her Aspinal Midi Mayfair bag handbag again today.

The 8″ x 6″ bag is made of Italian leather embossed with a croc pattern. It is available at Aspinal ($725), as well as at Orchard Mile in the US ($725).

We saw the return of Kate’s oft-worn Asprey Oak Leaf earrings. Below you see them when worn to another engagement.

 

LINKAGE:

• Learn more about the Royal Ballet by visiting this section of the Royal Opera House website; the ROH Facebook page is here; the ROH Instagram page is here; the organization’s YouTube page is here; a Royal Ballet-specific Twitter feed is here