For tonight’s Action on Addiction gala dinner, the Duchess was in a piece we’ve seen before. 
The gala dinner is in recognition of Addiction Awareness Week, June 10-16. The event is designed to showcase the different elements of addiction and to engage people and families affected by addiction, as well as raise public awareness. Below, Kate being escorted into tonight’s gala under an umbrella by Lord-Lieutenant of London Sir Kenneth Olisa. 
The Duchess has been the organization’s royal patron since January 2012. Action on Addiction is the only UK addiction charity working across all the areas of research, treatment, family support and professional education. In his People story, Simon Perry reports that
“Action on Addiction is ….something that she spoke about with locals in Cumbria on Tuesday. Simon Morsby, who has recovered from drug use and is now part of the Cumbria Drug and Alcohol Service, told PEOPLE, “I felt I could have talk to her for an hour and she would have wanted to do so too. I was really impressed.”
Tonight’s function was hosted at London’s Spring restaurant by the charity and restaurant owner and head chef Skye Gyngell. I believe we see her below with the Duchess. 
Before the dinner, Kate chatted with former Action on Addiction clients Jay Otty and Melanie Bennett, who worked on tonight’s meal. The Evening Express reports that Mr. Otty “…has been sober for nine years after participating in the charity’s self-help and addiction recovery programme, and now works as front of house staff at The Brink – a dry bar in Liverpool.” The Duchess visited The Brink bar in 2012 when she spent a day in the city. 
The Express piece also notes that Ms. Bennett “…was helped by the charity’s recovery programme after she struggled with substance abuse following the death of her father.”
Simon Perry updates us on tonight’s menu: “The dinner started with a salad made with radishes, carrots, broad beans, stracciatella, and verbena oil. After a main course of River Test trout, lemon cake with elderflower cream and gooseberries was served for dessert.
Kate delivered opening remarks at the event. Below, the Duchess on her way to the podium. 
Here you see her with Graham Beech, the charity’s Chief Executive.
Kate spoke about the organization and how her time as its patron has inspired other elements of her work.
Action on Addiction was one of my very first patronages, and as such, it is very close to my heart. And in some ways, it was the catalyst for my interest in early childhood development too.
It is vital that we support everyone who cares for children in those formative years, especially if we want to help with the inter-generational cycle of addiction.
What’s remarkable about Action on Addiction is that it goes beyond helping those who are suffering on the courageous journey into recovery – it also lends direct support to the children and families affected by addiction – for as long as it takes.
You can read the entire text of Kate’s speech here.
Others attending tonight’s gala included Ronnie Woods and his wife, Sally Humphreys. 
Now for our look at what Kate wore this evening. 
She was in a dress by Barbara Casasola that was first worn in July 2016 for the Art Fund Museum of the Year awards. From our original post: “The Tribal Dress is crafted from a stretch jersey material, a viscose/poly blend that hugs the figure. It is an off the shoulder design featuring multiple fabric panels, a front zipper, wide waistband, three-quarter sleeves, and a fluted skirt.” 
While not everyone was crazy about this when first worn, it was very popular, thus my use of the term fan favorite in the post title.
Kate also brought back her Dégradé Glitter Pumps ($725) that were first noted at the BAFTA awards in February. The shoe is actually the classic Jimmy Choo Romy 100 style, embellished with shimmering crystals. 
Kate carried a new handbag, the Charlie Classic Silk Clutch in the Steel colorway (£205, roughly $260 at today’s exchange rates). The piece is 100% silk with a jeweled clasp featuring an ornate bee. 
Many thanks to Laura for her speedy identification of the bag.
Kate also wore the Kiki McDonough ‘Lola’ Blue Topaz earrings, a pair we’ve not seen for several years as pointed out by Gabi. 
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In unrelated news, Kate will make an appearance on the BBC children’s show Blue Peter tomorrow (Thursday, 6/13), where she will launch a competition for children to design a sculpture for the garden she is working on for RHS garden at Wisley, open in September. More from The Telegraph’s story:
The Duchess of Cambridge has turned her hand to being a Blue Peter presenter, as she joins the landmark television programme to lure Britain’s children outdoors with pond dipping and den building.
The programme will see the Duchess speak about the importance of outdoor play, confessing her own children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are “dragged outside” come “rain or shine”.
A seven-and-a-half minute segment of the show, which is broadcast on CBBC, sees the Duchess introduced as a “gold Blue Peter badge-holder” before taking part in three outdoor activities children can try at home.
Below, Kate with Blue Peter presenter Lindsey Russell. 
The news was detailed on the Kensington Palace Instagram page tonight, along with a brief clip.
View this post on Instagram
⛺️📺🍃 The Duchess of Cambridge has joined forces with @CBBC show Blue Peter, the longest running children’s TV programme in the world, to get stuck in with pond dipping, planting and team den building with local children and Blue Peter presenter @LindseyJRussell. Swipe to watch a preview of the show. The Duchess wants to highlight the benefits of the great outdoors and inspire children, families and communities to get back to nature. She is a strong advocate for the importance of early years and the positive impact that nature and the environment can have on childhood development. Our followers in the UK can tune in to watch the special film on @CBBC at 5.30pm on Thursday 13th June. #BluePeter
Blue Peter is the longest running children’s TV program in the world, according to Kensington Palace. Below, the Duchess in a den built by the children as part of a contest. 
In the UK the program starts airing tomorrow at 5:3opm local time and runs through Tuesday, June 25. I checked Britbox to see if that service offers Blue Peter but did not see it on the program schedule.
This is not Kate’s first time on the Blue Peter show. Back in 2017 she and William were awarded a coveted Blue Peter gold badge. More via The Telegraph.
It is not the first time a member of the Royal Family has appeared on the show. In 2017, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were awarded a gold badge on the show for their campaigning work for mental health with Prince William joking that he would “compare” his with that given to his grandmother the Queen for her golden jubilee.
Here is a quick clip of Kate and William when they visited the Blue Peter set back in December 2017.
In the courtesy photos from the program, it looks like the Duchess might have taped this yesterday before the Cumbria engagements. She is wearing the same Troy London Tracker jacket, Kiki McDonough earrings, and shirt with distinctive pie crust collar that we saw for the Keswick visit and walkabout. In the second photo, you can see she is in a pair of sneakers that appear to be another Superga style, the Cotu 2750 in a color called Sherwood Gum ($59). It is a distinctive look with the contrast of the vulcanized gum sole (thus its name) against the olive/khaki green of the shoe’s canvas upper.
In addition to the link above to the Superga site, the style is available in limited sizes at Amazon. Many thanks to Middleton Maven for another ID!
VIDEO:
This Royal Family Channel piece runs about 3 minutes and includes Kate’s remarks.
Here is a 17-second clip from the show via reporter Omid Scobie’s Twitter feed.
Also in the episode, which airs Thursday on the @cbbc network, Kate plants flowers with the children and joins them for a den building challenge. “I love it, but I am in your hands,” she said as she prepared to gather sticks⛺️ pic.twitter.com/TajmSdWLQp
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) June 12, 2019
LINKAGE:
- Learn more about Action on Addiction at the charity’s website here; the organization’s Facebook page is here; it’s Twitter feed is here; the Instagram page is here;
- Read the entire text of Kate’s speech here; the Addiction Awareness Week site is here; a Twitter feed is here
- The Daily Mail’s story is here; The Mirror’s piece is here; an Express article is here; the full Evening Express piece quoted above is here
- Simon Perry’s piece for People is here; a PopSugar gallery is here; the Fug Girl post and slideshow may be seen here
- The CBBC Facebook page is here; The Telegraph‘s story about the Blue Peter show is here; Victoria Murphy’s piece for Town and Country is here, and it has a 1-minute clip from the program
would like to see her wear some shorter dresses, for some reason I just am not in love with the “midi” ones. as for the shoes there must be some arcane shoe wear code for all the Royal Women of which we are not aware.
perfect. Kate looks beautiful as usual. It seems that shiny shoes are fasionable these days.
Stunning. Cannot see why anyone would not like it.
Love the dress, love the hair. Both look perfect on her
It has taken me a few days to sort out how I feel about this outfit.
Want to like the look, but I just can’t. Agree with those who think the accessories and the dress just don’t quite work together. With the zipper and the patterns in the knit, combined with the neckline and the activewear fit, this dress has a clean, sporty elegance, and I find the sparkly shoes and satin/sparkly bag distracting. I’d have preferred much plainer accessories that would let the dress shine on its own.
Also, while I love the dress, I think it should have been bespoke. It has two features that need to be placed just right to flatter a long, slender torso: the off-the shoulder neckline and the skirt that flares below the waist. In the case of The Duchess, I would love to see the flare higher up and neckline narrower.
All the same, she has the élan to pull it off.
This is a total miss for me. The dress seems to be sporty and the shoes too elegant. I agree with Mallory above….and yes Kate seems to put off most of her outfits!
Late to the comments here. But just want to suggest that snakeskin strappy sandals and a pop of color would have elevated this outfit in my opinion. I like the dress and do not like the accessories.
Applauding Kate of course for her dedication to such a worthy cause
loved this dress back then, still love it now. The shoes are ab fab on their own, but they do not go together with the dress, I prefer this dress with strappy heels. Overall, she looks stunning!
Love the green sneaks! Wish I could wear a pair, so totally appropriate for working with kids in woods.
I love the sparkly shoes and the satin bag. Blue topaz is my birthstone and was my engagement/wedding jewelry – less expensive than diamonds and appropriate for a less formal dinner like this one. Look at ol’ Ronnie in his jeans! I think she did a nice job of balancing between echt-princess and working woman.
Love this dress, one of my favorites on Kate. Gorgeous look with her hair down. I’m also confused by the choice of accessories and shoes, which don’t work at all with this dress. It’s not so much the color as the mismatched formality and textures. The dress is cream stretch-jersey, the finish is matte, the overall look soft. The shoes are very formal, heavy, metallic and shiny, a completely opposite look. With a dress this length the shoes really need to be spot on, and this is a miss. The hoop earrings are a good shape but the colored stones also don’t go with this dress.
A pair of strappy nude heels would have been nice. Soft and light is the ticket with this dress.
This dress was at one point one of my least favorites, but I actually like it a lot this time around. It’s always fun to see Kate venture a bit outside of the sorts of things she usually wears, and a sexy-but-relatively-modest dress constructed from an interesting fabric is the perfect way for her to do so. I love this warm white color on her, too!
Not a huge fan of the way that the accessories play off of each other here; as with many of Kate’s accessory choices, the colors work but don’t produce a particularly strong or cohesive overall effect. I would love to see this with a pair of simple black sandals (something along the lines of Stuart Weizman’s Nudistsongs) and some sort of glam earrings from HM’s or Diana’s collection. Most importantly, though, I have a bit of a soft spot for Action on Addiction, and it’s always great seeing Kate’s work with them. Especially love the photo of her with the chefs!
I adore those shoes and only our kate could truly pull them off.The dress is sexy yet casual but i’m not big on the clutch!
I watched some of the clips of Kate in the garden and it’s so refreshing to see her speaking like that. After looking at all these pictures, it’s a great change of pace to actually hear her speak. And not just speak while giving a speech, but actually interacting with people. Really humanized her for me. It was very fun to watch.
Now, onto the dress. THE DRESS! I remember this dress. I adore this dress. When thinking about Kate’s best outfits, this dress always comes to mind. I just love it. And she looks fantastic.
Though I’m not a huge fan of the shoes. I get bored when she wears plain tan shoes and now I don’t like it when she wears sparkly shoes, so I guess I’m just impossible to please and should shut up. So I will. She looked great! That’s all that needs to be said.
I really do hear you about the shoe complaints. Maybe it’s the shape being exactly the same, in varying colors that kind of misses the mark. There are so many alternate heel heights and shapes and variations, and Kate seems to stick with classic court shoes with a stiletto heel. Oh well, we do agree that she looks great nevertheless!
I agree with the general comment about the shoes. They always seem to be plain courts (and always suede at that) of the same heel height, usually colour-matched to the outfit rather than adding a pop of colour on occasion to lift an outfit. Even if Catherine prefers court style shoes there are many variations: slight cutouts or nicks at the front, classy embellishment at the front for eveining dos (Manolo Blahnik anyone?), different or lower cut at the side, possibly leaving the heel and toe part as solid, no sides etc. I often like Letizia’s shoes – also a lot of courts but often with a bit ‘different’ feature, many of which I’d happily wear myself.
I am also not a great fan of the samey-samey clutch evertime, held so defensively in front, especially as Catherine seems to give the appearance of much more confidence these days.
Least this all sounds like too harsh a criticism I generally like the actual clothing part of Catherine’s ‘look’ – except for the majority of the fussy Erdems, I do not think they flatter her.
Wow – loved the dress before – adore it even more on second wearing. It shows off Catherine’s amazing figure, colouring, beautiful neck and shoulders. I actually like it with the sparkly shoes for a change. But the most amazing accessory has got to be her hair: so thick, wavy, lush. Big win for me.
Wow is right. Whether or not you like the outfit and accessories, I think she looks more beautiful on every outing if that is even possible. How lucky are we to be able to see her and her personal endeavors. William is a very lucky man.
Oh, yes yes yes!! Lovely! She wears it beautifully! Shoes are an elegant nod and the entirety is sophisticated, posh! She seems confident and comfortable!!
I wasn’t a fan of this dress the first time and I still don’t like it. It’s such an odd cut that it looks frumpy at times and fit at others. (it also hangs on her chest strangely at times) I love the shoes but I don’t feel they go with this dress. They do match her clutch very well. Her hair was on-point but the overall look is “meh” in my book. It’s mainly just because of the dress.
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This dress really is beautifully cut and so incredibly flattering to her figure. The just-above-the-ankle length is so elegant. Personally, however, I don’t love the stripes–I adore a stripe, but not for this kind of look–or the front zipper. And I agree with others that the accessories seemed off, though I like the earrings and clutch on their own. The shoes I do not care for.
Long, loose hair is exactly the right call for this dress, and I thought it looked beautiful.
It was raining which is why her hair was looking poofy or as some people said: overwhelming. I have the same type of hair and cannot wear it completely down if the humidity is high.
Love Kate in this dress more now than the first time she wore it. I thought the accessories were disjointed. I love myself a pair of glittery shoes, but this dress calls for a strappy shoe.
I don’t think the Blue Peter was filmed yesterday unless she changed her ponytail after filming and before the Lake District public events. The two ponytails are very different.
Great job on all of the posts.
Thank you for the comment about the ponytail. That is what was throwing me off. Surely she wouldn’t have changed her hair and her shoes (the sneakers would have been fine for the walk about.) She is also not wearing the jumper under the jacket. Maybe her hair got messed up pulling the jumper over her head? But then why not just put the plain pony back in.
I think Kate looks fabulous and very appropriate for the occasion. I believe the event was held at a restaurant and based on the photos, it doesn’t appear to be a formal occasion. Not unusual for a non-profit gala or dinner. Hopefully this dinner raised a lot of money for Action Addiction.
The shoes and bag give the dress just the right amount of bling to dress it up a bit more. I also would love to know about her makeup routine and quite frankly her skincare as well. Always flawless as are the rest of the Royal ladies.
My only issue with this dress is that it does appear a bit sheer in certain angles. I noticed it more so in some of the social media photos. I think it’s common to want to wear white under white but a more neutral color like nude tends to work better sometimes. Other than that, the dress looks stunning on Kate. Bravo to her for wearing these amazing white dresses at dinner events.
I LOVE her hair like this. I love a deep side part on Kate. She looks great 🙂
I agree, Alyssa. Love the deep side part. Most flattering on her.
Yes! The first thing I noticed was her gorgeous hair! I like the dramatic hair and deep side part on this sleek dress. The dress isn’t my favourite, but I like it a lot better with this glam hair.
I do love this dress but there is a lot going on this evening. Pinstripes, glitter, turquoise earrings. Just not sure it jives together. Also, while Kate’s hair looks beautiful, I feel like it is starting to take over. Anybody else think a hair cut might be in order?
I think the flowing locks were to mitigate the off the shoulder dress. We know the Duchess veers towards prim rather than racy; maybe this was the compromise that made her comfortable!
I loved this look, and preferred the styling with silver/glitzy accessories to the previous look.
While Kate’s hair does look beautiful, I agree with you, Mindy, that a haircut could tame the style a bit. I actually would like to see Kate with a bob that is just below chin length. Given her busy life with motherhood and public service, it would be so much easier for her to have a more manageable length. Then again, I do like her up dos and shorter hair would not lend itself to that.
I’m sure Kate has been waiting by her computer to see what I think. Lol. But I loved it when she chopped it to just a smidge below the shoulder.
The dress seems to fit Kate better this year and gangs better. But it is too much of one colour and is too severe on Kate for that reason. The accessorising lacked the styling needed to lift this dress from having “just been out on” to having the necessary wow factor for a young royal at a gala.
I think one of the Scandinavian royals would have worn it differently.
I am not sure how these are three-quarter sleeves, unless the quarter of the sleeve that’s missing is the piece at the shoulder. Maybe she had the dress customized with full-length sleeves?
From the product photos in the 2016 post, it doesn’t look like this dress has been altered. But I am completely there with you on wondering how this leave length is being categorize as a 3/4 sleeve length.
Very fashion forward look. I wasn’t sure initially about the shoes and clutch and earrings (cool-toned) with the warm-toned dress, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. I love that she’s used her makeup as an accessory. That highlighter is gorgeous and goes so well with her bag and heels. I wish we could get Hannah Martin to spill on what she uses.
Wonderful engagement and speech today. We have really been spoiled in terms of engagement and fashion this week.
I am one of the fans for whom this dress is a favorite lol. Thrilled to see her wear it again. LOVE the clutch she is carrying. These are some of the best Kiki M earrings IMO and those shoes are dreamy. I do like the suggestion of strappy sandals as I really liked them on the previous outing for this dress but I’m glad she changed up the look a bit.
Only criticism is the side by side reminds me I am not keen on her eye-make-up or eyebrow shaping for the last year or so.
Sunny, I agree with you about the eyebrow shaping. It is so dramatic, it looks unnatural.
Va Va Voom! Kate is super sexy in this dress, and exudes body confidence. She truly is a modern princess, going from sheep shearing in the Lake District to attending a formal dinner in London and giving a speech in just 24 hours. For all the “aging” things she does wear, she will occasionally come out with a look like this that reminds us that she has range that includes what I would call classy vixen. Honestly, she puts fashion models and Hollywood stars to shame. I wasn’t a fan of the dress before, because it just hung on her body, and while still incredibly trim, she has acquired a few curves that make it fit better. Very few people could pull off this dress, and certainly not after having 3 children!
I feel like gold accessories would have been more complimentary for the tabula rasa that the dress provided. So while I love the shoes (they are truly fairy tale), the clutch (the bee is killer), and the earrings (the right size), an ivory (or is the dress white) clutch with gold hardware/accents, gold and diamond statement earrings, and perhaps gold sparkly heels would have been my preference.
I like Kate’s hair, and think that keeping it down and loose was a smart choice. But her makeup, for me, is way too harsh, particularly her very strong eyebrows and lots of brown eye shadow. Overall, though, she looks absolutely gorgeous and is such a striking woman with such presence and grace. She also manages to exude a down to earth humility in spite of being so formidably tall, beautiful and well, royal.
I always have a vision of Charlotte watching her mum get ready for these glamorous evening events, does anyone else imagine that, too?
Hi Juniper, you perfectly express my thoughts on the accessories she chose for this dress. I love (love, love) the shoes and clutch and earrings, but I don’t feel they compliment this va-va-voom dress as well as other options would have.
I like the bag from the initial outing of this dress better.
I agree. The accessories are great, but not great with this dress. Someone else noted a strappy sandal would have worked better and I think I have to agree with that.
If you look closely, the zipper on the front of the dress has a silver toned tag, which would stop me from wearing gold accessories.
Juniper – thank you so much for teaching me a new phrase: “tabula rasa”. What a great concept to think about in fashion!
Also, your observation about the shade of eye shadow is so astute. Looking back at the photos, something in a cooler neutral shade might work better with the color tones of the outfit.
I think the gold / silver debate could go either way, as you’ve noted; it’s one of the things I think gives individual personality to style. I appreciate that you noted it as a preference for how you would choose to style it while still valuing how Kate chose to style the dress.
I agree about the gold accessories. To me, the dress looks like it’s a warm tone, so I always lean to warm metals.
Oooh we need a post on what Kate is wearing in the Blue Peter photos with the children! I think I recognize the light jacket and mystery ruffled-collar blouse from yesterday’s engagement, and is that a pair of her fave Superga Cotu sneakers in an olive green colorway??
The post is updated. You were spot-on about the shoes, Erin! 🙂
Kate looks fabulous! For some reason I like the dress much better this time. Maybe the shoes? Hmmm. Anyway. Great that Kate is taking such an active roll. Addiction is a terrible, and for the most part misunderstood, thing.
The photos in the Instagram with the kids, have we seen those photos before? Did I miss a post? Is that not the new jacket with the same blouse she just wore in the Lake District?
There’s more info in the post, Maggie. 🙂
Tonight’s accessories elevate the classiness of this dress far higher than the humble origins of its jersey material deserve. In an uncommon occasion, I find the jewelry, purse, and heels perfectly brought together to make a splash instead of simply being there to be there.
I completely missed the detail of the dress’s front zipper during its first appearance. I think I like it better now.
Other than those fairly mundane thoughts, I have to say that I was mostly stunned speechless at how amazing Kate looks tonight. There are few times I feel she really strives to play the “sexy” card. (Not a criticism, just an observation.) But when she plays it, she plays it like seasoned card sharp – at the right time, in the right place, and always to remind us that she’s out to win the game of public relations on behalf of her patronages.
Well said
I love the clutch and shoes, however I ithink the dress is a little too casual for a gala. I was a little disappointed.
I was initially expecting something fancier for a gala, but she’s in line with the other ladies and gentlemen. Notice the gentlemen are in suits rather than tuxes, and the ladies seem to be wearing cocktail party like dresses rather than ball gowns.
Classy Kate! What more can you say!
As usual- the accessories and shoes are a big mismatch. She needed something strappy not sparkly with this dress.
She is absolutely beautiful this evening. Her hair is beyond gorgeous, I’d love just one session with her hairdresser! I don’t know if you’ve ever done a post about her handbag collection but I’d love to see one if you haven’t. I love tonight’s bee bag!
Beautiful from head to toe.
I desperately want to add a caption to that first picture of Kate in the kitchen speaking to the chefs. “I know the menu says soup but could you make me a cheeseburger about this big?”
I was one who wasn’t crazy about this dress the first time around, but now I really like it. I think it works for this dinner. Dressy but not formal. (I am not sure I’d select these glittery shoes but I can’t think of a good replacement.) Very nice that Kate stopped in the kitchen to meet some of the former Action on Addiction clients. I like that Kate is not forgetting her original patronages now that she has so many charitable and family responsibilities.
I was so delighted to see this dress make a come back!! It was always my most favorite dress I have seen her in. It looks so young, sassy and fun as well as elegant greaceful and georgeous on her! She is a vision in this color. I did not care for her shoe choice and think that a high heel strippy sandal in black would have been better but no matter. Just seeing her in it again was worth the weight. Her make up was perfect, glamourous but not too heavy, and her hair was stunning.
She gave a great speech and it was well presented and applaud this work. So very vital.
A surprise post today thank you! She looked so beautiful!
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Love everything about her look today. How does she always do it? She very rarely misses the mark, in my opinion. I truly believe that Kate is the style icon of our time.
Absolutely, she always gets it right. There’s only one outfit I’ve ever seen that I didn’t love (The red McQueen gauzy off the shoulder dress — the vibe was too 1970’s for me). The earrings, shoes, clutch and dress here are perfection. She’s so elegant and ladylike, which is a look and style I adore and that we see too little of today!
I’m only too happy be counted a big a big fan of this dress and am just plain delighted to see it again. I didn’t recall it being called a Tribal Dress, quite a memorable name, but I’m still smitten by its ribbed pattern fabric and how that’s used in contrast insets at waist, shoulders and hips. I do remember the surprise and delight I felt on first seeing it as Kate was on something of a style roll that year, having just brought out the fashion-forward monochrome Baczynska and the slinky Markus Lupfer sheath on the Poland/Germany tour.
She seems less shy of wearing off-shoulder this time which is refreshing, though I think I preferred the accessories last time. Strappy sandals lend themselves more to an arty-bohemian style where courts are a touch too formal. I also appreciated the small pop of colour in shoes last time as I find silver too cautious a choice, being close to fading away into the dress. With a plain cream I would have thought a little colour experimenting might be in order. That said, the Charlie clutch is divine in its own right, and I hope has plenty of royal wear in it yet.
And the Jimmy Choo’s are sparkly, very Disney princess. Her hair looks a million dollars, something about how the front has been swept back from her forehead while being given extra height makes Kate look older in a sophisticated, rather than ageing, way. The extra bounce and curls ramp up the glamour, and the Kiki McDonough blue topaz hoops are a fine finishing touch.
The Duchess looks beautiful. Just love this dress, it suits her figure so well. Shoes are lovely, but personally strappy heels would have been nice. Silk clutch with crystal bee is gorgeous. Hair and makeup are just right.
I like this dress a lot, but I think it was styled better the first time. It is June and I feel like the strappy sandals from 2016 (or some other strappy sandal) would have been a better choice than the silver pumps. I like that clutch a lot and want it for myself, but again I am not sure it is a great fit with this dress. The dress is a little more relaxed and summery while this clutch reads as very formal and elegant. I don’t understand those earrings with the shoes and clutch and my disdain for Kiki earrings is well established at this point. There are so many other great options at her disposal. In fact, if she was going to go that formal with her clutch and shoes, I think she could have worn some real jewelry and not looked overdone. Her makeup was lovely and so was her hair, but I admit to liking her hair better in 2016.
Overall she looked lovely and has the figure to carry anything off. I liked this dress a lot in 2016 and wish the styling was a bit better tonight.
You’re right about the jewelry. A fabulous pair of long jeweled earrings on loan from the Queen would have been perfect and sexy w her long loose hair.
The dress and the earrings are stellar! This dress really shows off Kate’s lovely figure. I think the rest of the look seems off. The shoes and the clutch just don’t work with the feel of the dress. They’re too glitz-and-glam for the very modern knit fabric and almost minimalist silhouette of the dress. And while her hair looked effortless down around her shoulders the first time she wore the dress, today it seems stiff and almost tortured. Of course, Kate herself shines like always.
I agree re the shoes and hair.
A burst of colour would have worked well- a vibrant coral heeled strappy sandle or something like that.
And I would LOVE to see the duchess rock a bob ala Katie Holmes. I think she would look just stunning. I love her long hair but I think it’s starting to “wear” her rather than flatter her to a degree.
I really love the dress, but it doesn’t really look like an evening dress. Her accessories are so fancy and ornate, it’s a bit of a contrast from her casual-looking dress.
I wasn’t a huge fan of this dress the first time, but it looks stunning tonight! I love the shoes and earrings. Kate’s hair looks magnificent! It’s so nice to see the longer, fuller hair.
Not a fan of this look. This jersey dress strikes me as more causal, comfy maxi dress. The silk bag with bedazzles clasp, and glitter heels don’t work for me with more casual dress. While I LOVE those shoes with other outfits, I prefer the sandals worn with the dress last time, or a wedge. The earrIngs while also gorgeous, don’t work with the dress. A miss for me tonight. Mismatched pieces aside, she still looks radiant, with enviable hair.
I also think it’s wonderful Kate does all these galas and charity events on her own. She truly is a role model.
I adore this dress and I adore these shoes, just not together. Maybe I find it a bigger eyesore than others do but I just think the two clash. At least the colors of both are muted. But she looked gorgeous as always and Action on Addiction is so important and valuable. Her speech was wonderful too.
Oh WOW, I loved this dress when Kate first wore it and I love it now. I like the way the “stripes” go in different directions and the way the skirt flairs. Kate’s slim figure showcases the off shoulder style very nicely. Although the shoes and clutch go well with the dress, I think they are a bit too glitzy and sparkly for this event. When you see how Ronnie Woods is dressed, along with others in the video, it doesn’t look like a glitter shoe kind of evening. I’ve also never cared for those earrings and their blue colour doesn’t relate to anything in the rest of the outfit.
But Kate, the dress and her gracious words are a hit!
I think the earrings and shoes go well together. It appears to me that the sparkly shoes are silver at the toe and modulate to a blue color at the heel. I think that’s why she chose earrings with blue stones.
Very glad she brought this back. I still love it.
It is interesting and way more va-va-voomy than her usual looks. I like the silver accessories, too, although I think some swingy diamond earrings instead of the blue topaz would be better. I’d also like to see her in an updo with this dress at some point to show off the neckline.
This is honestly the type of style I’d much rather see her in. It is fashionable and mildly sexy and totally appropriate. No more staid McQueens please!
I really liked this look and agree that the bit of va-va-voom was great. I wouldn’t have thought to pair this dress with sparkly pumps, but I still think it was a fun and unexpected combo! But I have to say I like the “staid McQueens” too because they’re appropriate for the events where she’s wearing them. She’s gotten really good at pairing the right outfit to the right venue, which as we see when she goes on some of these daylong engagements with various activities, can be challenging.