The Duchess Wears Emilia Wickstead for Historic Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Final

The Duchess was in an Emilia Wickstead dress for today’s Wimbledon match.

The Duke and Duchess being welcomed by Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook and his wife, Gill Brook.  

The Duchess is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. 

Kate and William make their way to the royal box at Centre Court.

Above you can see tennis legend Rod Laver in the far lower lefthand corner of the photo, with another champion, Australia’s John Newcombe, second from the left. (Thank you to those pointing him out in comments!)

The couple was at the storied venue to watch the Gentlemen’s Singles Final between Roger Federer of Switzerland and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. 

A wide shot of the Royal Box today. 

Some of the celebrities on hand included Benedict Cumberbatch and soprano Katherine Jenkins on his left. 

Tom Hiddleston and Mr. Cumberbatch. 

Champion Stefan Edberg of Sweden with his daughter, Emilie on his right, and wife Annette on his left. 

Here you see tennis great Stan Smith giving Kate an autographed tiny Stan Smith trainer. The shoe is signed, “To Louis, Stan Smith.” Lower left you see the Duke of Kent, President AELTC.  

Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez. 

Others at the match (not in the royal box) included James Middleton and girlfriend Alizee Thevenet; Carole Middleton; Pippa Matthews. 

In the center of this photo, you see Brooklyn Beckham and girlfriend Hana Cross on his right. On his left, actress Letitia Wright. In the front row, wearing sunglasses is actress Deepika Padukone. To her left, in the tan suit, you see actor Henry Golding. 

Mirka Federer watching today’s action with Mr. Federer’s coach, Severin Luthi (r). 

After the longest men’s singles match in Wimbledon history, Novak Djokovic was the winner.

More from The Telegraph’s coverage:

Novak Djokovic battled past Roger Federer in the longest Wimbledon final in history to match Bjorn Borg by winning his fifth title.

In one of the most dramatic matches the All England Club has ever witnessed, Djokovic defied a crowd screaming for his opponent by becoming the first player to win a singles match on a deciding tie-break.

Djokovic had saved two match points when Federer served for victory at 8-7 in the deciding set and went on to take it 7-6 (5) 1-6 7-6 (4) 4-6 13-12 (3) after four hours and 57 minutes.

This time we saw a change in the trophy presentation. 

For the first time the Duchess awarded the trophies.

The men’s singles trophy inscription reads “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World”. 

Kate and Mr. Federer after she presented him with the runner-up’s salver. 

From right to left: the Duchess, patron; the Duke of Kent, President, All England Lawn & Tennis Club; Philip Brook, Wimbledon chairman; unknown gentleman; Novak Djokovic, the 2019 Gentlemen’s Singles champion.     

Now for what Kate wore, starting with her Emilia Wickstead dress.

It is the Jordin Dress as shown on the Boutique Ludivine site ($1675). The dress is in one of Kate’s favorite silhouettes, a fit and flare design. It has a fitted bodice with a squared neckline and twisted strap detail. It also has a midi length hem and full, pleated skirt. I think the Duchess may have had some of the fullness removed from her skirt. Below you see the dress shown at Emilia Wickstead (£605, roughly $765).  

NOTE: The dress is described as having a “beautifully pleated skirt” on the Emilia Wickstead site. To many of us, the skirt looks gathered, not pleated. I am leaving that description in; it is possible there is pleating that is not visible to the eye in the photos, although that seems doubtful.

The Duchess carried the UFO ( Unidentified Fashion Object) clutch we have seen previously. 

We first saw the bag at a May 2017 garden party, paired with a Christopher Kane coat. 

UPDATE: With thanks to Holly on Facebook for a tip early this afternoon, it’s possible the bag is a vintage piece by Josef. Below you see the Duchess’s bag alongside a vintage Josef piece. 

The brand was known for its beaded bags, made by hand, mostly in France, but in other locations as well. Other examples include this piece at the A Goddess Divine shop on etsy (below left), as well as the handbag below right at Katie Melrose on etsy. The company was known for its beaded bags, especially those made Point de Beauvais embroidery, French for a decorative needlework technique.  

More from the Textile Research Center:

Point de Beauvais is characterised by its floral motifs, which were used to decorate a wide range of domestic objects, including bed covers, clothing, curtains, wall hangings and so forth. It is still used within the haute coutureworld for elaborate embroidery. In France the tambour hook is sometimes called a Lunéville or a Beauvais hook.

You can see many examples of the technique on 1st Dibs and on etsy. Not all Josef bags had elaborate motifs. Here you see a solid red bag on antique/collectible site Ruby Lane that was sold and a blue design currently available on Poshmark.

I have collected vintage bags for years and years and while this one struck me as being a vintage piece, I never looked more closely into the subject. Here are a couple of my resource books I’ll be delving into tomorrow. (At last, the vintage habit intersects with Kate coverage!) 

Thank you to Holly for her heads-up and also Nicole who shared links and information.

Kate had on a new (to us) pair of shoes that look like the ALDO Nicholes ($55.90). 

The style is suede with a point toe, adjustable ankle strap, and 4″ heel. We show the shoe at Zappos ($55.90), as well as at ALDO ($80). Many thanks to Laura for this ID!

Kate also wore her In2Design Baroque Pearl earrings ($152). 

It looks like the Duchess had on her Ray-Ban Wayfarer II sunglasses ($153). 

The ribbon worn by the Duchess is a members’ ribbon in the Wimbledon colors. From a previous post, we show Kate, as well as an unknown gentleman who wears the ribbon and a tie in the club colors.  

The autographed sneaker Stan Smith gave to Kate appears to be the Stan Smith Toddler Boys Stay-Put Closure style ($45). 

NOTE: Many, many thanks to all who commented with the correct identities of multiple individuals at the match, and apologies to all for the way-too-many errors. Today was an example of what happens when I have too many obligations and I rush.

VIDEOS:

This 3- minute video from ITV’s Royal Family Channel shows the couple arriving and speaking with ball boys and girls.