The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are finally in Canada, at long last. They left England yesterday, and arrived just hours later. Kate did a costume change from departure to arrival – she showed up on Canadian soil in this Erdem dress. It is “a navy, lace Cecile shift scoop-backed dress of contrast stone crepe with a navy lace overlay, it has a sheer lace sleeve with a scallop detail.” I dislike it. I’m not a huge fan of lace as daywear, in general, and I think that Kate – of all people – should know how it’s tricky to photograph lace and make it look anything other than budget and tacky. It just looks cheap to me – I’m sure I’m alone.
BUT! I loved her departure outfit (photos below)- a navy Roland Mouret dress and SMYTHE blazer, and she was carrying a Mulberry Polly Push Lock bag which costs $1300. I just adore navy – it’s one of the few colors that looks great and crisp and fresh on nearly EVERYONE. Navy looks especially good on a brunette like Kate. I tend to think this would have been a better arrival outfit.
So far, Kate hasn’t made any speeches or remarks, but William did have something to say – in French! He sounds sexy when he speaks French:
He says, in part: “Catherine and I are so delighted to be here in Canada. Instilled in us by our parents and grandparents, who love this country, we have been looking forward to this moment for a very long time – and before we were married, we had a longing to come here together. The geography of Canada is unsurpassed and is famous for being matched only by the hospitality of its people. We are so very excited about having this opportunity to experience both – and learn much more about this amazing country.”
Apparently, when they worked the crowd, Kate kept looking at William to make sure she was going at the right pace. One more thing: WALK BEHIND HIM, KATE!! Look at her, going up those stairs ahead of him. Bad Duchess! And stop playing with your hair.
Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.
She is really pretty
I like the dress; though lace IS tricky, she’s working it. I’m glad she isn’t wearing a distracting hat! What I am hoping for is that one day soon, we will see her in a color other than blue (to match Diana’s big sapphire) or some version of white-beige-black. Put on a red dress, Kate! Show the world some mettle!
no, she’s not
There are 3 thing that I don’t like about Kate’s wardrobe:
1. lace dress
2. doing her best to match William; outfit
3. doing her best to look monochromatic: eg.navy fascinator, navy coat, navy pumps. It only works in black.
Oh,one more thing: in this take-off outfit she looks like flight attendant.
Oh, she has great hair!
And navy is a GREAT colour. It combines really well with autumn colours and makes a pale complexion look so good.
Catherine looks lovely and happy! They seem to be glad to do this trip together! I think she is looks very pretty!
I love the lace dress. She looks good, just needs some color.
She is doing quite well. Will and Kate look very happy.
I love that blue lace dress. The plain blue navy outfit is a little boring. I think if the sheath dress underneath the blazer were a print, it would have a lot more zazz. She has a great smile though and beautiful hair.
I loved the dress! And William was charming as always. His French is terrible, though, but he made an effort which should score him some points in Quebec where the royal family is not revered AT ALL.
I’m so envious of her hair!!
I don’t like the lace that much, but then I’m also not a big fan of lace during the day. The departure outfit was simple yet very pretty.
boring and useless
Sa prononciation est trop sévère! 🙁
The lace dress is not my favorite look on her but she still somehow works it. The only thing I really like about that dress are the sleeves. I have to say though I like the style she pulled her hair back in, it’s very pretty.
Also her pre-arrival outfit was nice and I’m so sad we didn’t get to see the whole dress without the blazer. If you go to http://whatkatewore.com you can see a full picture of the dress without the blazer. That is actually an AWESOME dress but Kate doesn’t showcase it enough, the back was amazing.
Oh and kudos to William for speaking in French! Not too bad, I understood him pretty well (fluent in French over here). Those French-Canadians are so proud of their language, I’m sure they appreciated the effort.
She has beautiful hair. The only issues I see are with her weight and makeup. She needs to let go of the black eye liner and the harsh brow pencil she is using. Just 10 pounds would really help to soften her face and give her a youthful look. She looks mid-thirties.
I hate that I’m going to say this but….I just love them. Ick! I said it. But I do! I can’t help it. They look really happy! And they don’t seem full of Sh*t like all the other Royals.
Can I have Harry? Please!!
For those bagging on the duchess’s wardrobe: she is the future queen of the UK. She is not suppose to wear biscuit grazers.
They went immediately from the aiport to a military cemetary, where they participated in a wreath laying ceremony. The dress was more appropriate for that than the suit. Then they went to a casual dinner, so they changed clothes again. You should see if you can find a picture of that shirt dress, because it emphasizes how good she is at dressing appropriately for the occasion, imo. But she does need to shake the tan and the eyeliner!
The lace dress is very mother-of-the-bride. I agree that lace is more appropriate for evening wear. I also agree that the navy blazer & matching dress were very chic. I still hate her eyeliner, and for daytime its much much too heavy, too caked on. Cakey Katey.
I loved that carryall purse that she paired with the navy outfit. But, what is up with the clutch purses? Clutches are strictly evening wear, not for daytime. Can’t she get one of the six staffers that she’s traveling with to hold her cell phone & lip gloss?
I’ll admit I’ve been on People, going through their Princess Diana photo memories, and I think that Kate got the idea of carrying the clutch from Diana. Diana would carry one so that she has somewhere to put her hands. Notice William is just playing with his fingers.
I agree with what somebody said on another thread about tacky Hollywood ladies being considered hot while Kate with her more subdued look gets trashed as boring. It’s like young women have to be in skimpy tight things to be considered attractive today. No matter what I feel about her eyeliner or vapid career, the girl can dress classy and work it. Two thumbs up.
I like the cut of the dress but hate the lace. I do like that she has her hair pulled back though. Thumbs up on that.
I know she’s not supposed to be all wild but I’d love to see her in a bold print. She’s always wearing solids and boring colored solids at that.
Want her hair SO much. And she really makes navy look good.
I loved Kate & Wills’ matching suits to board the plane. Both of them looked like they were headed off to work — perfect for the occasion. This trip is work, and very important for the monarchy and the Commonwealth.
There was an article in a business publication about Kate and Will as a “billion-dollar brand.” It’s true. They are raising a fortune for Britain.
Kate looks gorgeous. They are a very handsome couple.
@zesty — Your point on “tacky Hollywood ladies” is well taken. Actresses’ careers depend on them looking as sexy as possible.
Royals are playing by a completely different set of rules.
Wow, his French is AWFUL.
I love the lace and think she looks fab
Can’t wait for bump watch though.
I agree, Kate, pls stop playing with your hair, it really takes away from the coiffed, high class look you’re going for. Nailing it otherwise.
I freakin’ love these two. She is very poised and the dress is wonderful on her. They’re an amazing team, and I wonder if they’ve tossed the ‘ol “walk behind me at all times” rule? Loved that he spoke French, so what if his pronunciation was a bit off?
The problem with the navy dress is the under dress in a different colour. It makes the lace overlay look even tackier. Erdem is famous for such gorgeous, feminine, print dresses. No idea why she didn’t go for one of those instead (go to net-a-porter.com to see!).
She looks like a 5 year old with her hair styled like that. Why not wear it up in a nice neat ballerina bun?
The problem with her eyeliner is the fact she lines her lower waterline in white which accentuates the black even more. She has small eyes – deal with it and not lining them would make the look bigger.
She’s pretty, they look comfortable and at ease with each other. Happy for them 🙂
I’m surprised that his French isn’t better but I love how he says they’ll get better as they go along….lol That’s why I like this couple, so self-effacing and they just look so darn happy together. I dont think Will is like his father either and is glad to let Kate have her share of the attention. It’s not like he didnt know it wasnt coming
she is really whippet thin
She always looks great, I’ve loved her clothes in every pic I’ve seen. She’s sooooo thin though!
At least she finally did something with her big, loose, floppy, long-layered hair while wearing the navy dress.
I agree, the lace one is tacky. I still can’t believe we’re paying 1.2 million in Canada (and hey, I’m from Ottawa) for this kind of show. Why why still pay for anything to do with the royals is beyond me. Meh.
And oh, to any fellow Canadian Celebitches out there: Happy Canada day!
I’m no fan of lace. But she is rockin’ it in Canada. Happy Canada Day Canadians!
Lovely – no one can doubt the chick has awesome hair – makes up for poor William! I like the navy dress – the navy suit is a bit conservative but she’s probably playing it safe at first which is a sensible decision. She is friggin’ thin man!
About Kate going up the stairs first – I have been told by a very chivalrous, older Italian man that gentlemen always follow ladies upstairs, and lead the way downstairs, in case the lady should lose her balance. That way, he can help her from falling down the steps. Super romantic, right?! I wonder if that’s what going on here!
I thought he would speak better french than this. His father’s french is flawless.
New pics of her in a white dress and red hat…..she looks gorgeous!!!
I think she is doing a smashing job! Everything I’ve seen her in looks great. I didn’t know this, but Kate’s like 5’10 and a size 2. And then there’s Kim K who wants everyone to believe she’s a size 4!
She has a pig nose.
Eh, off with the lace sleeves! She looks really pretty though 😀 I like her plenty.
Watching the Canada Day celebration in Ottawa on CBC. I’m in the Pacific NW and we get CBC on our cable. She looks great, although I wonder if the Queen will get on her for being a bit racy. the skirt is above her knees!
They do work well together; it’s cute to watch. She seems so eager to please.
this navy dress under the jacket is a gorgeous Roland Mouret.. the back is so sexy and elegant! Too bad she’s hiding it under a jacket..
http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2011/06/week-in-review-duchess-of-cambridge-26.html
Thumbs up for the Duchess of Cambridge’s dress choices. I love navy. It flatters me more than ubiquitous black.
Kate looks good in navy although this lace looks disastrous. Overall, she looks so much more relaxed and healthier than she did just before the weding.
William is losing his hair at a rapid clip! He and Kate look so happy, though, don’t they? 🙂
I, too, think lace is difficult to pull off, but she’s doing it, imo. Well done to William for attempting french – as someone else said, despite the pronunciation (and I am NOT someone who should be throwing bricks here), that should score him some points for his trip to my city (Montreal)!
I am having a hard time not liking these 2 together, and Kate is the main reason. She is so poised and also manages to seem warm at the same time. I would never be able to pull that off in a million years, she seems born to it.
ahh yes happy canada day,
so we can afford 1.2 million for some royal press, but we cannot afford to pay our postal workers properly..
ahhh canada…
I love the color too. She really owns that navy especially with her horsey mane. I like her hair. She should wear that style more often. Hahahaaha.
Looks like it was windy, maybe that’s why she kept grabbing her hair.
Whatever the royal protocol for who goes up the stairs behind whom – I say ladies first! Always!
Anyone else notice that her husband totally vanishes from attention when she is in the picture. Lol.
Ladies are supposed to go first going upstairs; second going downstairs. That way, if they fall, there’s a handsome young gentleman to catch them and they won’t tumble down. –At least that’s what my etiquette stickler grandmother used to say.
I think she looks lovely and elegant. You can’t go wrong with classic styles. AND she has great hair. Hope she doesn’t cut it off.
She looks great. The lace dress is a different choice. I think it actually looks the best from the back!
I read in a career book once that if you want to be taken seriously as a woman – NEVER, EVER, EVER play with – or even touch your hair in a business situation(!!!!!!).
Why? It instantly makes you look insecure and self-conscience. It also reveals when you are nervous (which I think is why Kate does it). Anyway, I thought it was very good advice and even if it KILLS me I will not touch my hair when in business situation – or anytime I want to be taken seriously. (That is very hard to do!)
If you can catch your reflection while doing it, or watch other women do it, you can see it actually does make you look very young, nervous and insecure – or flirtatious – which is worse!
Of course Kate has long hair that whips around a lot, so that kind of hair is especially hard not to touch (and tame) while outside. And she’d look silly in a bun all the time 🙂
Thank God she was able to eat after the wedding…
William is such a statesman. Very serious, speaking French and smiling adorably after and disarming the crowd “It will get better…” So Diana. Brilliant! I love how in sync she is with him. I hope in private he tells her ‘just follow what I do and you will be fine.’ Awwww. Love them.
I think she looks fabulous as always. She has a class and elegance to her you just dont see in hollywood these days… probably because she isnt hollywood but you get the idea. Girl needs to eat just a wee bit more to balance out her bum and shoulders.
She is adorable. Every look I have seen her in since the wedding has been flawless for her position.
The lace dress is bad and its starting to really bug me that she seems to care WAY to much about her clothes, hair/appearance. She is always touchy/fixing her hair which is a very vain gesture. I thought she was going to be the princess who didnt care about looks etc and would be good for the public but she is simply a Barbie right now.
Her hair looks like a Pantene commercial! And it’s better than totally uncontrolled long hair blowing around.
Dress: Meh. I think she wears too much navy, which I find boring, although it looks great with her hair color and complexion.
Hate the clutch bag in that color. Yeah, I know she’s giving legitimacy to the color of those shoes, but they’re boring too.
PS: Kaiser, thanks for ID-ing that Mulberry bag, which I adore.
I don’t have a problem with lace, but I don’t like this dress. I like the cut, but I don’t like that the body of the dress has white underneath but the arms don’t. And I was wondering about her walking in front of him too — is that against protocol, or is it ok since they’re married and she has a title now too? I can’t believe I’m wasting energy thinking about this.
Love the departure outfit especially the bag, not a fan of the arrival dress. This may be the first dress she has worn that I do not like. That being said, she looks great!!
The good: she has a nice smile, good posture, shakes hands with people without tripping and falling in the mud, and doesn’t yawn/cough/laugh at inappropriate moments. That’s pretty much all that is required of her (or any British royal), and she does it well.
The bad: She just doesn’t have the “it” factor that Diana had. Somehow, after Diana, it became expected that princesses would be fashion models. Yet Catherine isn’t a fashion trend setter, no matter how hard she tries, and her looks end up being very forgetable. Which is fine, except she’s trying too hard to BE a fashion horse. And she won’t be. She should tone it down and settle into being a nice, boring, pleasant person — which I think she could be fabulous at — at forget trying to compete with, or be the next Diana. Maybe that will all work itself out in time.
Kate-and-William is a multi-billion dollar brand. I admire Kate for giving it her all–trying very hard to incorporate Canadian designers and symbols into her clothes to show the proper respect to her hosts while winning over the crowd, and I think she’s doing a great job for someone who just started 2 months ago. Two months into my first job, I still sucked pretty badly at it! Further, I think it is wrong to compare her with Diana. Diana had missteps, too. We only remember the icon she became, not the ingenue she once was. Kate is going to be GREAT at this–she will never replace Diana, but I think she will fill the enormous gap she left (and that Camilla deepened).
Canada is 144 years old today, and doesn’t look a day over 80! LOL 🙂
@scotchy: I totally agree with you. Very well said.
I thought the dress was good for the occasion, and didn’t even realize it was lace until much later.
I lol’d a little though when she took the bunch of flowers from the lady (I think for the wreath laying ceremony) and she pretty much smacker her under the chin with them as she took them. The poor lady’s head jumped up pretty quick.
Kate is very pretty. They look happy together.
In one of the dresses she wore that day posted on daily mail (black with white) Kate looks like a granny. I don’t understand why people have to compare Hollywood celebs to Kate (and say how tacky Hollywood celebs are while this chick oozes class). It’s like comparing orange and apples. Why don’t you compare her with some political wifes’ like Michelle Obama for instance and then say ‘Kate is the only one that’s classy’ then that would make sense. Not a big fan of these dresses. Even ordinary female celeb pictures posted on this site look more pretty than Kate, media should stop with the brain washing
She looks pretty good so far.
I think she plays with her hair because she still doesn’t feel comfortable at all.
Kate plays with her hair often because she is nervous, people!
The only outfit I have liked thus far in William and Catherine’s visit to Canada is the purple Issa she wore last night to the Canada Day fireworks show. William also looked better in his open-necked shirt without being strangled by a tie.
William’s face has been perpetually red, either from the heat in Ottawa or he’s embarrassed by all the flailing spectators. Catherine’s face looks oily at times and she is wearing too much makeup because it is caking in the humidity.
Catherine also is overdosing on the hair flipping. Either she is incredibly nervous or vain. Last night also was the first time she was unable to flip her hair because she had it all up in a nice chignon.
Dear CBC Newsworld,
Why?
Dear Upper Class Twits,
Give me my money back.
Who’s Canada?
I didn’t think the lace dress looked bad. Even though she can’t shake the eyeliner I’m kind of glad she’s sticking to what SHE thinks looks fine and stuff the rest.
As for the walking in front, there have been numerous occasions that I’ve seen William ensuring she is in front or right by his side. I think good manners are trumping stuffy protocol.
As much as I don’t want to, I can’t help but love them together. I think she’s very pretty and knows how to dress her body.
Actually, his French was much better than I expected. I mean, it wasn’t great, by no means, but why should it be? He speaks better than many Canadian politicians, who live in a bilingual country.
She thinks she is Angelina Jolie and LOVES the attention.
I do LOVE her style though. Love her dresses, the cut, the colors.
would love to see kristen stewart play kate, and Sparkles play william…. hahahah
I feel bad that she has to wear hose. I hope she’s figured out that garters are a lot more comfy (lesson learned from my Goth past).
Other than that I think she is doing “smashing” as the Brits say. She is wearing boring and somewhat stuff clothes (as is befitting of a princess) and making them look as young, hip and sexy as possible.
She’s on our side of the world now. She knows North Americans don’t wear hats (unless we are tanning).
Surprisingly (because I don’t like Waity), I think she looks nice in the lace dress. Lace can be grandmotherly, but this dress is a good one, and she pulls it off. Plus, I’m a big fan of Erdem.
Nice clothing, however, will not erase this young woman’s vacuous nature. Other than looking pretty, she does nothing. Why everyone has the vapors over this stick person, I’m not sure I will ever understand. Diana, for all her flaws, had a charm and charisma that Waity will never have.
.