It doesn’t surprise me that the Duchess of Cambridge has scheduled a lot of events this month. We’ve been watching her “duchess” for years, and she always picks up the pace at the end of the year. What surprises me is that William and Kate aren’t announcing all of their events days or weeks in advance, because that has been their M.O. for years too, almost like “announcing an event” should count as an event. All of which to say, I was slightly surprised (but not shocked) to see that Kate had an event this morning, and it was only announced a few hours beforehand. I’m not suggesting that this is part of any tit-for-tat with the Sussexes – it’s clear that this was planned for a while. It just happened to fall about 14 hours after the Duchess of Sussex surprised everyone at the British Fashion Awards last night. Update: Ah, I missed it in the flurry of W&K posts on the Kensington Royal social media, but they did announce this event on December 3rd. My bad.
So what’s the event? Kensington Palace announced this morning that Kate would be taking on a new patronage, Evelina London children’s hospital, a “routine care and life-saving treatment” center for kids in South London. Even though this patronage just seems to be Kate’s – as opposed to Kate and William’s – William did come out to this event with Kate. They’ve been doing so many events together this year.
For this appearance, Kate wore a £325 L.K.Bennett dress in a rich green, with tiny white polka dots. The polka dots are camouflage for the white buttons down the bodice of the dress!! I mean, it’s an okay dress – and it’s new to us, we’ve never seen her in this – with a high neck and a conservative below-the-knee hemline. I’m shocked that Kate didn’t get this tailored and raise the hemline a few inches. It also looks SO Kate, and by that I mean it looks like something Princess Diana would have worn in 1982.
PS… Has anyone else noticed that Kate has been making an effort to up her shoe game? Three years ago, she would have paired this dress with beige LK Bennett heels. But look – suede heels in green! It’s a Christmas miracle.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
The Evelina is an amazing hospital. Good on her for taking this on (let’s hope she actually gives them some time and attention).
Yes they’ve been amazing with my son who is under their general umbrella. They’re just so wonderful.
That is a dress for an old lady
That was my exact thought when I saw the dress.
mine too
It looks like something Jane Fonda wore in “Nine to Five” (Sorry Jane!)
I love the 80’s vibe of her recent looks. My mom went to work dressed like that complete with perm and huge glasses. I thought she was so beautiful and couldn’t wait till I grew up and went to an office, it looked so fun. So I thank Kate for those memories and hope the 80’s realness keeps coming.
Not particularly. I love it.
Kate does Kate lol. This is totally her style. But I wouldn’t have paired it with the olive shoes/clutch she wore to the naval base in Cypress. The greens should’ve matched, or she should’ve gone with another color. Personally, I love emerald and amethyst together 😊
It’s Cyprus.
Lol – Loretta, I was thinking the same thing before I scrolled down to comments! There has to be a happy medium between this and the jeggings for Kate to look professional and not like someone’s grandmother.
The girly professional look just doesn’t work. I never liked the little bows on dresses for adult women the first time they were around in the 80s and they still don’t work now.
It was big ‘NO’ for me regarding my maternity wear. I refused ‘baby doll’ styles, I refused to have ‘pussy bows’ etc. But once the babe was born (in the early 80’s) I went back to fashion…and Princess Di was the fashion icon of the day…so I still have a couple of these in my wardrobe which I wear to …work, to church, and sometimes, to the grocery shop!!!
It’s ok but not my thing. Totally agree that this is something Princess Diana probably would have worn though.
Maybe in the early ’80’s, but if she was around today I think she’d opt for a more modern look.
I agree, grace 1. I can see her in fitted modern non-fussy looks if she were still with us.
This look is very on trend right now.
The dress is for anyone who feels comfortable in it.
I realllyyyy like the color of the dress. The neck area really isn’t my taste, but it’s clearly her kind of look. I also think her hair color looks great on her, and the length is probably the most flattering that she’s chosen. She looks like her mom (not in a bad way) when she smiles like she does in the featured image on this article.
You wrote just what I was thinking about the dress. To me her hair looks better a bit darker, as it appears in the top photo.
I’ll willingly negotiate on a shade or so darker haha. The top photo really does look best for the color. But I do like that there’s some highlights in there – they’re not DRASTICALLY different than the base, but I like that they warm it up a bit.
Love the color, but the neck and buttons are too fussy with the dots.
My thoughts exactly, I like the dress a lot except for the neckline. Green suits her a lot.
And ver hair is looking great lately. This more sleek hairstyle is ver y flattering.
Duchess of Dolittle and Workshy Wills are really doing the most now….what a shock
Yes, because they are full-time Royals. Will has certainly picked up the pace, hopefully, Kate keeps this up next year, too.
I love a rich green dress but the top is just, not great…and the shoes are a clashing green, and not in a good way, maybe shoes in a more complimentary colour (deep purple?) would have been better
Plus they are the shoes and bag she literally just wore on her last engagement with the trousers (or have I missed something in between the two engagements?). This is what I don’t get about her – she has no other shoes to mix it up with?
She just has no creativity with her style. Wearing the exact same outfit (down to the accessories), buying the same outfit in multiple colors, or here, wearing same shoes and clutch back to back. It’s so weird to me. And it’s not as if she working so much that she can’t remember what she wore to her last engagement. It’s just so strange.
(Re-)Wearing same or similar outfits = boring, dull, no creativity, frump.
Wearing new or fashionable outfits = extravagant, showy, ungrateful, unladylike.
Both Kate and Meghan really can’t win…
No, no, d – you (intentionally?) misunderstand me. I love the re-wearing of clothes, as any normal person would do. I just don’t like wearing the exact same outfit back-to-back – especially with how much clothing/shoes/bags we all know she owns. Notice I said “other shoes” not “new shoes.”
I think my original post was pretty clear on that so I feel like you’re just trying to slam me for something I didn’t say.
I can’t blame her for wearing them again so soon, they’re gorgeous shoes! I love suede in rich colors like that. And they look comfortable.
Yes, these are the shoes she wore in Cyprus. They look great! The dress is too frumpy, IMO.
She would have been better off with a beige shoe and not an olive green. Or if she had a forest green shoe that would work with the dress. The clashing green is olive green and doesn’t work. The dress itself is ok, but she also has other polka dot dresses that would have worked too.
Disagree, I think black would have worked fine.
Black would be fine too. Just not this olive green that doesn’t match.
Seems like after becoming a mother, Kate really has found a passion in children, so its a great cause she’s taken up.
Kate doesn’t seem deeply interested or passionate about much, mostly indifferent about most things, so when she finds something, its great seeing her focused and bring attention to it.
She should focus on kids and sports, because these are the causes where you can see that she is really animated and interested in…
I think she looks good. Her hair looks a bit frumpy. All in all a positive. Maybe a bit on the old lady side but I would rather see this than inappropriate dress. She is a working royal and at work certain dress requirements are adheres to. Just like I cant show up to the office in daisy dukes or sweats. Although sweats is a very tempting choice.
Same! I’d much rather see her dress conservatively than inappropriately. I consider this look to be a big WIN.
I’m here for the win as well. She’s a working royal.
I agree. It is a bit frumpy but Kate is not known for pushing fashion boundaries. I think she looks fine. The Dolittles have stepped out a bit more recently which is good. Coincidence?? Who knows …..?
They always have a busy december, to up the numbers at the end of year count.
Maybe they fear over exposure (runs away).
I like seeing them all out and about WORKING. I’m not asking Kate be a Megs right away, but at least put forth the effort and show you care. Other European royals are able to do it so not aure why Kate can’t. Unless she is so mortified of stepping on Will’s toes. And who knows what brain washing Ma Middleton has done to her. I think that would be interesting to examine.
Good for her re: the hospital patronage.
She might be trying to up her shoe game, but that shoe and purse colour don’t go well with the colour of the dress.
Her shoes are identical to those that Meghan wore at the Louis’s Baptism and in the Australian tour LOL
You must have a pictorial database at hand to glean that information.
Or just a good memory, as Meghan got criticized roundly by Kate fans for daring to wear olive green to a christening. Or, you know, access to the internet.
According to What Meghan Wore and What Kate Wore they’re different shoes.
Meghan’s have been ID’d as Sergio Rossi ‘Godiva’ or LK Bennet ‘Fern’ pumps. I’m leaning towards the second pair because they’re a lot more green leaning.
Kate’s as Gianvito Rossi ‘Gianvito’ pumps. Kate’s lean more gray than Meghan’s.
Kate has been wearing the gorgeous Rossi pumps for a while now in different colours.
I actually like the dress. Its a nice color on her and its not a coat dress! Her hair also looks great.
I like it too. It’s not va voom but appropriate and rather Christmasy.
I like this dress. It has a vintage feel to me and is quite popular in the UK at the mo. Hopefully she will keep visiting the hospital on a more informal basis.
I hope so too…but won’t hold my breath. Doesn’t she visit her other charities like once (or less) a year? I honestly wouldn’t want her as patron if I were a charity. Wasn’t one of them subtly complaining about her (lack of) participation?
“I honestly wouldn’t want her as patron if I were a charity.”
Royals as patrons (the Royal stamp of approval) are always a plus to charities, not a hindrance.
So used to see kate in granny style
Ho hum. I guess I thought the awesome dress pants/blazer last week was a sign of Kate developing good taste. Nope, back to matronly dresses. I think the green suede shoes are the ones from last week?
My mother in law had a dress like that. So frumpy. And shoes look olive. Better off with her standby nudes.
I agree she is purposefully channeling Diana but when Diana wore this style it lent her some gravitas as she was such a young woman, whereas on Kate who at this point almost as old as Diana ever got, it just looks dowdy. I think it’s the dots and bow that do it, I would like it better if the green were solid and the neckline weren’t like a 1980s librarian.
Also, Diana eventually grew out of this style (as times and her personal taste grew/changed). A quick google search shows that 7 years into her marriage, Diana’s style was much different from where she started.
The color of the dress suits her and I like the shoes but it’s a dowdy dress.
It’s a nice dress for an elementary school librarian. 🤷🏼♀️
Elementary school librarians wear pants. And tattoos. 🙄
Not the ones I remember.
I really like the silhouette and wish it were a solid green without the polka dots. I just dislike polka dots.
Me too, they make everything look so twee.
So Meghan gets ripped for dressing too flashily and showing too much skin. Kate gets ripped for dressing like a grandma. I’m glad both women are sticking to what they feel best in, because they’ll obviously never please anyone else.
You have a point there Starkiller!
So much this. They have different styles – the nitpicking is insane. It’s always, “If it were me, I would do this, I would do that instead” lol. Well, you’re not in the spotlight – commenter behind a screen – these women are and they wear the pieces they are comfortable in.
This is what my nan would call, “dressing for the war effort”!
LOL! So true. All Kate needs is that “cinnamon bun” hairstyle and she could be an extra in a 1940s period piece. So frumpy!
I sort of like the idea of the dress, but as others have said it seems like 1980s fashion. Only thing missing is the huge shoulder pads from that era. LOL.
Shoes and handbag don’t really compliment the dress. I’d change those out and probably add a short jacket for interest. Her hair looks good! William on the other hand…………yikes. He sure has lost whatever appeal he once had. It would be like kissing a toad, rather than a prince!! hahahaha
That’s a really unflattering photo, too, either he smells something bad or he is about to sneeze.
I’d wear the dress as separate pieces, maybe not together.
I think she looks good in the dress but those shoes are not the right shade of green !
Aren’t the shoes gray, not green?
They look olive green to me.
I went to an LK Bennet store in Boston. They were kinda rude and unhelpful, even though I wanted to purchase something. A bit snooty but the other stores in Boston that were upscale were surprisingly better and nicer. Could just be the boston aspect of it all.
*sigh* She looked so great in the trousers/slacks during her last outing and now she’s back to matronly stuffy look. The color looks great on her and I don’t mind the polka dots (and we know Kate loves polka dots). But I don’t understand why anyone would wear the tie bow at the neck. It isn’t flattering on ANYONE. And whatever is going on with the neckline–bow and buttons? It’s so confusing and looks terrible, like the designer couldn’t quite figure out what he or she wanted the top to look like. This is the kind of dress I’d try on in the store and go “Meh, does nothing for me.” Looks better on the hanger than on the person.
But I applaud her for taking on another charity and for spreading holiday cheer to the kids (with William tagging along).
I don’t find this style to be granny, just a bit prim. It’s a popular style right now and I thought it was appropriate for their events today and low key festive. There are a lot of cute, natural photos of her interacting with the kids, which is nice to see.
I agree! I see plenty of my university students wear similar dresses. Kate might style it more conservatively than they would, but I often wonder if the people who think she looks like a grandma are themselves slightly older and have a slightly different frame of reference?
@Ada I think you’re right that people calling it a granny dress must have a different frame of reference, because this sure isn’t how librarians dressed when I was at school. This style is everywhere at the moment and I quite like it, noting that I’d make some styling tweaks to make it look more modern.
It’s in style right now. People may not care for the style-but that’s what designers are putting out there.
Those two are so lackluster, but I guess for William a future King being dull is good.
I just dont see any charisma in these two.
A business contract with benefits.
As others have said, the silhouette is great, and I like the unglam look for a daytime event involving a children’s hospital. The point is the work the hospital is doing, not how fashionable Kate looks.
I also have to join in others who keep pointing out that Kate seems changed. Something happened after the last birth and she just seems confident, radiant almost, happy, warm, etc.
One of my co-workers, after her second daughter was born, said, “My first pregnancy took everything out of me, my second put it all back.”
I didn’t have this experience, but perhaps others have. Mysterious.
I love this look. I think it’s a great professional look for her role. Possibly a bit too conservative for the average professional woman, but for a senior member of the BRF it works well.
It seems like she has 100 of dresses with the same silhouette, though. Didn’t she just wear a maroon polka dot one that got a lot of press for mirroring Meghan? And A similar one for the Diana Garden thing? Oh, and a Tory Burch one for some school thing? How many new patterned shirt dresses does one need in a year? She’s such a fashion victim.
I’ve seen her mother dressed less matronly and looking quite stylish & modern. Maybe Kate should consult her for fashion tips?
I agree, her mother has a sense of style and usually wears flattering clothes. IMO Kate is simply not that interested in fashion.
Now all I can see is how much those shoes clash with the dress. Both shades of green, but wrong together.
And this is definitely too fussy, but Kate’s gonna Kate.
Actually Gucci has been doing similar mumsy dresses as well as some other brands, so in that regards she is spot on, this seems to be her comfort zone. As long as she does work, I don’t care if she only wears these kinds of dresses to be honest.
I don’t like the mismatched dress & shoes though, they don’t clash which is one way to wear different colour, but rather comes off as odd. If she had worn something brighter, like a bright pink it would have been a better contrast or did actually stick with her nude or navy pumps, it would have made better sense.
The cause seems suited to her, she does seem to open up a lot when she is with children & sports-related events. I hope she actually does do some work, rather than just show up once and then never drop by again for ages.
Clean this up – no bow(?) at the neck and remove the buttons – and I’d like it. As is she needs a spiral perm, Aquanet, and a pair of coke bottle glasses. The shoes aren’t even close to matching. But she’s smiling so I’ll give her credit there.
I’m not sure Kate isn’t either on trend here or setting one, as I just happened to catch in the DM that Letizia of Spain stepped out today on a visit to charity one in something in the same general mode as the L.K. Bennett Kate sported today: long midi length, very demure, checked pattern, kind of 1950s updated . . . it looked positively British. Shorter sleeves and not as high-necked but definitely in the same general mood. I’ve don’t remember seeing Letizia, who is I think really glamorous most of the time, in something this demure.
I have a dress like this from marks and spencers . I love it I wear it with a leather jacket. Love the couple events from the Cambridges!
Thank you Gina. thought I was going mad, everyone said it was so dated, but I’ve seen variations everywhere over here. People tend to style with boots. It’s the style of shoe that’s off.
@Rosie – my mother used to say never throw clothes away, if you wait long enough, they’ll all come back “in”.
Seems like Kate is positioning herself as the dignified, classy, royal and wants Meghan to seem like the vulgar arriviste.
@Gilda – Well, without being “tonal” about it, it just is true that Kate has to watch her Ps and Qs more. She has less latitude than Meghan, she’ll always have less latitude, and that’s just the way the hierarchy works. Personally, I think it’s good they are positioning themselves differently – first, it reflects reality, and second, it would be beyond boring if they were clones of each other.
Kate’s always dressed this way it’s her style. I think it suits her and she’s a grown woman. Lots of these sorts of dresses with high necklines and sleeves are in the shops at the moment so it’s actually very on trend.
She probably errs on the side of conservative dress on purpose to keep the R F happy and so what?
I prefer this dress to the boring dress pants and blazer she wore the other day
Love love love the green, the style of the dress, and the shoes but those polka dots are so small and close together that they literally make my eyes swim. LOL
Is it such a problem that she’s “mumsy”? Maybe she likes it, maybe she likes to play it safe. My style has been called grannyish before and I’m much younger than so I’m always happy to see someone leaning into that aesthetic. I hope she doesn’t get pressured into wearing whatever is “modern”. I hated that olive blazer look.
I criticize Kate’s outfits all the time but at the same time have sympathy for her, as I have no sense of style either and prefer to play it safe too, personally. She’s a mum of three on the verge of middle age, if she can’t wear mumsy, who can?
In the picture William has the face of a person who has smelt a fart LMAO
I like the dress, and I really like that color on her, but omg the bow. The bow needs to go imo. We definitely can’t say she’s copying Megan’s style here, so there’s that.
Kate’s fashion choices are so literal. It’s Xmas so must wear red plaid like her skirt from last week or a pine green dress. Ha! So inspired.