As we discussed, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge decided to participate in a St. Patrick’s Day message on behalf of the Irish Foreign Ministry. Ireland set it up so that various world leaders and dignitaries could send in their videos celebrating Ireland and the holiday, and then the Irish Foreign Ministry posted the well-wishes to their YouTube page. I’m pointing that out to remind everyone that what Will and Kate did was official, and likely at the request of the British Foreign Office or something like that. It would have been the equivalent of a simple diplomatic appearance. One in which Kate dressed up like a literal shamrock.
The Duchess of Cambridge showcased her love for literal dressing yesterday as she donned a £260 shamrock charm necklace to wish the people of Ireland a happy St Patrick’s Day. Kate Middleton, 39, who is back in London having spent lockdown in Norfolk with Prince William, 38, and their children, Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, donned a £60 vibrant green Zara jacket for a video appearance yesterday.
Literal dressing involves turning up at an event and taking the theme of the occasion very literally, with Kate nailing the trend by choosing a special charm Daniella Draper necklace for the big day. The mother-of-three is known for her love of literal dressing, and regularly gives a nod to the event she is attending and countries she is visiting with her clothing.
In yesterday’s post, I included some of the more recent photos of Kate with the Irish Guards, and photos of Kate cosplaying the Irish flag during the Cambridges’ tour to Ireland last year. I mean… she does love literal dressing and she doesn’t see it as offensively superficial or childlike at all. When she does anything related to Scotland, she wears something tartan. When she does anything related to Ireland, she wears green and shamrocks. When she does anything related to India, she wears a British designer. Simple.
Hilariously, though, people are rolling their eyes at all of this.
this has radicalised me pic.twitter.com/RcX0S7Q1So
— Daniel (@notweedaniel) March 17, 2021
✔ Green Leprechaun-esque jacket
✔ Shamrock necklace
✔ Shamrock earringsShe really wore all this. pic.twitter.com/5gsIirg1T7
— Royal Gaitor 🏴🌹 (@Royalgaitor) March 17, 2021
Photos courtesy of YouTube, Backgrid, Avalon Red.
OMG the shaaaaaaade:
When she does anything related to India, she wears a British designer.
I am DEAD.
it’s true
No lies were detected, and the delivery was just… perfection. I’m still giggling.
I came here to say the same! LOVE IT
And when they visited Wales, she wore tartan also, because apparently, she thinks they’re the same as Scotland, or still can’t find it on a map after living in Anglesey for however long she did?
I personally am horrified every time she wears green to an Irish event. I was horrified when Lillibet Cabbage of House Petty did it. Elenaria, replying to the Royal Gaitor post you quoted above, had the same reaction.
The old Irish nationalist song “Wearing of the Green” – the refrain:
“They’re hanging men and women for the Wearing of the Green”
I don’t think it’s ignorance or obtuseness when the BRF takes a color the people of Ireland wear with genuine national pride, and uses it to weaponize British colonialism. “Remember when we used to execute you for wearing this color, Irish? Ah, good times…” – BRF, probably
It’s clearly done with intent, given how they roll up to various Commonwealth countries, and former colonies like India. Very much not a racist family, my @$$.
Truly that line ended me. It was perfect!
I snortled my coffee when I read that. The colonialism of it all. Like India is devoid of fashion designers. Ughhh.
I laughed so hard at that line, I snorted and my dog woofed at me. 😀
I’m laughing so hard at that article. She is infantilized SO much. I love how they mention twice that Kate loves “literal dressing”, define what it is, mention her outfits….like that’s all they can say about her. She’s a bitch who is also unimaginative, so she has to resort to constant theme dressing.
Poor thing. Even as a mannequin, she doesn’t quite cut it in the personal style stakes, does she?
ER, your comment had so much delicious shade in it, I had to turn on a light and put on a jumper.
I think green is fine for SPD, but the military and sailor cosplay is so bad.
Her military cosplay for Remembrance Sunday is getting so extreme. Its like every year she adds something more – more buttons, more tassels, etc.
I mean she gives Michael Jackson a run for his money with her military costumes. All she needs now is a sequined glove and poppy brooch and she’ll be ready next year.
The epaulets last year were almost mocking in their ridiculousness. . She wouldn’t know ‘service’ if it bit her on the butt. Embarrassing!
The military display is especially offensive when apparently people like Harry who actually served aren’t allowed to wear their uniforms once they retire from the military.
Don’t pick on Kate there. The other RF members who never served but dress up in varying uniforms and medals are much worse than her coat dresses.
I am not impressed with Anne and her fake uniform either, but Sophie and Camilla don’t do this fake military nonsense and Diana didn’t either. Kate cannot even be bothered to do many military engagements, which at least Anne has done.
She needs a stylist!
“As deep as a puddle is a good thing, you guys!”
When it comes to them, ‘to be sure, to be sure’
Speaking and tiptoeing every 3 seconds for no reason at all, is annoying me. That is not normal. They both do it.
All is not well in that marriage. They’re very unnatural.
Yess, the bobbing up and down was weird. And what did William say to her after her little speech?
What stood out to me the most was her grimace at him as he addressed her. It looked more like an animal showing its teeth than a genuine smile.
Who are these people, really? Disney-designed animatronics?
I was wondering WTH was up with all that bobbing!!!
She compulsively waves her hands about while talking to fake interest and enthusiasm. When you don’t see her hands, all you see is her twitching and jerking upper body.
She will never learn or change because she is very impressed with herself and sees no room for improvement.
I don’t know why but I cracked up “because she is very impressed with herself”. So apt.
Lol. Kate’s taste is all in her mouth, for sure.
Oh, Merricat, burn! My Nana used to say that!! I love it!
Lol. My Nana said it, too!
Please delete 🙂 don’t want to argue.
Go ahead and drag me, but I love the green shade on that jacket.
I agree, that’s a pretty grass green.
I actually do too. I have a nice v-neck shirt in this color that I love to wear in the summer.
I’m with you! Lol I mean…of course there’s the BUTTONS but just from what I saw of the pic of her I actually like it and think she looks nice.
I mean look we have a lot of material to work with when it comes to hating on her fashions but the hate on this in particular is surprising to me.
The outfit isn’t bad. This type of thing would be cute if she didn’t do it exhaustively and sometimes offensively.
I agree. For St. Patrick’s Day, I would say this look is actually fine and even good. It’s more that she does this for almost every event that is the issue.
In and of itself, the jacket is not terrible. The criticism is about her lack of imagination. She has a dresser who actually provides her with choices, and what she chooses are, as a rule, literal. I think she is probably a very literal person.
I think any of these items on their own would be fine – it’s the bright green AND the shamrock earrings AND the necklace that are pushing it into costume/tacky territory.
It’s not only learning nothing beyond the superficial about a country or culture you are visiting, but assuming the audience is not smart enough to get it unless you are dressed as a caricature.
Like when Kate visited Canada, she wore bright red and white (colours of the flag), a maple leaf hat, maple leaf jewelry…it was almost mocking, like “this is the only thing I need to know about you”.
I actually love the jacket, the green is lovely for spring. It’s just that she chose it for THIS occasion…. If she wore it another time, with white trousers, or navy, and a white T, it’d be fab.
LOL Thinking about this, how people dress from the waist up for Zooms: if she (and Incandescent PwBT) had yoga shorts on the bottom lolol
I like it, to. Pretty and cheerful. We need that right now. Also, she isn’t wearing the rigid brows and deadly eyeliner that ages her.
I like the color of the jacket too, green is one of my favorite colors for clothes – but I think a shade or two darker would have worked a lot better on her, but the jacket itself is fine.
It’s the fact that she bought another new green jacket (where is all her green from past years!?!? And then its the fact that her “literal dressing” is actually just laughable at this point. St. Patrick’s Day, so OF COURSE Kate wore green with shamrock jewelry.
I agree! I love how bright it is. If she didn’t have the habit of literal dressing, no one would even care that she wore green.
It’s quite pretty and fresh, but she wore it for St. Patrick’s Day and it’s very different from Kelly green, which is the Irish green. It’s like somebody wearing pale pink, ivory, aqua to honor our red, white, and blue.
No dragging here, I love that green. Wouldn’t wear it with shamrocks on St Pat’s Day, because I’m not four years old.
But… it’s not literal dressing!! She wasn’t in a Shamrock costume, dangit!! It’s theme dressing. Or cos-play.
She’s just… not very smart.
It is known.
LOL I spit out my water at that!!
Can I point out that this type of dressing is a very Karen thing? Like every Karen I know theme dresses like this.
I know some genuinely sweet people who do this and they’re funny and don’t take themselves too seriously but yeah, I also know some Dolores Umbridges who do this. That mix of cold and over-the-top theme and cutesy and a bit prissy is definitely a thing.
Lol, are those people representatives of the British Empire? I mean last time I checked the Irish dislike like the English quite a bit .
So here is where I’ll admit that I’m not opposed to theme dressing in general, or dressing for a holiday. I wear a lot of red, white, green, silver around christmas, I got a cute shirt from the Loft with hearts on it for Valentine’s day, etc. But with Kate its a constant and its the only thing she is known for. Like I said above, at this point its just about a lack of imagination. She doesnt know what else would be appropriate to wear for a video like this for St Patricks Day, so she theme dresses. She doesnt know what to wear when she goes to Scotland, so she wears tartan. etc.
I honestly think it goes back to her lack of a professional career, because she still, 10 years in, has no idea how to dress for her role so she falls back on the theme dressing.
I think literal dressing or theme dressing if a person takes what they’re attending seriously isn’t a bad thing. I could see it as someone who is really engaged and interested in what they’re doing, and that’s one of the ways they enjoy showing their commitment.
The problem with her theme dressing is that it’s the only thing she brings to the table. No projects, no ideas, not even an interest in what’s going on and what the event means. Her participation usually stops at the theme dressing. That’s her effort and that’s when the theme dressing is dumb.
On another note, I’ve seen a lot of Irish persons mocking their inclusion in this video – yeah, thanks for including people in the video who represent our oppression!
Kate just seems kind of dim in general so wearing green for St Patrick’s Day seem like the basic kind of thing she would do. There is no complexity there.
I’m sorry but these extensions make her look like an Afghan Hound. Blunt the ends a bit more!
I think the entire look does her no favors.
She needs a haircut. The shorter hair would look better on her and she’d actually look younger. It suits Meghan but doesn’t suit Kate.
@kelleybelle Yes! It drags down her face being so long. She needs to chop it to just below her shoulders.
I would love to see Kate chop her hair to just above her shoulders. It would look good, but I know she will never do it. I think she’ll be wearing her hair long for years to come.
Keen had her hair just below her collar bones *once* and it was fantastic; actually “lifted” her face and made her look younger. Look at her in the pic w/the polka dot dress:
https://www.allthingshair.com/en-uk/hairstyles-haircuts/medium-hairstyles/kate-middleton-short-hair/
These extensions do her no favor (esp. as she expects everyone to believe that her *natural* hair grew about 5 in. in the last 6-9 mos!).
I’d forgotten that she went that short once. I stand corrected! I wish she would play around with it more around that length.
She looks like Emily Deschanel (Bones) in that polka dot picture.
With all those green outfits in her closet she really didn’t need to buy a new one for this video.
No she didn’t!! We never saw the lettuce dress so she should have worn that which would have looked better, and Keen Karen would have chosen that atrocious thick velvet headband as well!!
The bouncing in the video was detrimental to any one who watched it!!
“How come you got that easy bit?” RAGE!!! William’s idea of a joke is to point out how hard he had to work. He will never be able to emulate the natural rapport that the Sussexes have with each other. But I very much enjoy watching the awkward ideas Will and his team come up with.
Also, Will is wearing a green Ralph Lauren sweater, so he’s theme dressing too. He should have worn a white shirt underneath instead; it would have looked sharper.
He’s not wearing a UK brand?!!!
::faints::
This outfit is fine. St. Patrick’s Day is a kitschy holiday anyway.
It really is a kitschy holiday! If you aren’t wearing green on St Patrick’s day you aren’t doing it right. Most of us in my friend group really liked it, but honestly apart from Irish people nobody else probably watched the whole video apart from the Will and Kate bit. The rest of it I imagine other people would have found boring, I really liked the prime minister of Norway for example talking about our Viking connection. And you know what, I would 100pc prefer this to be Will and Kate than Boris Johnson, and the British Foreign Office know that. People like Will and Kate here- we hate Boris, so this was smart to not have that Brexit Buffoon do it.
Must also point out that the jumper Kate is wearing to play Camogie in is not orange. That Jumper is red like Italian flag red.
Anyway as an Irish person, I liked it, Williams pronunciation was horrendous but I wont hold that against him.
OT but thanks for answering my questions about wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, @mynameispearl. It was fun to read what the Irish think of us celebrating their day. I even showed your responses to a couple of friends and my son. Your comments were really endearing.
Ok, I have a question… is DM throwing shade at Kate’s literal dressing?
But if this is Kate’s way of showing diplomacy then please don’t let her come to New Zealand again, I’m not wanting to see her dressed in a piupiu.
Lesley, I had the same thought. I happened to read the DM part and I thought…is this shade???
It’s not often I read the quoted part of the article because I scroll fast down to the comments. Anything from the tabs about these 2 are just lies or fawning and I don’t want to look at their pics. Same with Dotard. At least this sounds funny.
“Literal dressing” is a trend? No. Kate, honey, you dress like an HR manager in her 60s.
Facile and mindless. Add to your list the RED cap-sleeve dress she wore during Xi Jinping’s visit to the UK in 2015..
Calling this “literal dressing” lets her off the hook. It’s quite simply dumb tokenism.
Take a look at her face in the second photo in the “Ireland” array (white coat). Then take a look at her face in the header pic. Is it just me, or has she had her lips plumped?
Gotta spend that tax payers cash on something.
Her face looks completely differently than any time in her life before the pandemic.
“Literal dressing” When I first read this, I thought, Ranch or Italian?
Back in the 90’s, Kraft made a creamy Italian salad dressing. I thought about for the first time in years a couple of months ago, and I can’t find it anywhere. I’ve tried 14 grocery stores, most of them quite large, but it is nowhere to be found. My friends think I’m making it up, but I’m not. I clearly remember eating it.
Lady D, try Amazon I’ve seen it on there for sure.
So what color is she supposed to wear on SPD then? The shamrock jewelry is twee though.
Who among us hasn’t thriftily bought a set of $500 gold shamrock jewelry to wear once?
@Shoo fly…
*snort*
I see lately how they promoting her “fashion” in actually good mags (or the ones that used to be good) amd all i can say it doesnt fit in modern fashion nor style nor nada. So often i wish to comment to stop with that as she is as far from fashion and style as it gets
I do wonder a bit about including them in the video mostly because the British monarchy has been the oppressors of the Irish until very recently and helped ban and decimate the use of the Gaelic language while they controlled Ireland. Queen Victoria in particular was horrendous during the famine and it is as the result of her actions or failure to act that the Irish left to other places like Canada, Australia and the United States, where many people descend from those who were forced to flee, including a few of my ancestors. Where Biden, Trudeau and the Australian PM could speak to sharing a cultural heritage with the Irish, it was just odd to hear from the direct descendants of the family who were pretty awful to them for centuries.
Yep, she did something to her lips. I discussed it with some friends lol
That green dress from the first photo, from the last year tour in Ireland is the worst fashion I’ve seen. It’s the ugliest thing. Ever.
Yesterday, I wore an emerald green sweater and a clover pin that I bought specifically to wear for St. Patrick’s Day. Am I cosplaying? Literal dressing? No. I’m wearing o’ the green. I thought Katy Keen looked nice. I don’t like her as a person, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to trash everything she does or wears. Now, if we want to talk about that outfit she wore to the memorial, and they way she endangered the people around her by not masking, or the fact that the police waited to attack the women until AFTER her royal heinous left the scene, then I have something to say…
On days like this, I wish Meg was still a royal so we could have seen her wipe the floor with the rest of them by wearing an amazing outfit that didn’t resort to Leprechaun cosplay.
She is just so mid level. Nothing glamorous about her other than her fake hair and Diana’s ring.
I dunno why y’all dragging this lovely couple, who are CLEARLY obsessed with each other and sooooo happy to be doing such hard work for their country. A little respect if you please, for the future king and queen…
🙄
Idk know if II can leave links here but I was Will Smith’s ig and I thought of this
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CMi6TiaBRY-/?igshid=1ligmptdlkhi0
She waited and I safely got all the way to the end when she snatched my wig.