I did not think we would be getting photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge so soon today, but here we go. I guess I forgot about the time difference and how much stuff they’ve jammed into every day of their trip. These are photos of William and Kate arriving at the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai. As you can see, Kate wore an Indian-themed two-piece ensemble/suit from Alexander McQueen. While I don’t think the design is especially pretty (I loathe peplums), I always like Kate in red. She rarely wears red, and she should try it more often because it suits her coloring. I don’t have a problem with the fabric either.
Upon their arrival, Will and Kate laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The Duke & Duchess arrive @TajMahalMumbai and lay a wreath to remember the terror attacks of 2008 #RoyalVisitIndia pic.twitter.com/8M6JYIOvFr
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 10, 2016
After that, they changed into more comfortable gear so that they could take an open bus tour and play with children from a local charity, Apnalya. You can see more photos here. Her dress in these photos is by Anita Dongre, an actual Indian fashion designer. She looks fine here, although considering the event was so active and playful, it would have been nice to see Kate do a chignon or ponytail. Also, those wedges hurt my soul.
The Duke & Duchess take an open-top bus tour of #Mumbai with children from local charity Apnalya #RoyalVisitIndia pic.twitter.com/uIrTsdSH0N
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 10, 2016
The Duke and Duchess chat to children from local charity Door Step, as well as @CHILDLINE1098 and @MagicBusIndia pic.twitter.com/SdBNMt0GM5
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 10, 2016
Duchess of Cambridge faces cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar… and is caught out at mid on https://t.co/bFROswIqJZ pic.twitter.com/A0dcugO5jN
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) April 10, 2016
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I like the outfit but not on her – she as usual brought the ‘duchess of drab’ to an outfit that could have worked really well. The nude shoes and sausage curls ruined it for me. Same goes the the dress she wore to the cricket match – nice dress but ruined it with the shoes and am not sure it was appropriate for running around playing cricket with the floaty skirt blowing around the place.
We’re going to be treated to a parade of themed clothes ruined with those fug nude shoes and wedges of doom.
+1,000
I agree. Actually I don’ t like the red dress, it s too busy. But I agree, the worst of that outfit are her nude shoes and her sausage curls. And I can’ t see that wedges. Wedges again? NOOOO!!!!! didn’ t the Queen forbade them on her?
I like her in red. The skirt is great, looks like silk. I don’t mind peplums on her, but that pleated bodice/sleeve part looks bad (imo) and ill-fitting. McQueen is rolling over in his grave, once again. Her accessories leave a lot to be desired, and the hair is just awful for the climate. I really cannot believe she wore a dress and WEDGES to play cricket. The woman is an absolute idiot. She looks really foolish.
William is in closer fitting trousers and trying in his own way to look ‘hip’, but he’s as geeky and unattractive as usual. Signing a cricket bat and asking the person on the receiving end if they were going to sell it? Geez, get over yourself!!
He said that??? He’s just a beacon of light and laughter, isn’t he?
Speaking of accessories…if you look closely in the pictures of Kate with the kids, she’s holding her sunglasses in her hand. They appear to have pried her clutch away, but she still couldn’t be empty-handed for even a few moments (she put the glasses on during the bus tour).
I really like the skirt, especially the vertical lines of the pattern at the front. Hate the top. I generally don’t like peplums and here the pattern is horisontal which clashes with the vertical lines of the skirt. This outfit ought to have been planned around showcasing the skirt with a neutral top.
@hmmm………Yes, William did say that. Too bad the person with the wooden thing that was autographed didn’t say, “if I sell it to help charity, will you match it financially?”. God, that would have been priceless.
Arthistorian, I like your take on the ensemble. Yes, the skirt is FAB, the top is not.
+1
I actually like the nude shoes. THIS type of outfit is what they were meant for: a busy pattern. And keep everything else simple to pull things together. And I like that they’re pointed.
Buuut, the tailoring?!?!?!?! She’s British. And Royal. I mean, with that combo, this is almost criminal.
While I never understand her using wedges as versatile activity shoes (India: playing cricket, AUS: Beach activity) she looked lovely and relaxed.
I agree. I think the nude pumps work with the red dress. The peplum isn’t great but it’s a decent dress. I’m not sure of this, but is it forbidden to wear flats? Because I think a nice pair of flats for the other dress in which she played cricket might have been a better choice than the wedges. If flats are not deemed professional for state visits, then I am not sure what he could have worn besides wedges for a more active event.
@betti, +1
So I guess we can anticipate her skiing in a three-piece dirndl ensemble and the ringlets and nude LKs if she ever gets down to Garmisch? And walking around Spain entirely in flamenco garb and nude wedges and ringlets? Fantastic. Let’s hit Paris too, in Chanel and wedges. And ringlets.
At least she looks like she has fun with people while doing sports.Seems to be her space.
lolol
Hahaha. Those wedges are a crime. She looks animated but the wedges make her look foolish. I agree and the hair is just outdated.
I think the hair doesn’t look so bad, actually – the shorter length actually makes the curls look less sausagey, and the nude shoes …. I don’t love them but they are ok as a style choice considering the dress has such a busy pattern. re: the dress itself, I’m not a fan of such literal theme dressing, but she doesn’t seem to be capable of much else.
But I do not know how she’s wearing her hair loose, outdoors in Mumbai at this time of year. It’s 30+ degree temperatures and humid on top of it (seaside weather), it must feel like absolute hell.
perhaps Dyson invented a hidden fan to strap inside her neck under her hair to help keep it from frizzing and also keep her cool 😉
I liked the dress for cricket but wish she would get the memo to lose the 4 inch wedges.. what is so wrong with wearing flats? I can’t imagine jumping around and running the way she does in these high heeled shoes – even though they are wedges. I think if she wore her hair up in a simple pony tail it would have looked cute and event appropriate as well.
Totally agreeing with everyone, why did she wear such high wedges to do something sporty? Diana wore flats on foreign tours and that would have been the perfect thing to do to play cricket, plus more comfortable.
I like a brighter color, like the red on her too. Let’s hope she tries out more color this tour.
Diana wore flats or low heels because she was very self conscious about her height, and she didn’t want to tower over people she had to shake hands and do photos with. She was quite tall.
She almost flashed the Royal biscuit again with that flouncy skirt and jumping around – and wedges? Really? You are tall, can you put on a pair of flats to play cricket with kids? What is wrong with her? Is she that insecure about keeping Workshy’s attention, as the DM article plainly stated?
Hmm, all the million dollar questions.
LOL………..Jib and Liberty, yes, those are the million dollar questions for sure. Kate just looks really stupid wearing shoes and a dress to a cricket event. I mean, C’MON – WHERE IS HER BRAIN?
Keeping Willy’s attention is the only answer I can come up with about those silly wedges for cricket. One of the 11 staffers with them could have carried a pair of flats for cricket but she’s so desperate on the Willy front she won’t even do that.
She reminds me of irrational moments all little kids have when they refuse to wear some necessary or practical piece of clothing. My sisters and I all went through one winter in Minnesota at a certain age in elementary school where we argued with mom about wearing snow boots to walk to school.
Why is ANYONE surprised she wears nude shoes? They are crack to her!
Oh Burton… Lee must be rolling in his grave…
Yes – if he were still around there is no way in 7 hells he’d allow her to ‘tailor’ his creations. Am not even sure McQueen would have done her wedding dress.
He would be spitting nails about her wearing his clothes.
Actually I’m pretty sure that McQueen always did royal outfits – including suits for Charles. Obviously he did bespoke and it was a lot more conservative than his fashion line. I don’t love this peplum and cut but a lot of the other McQueen suits she’s worn are beautiful. Anyway, I’m sure I read that somewhere, that McQueen did royal outfits too, but worth a look. He might not have been upset as we imagine. And publicity for the line is good, right?
He did suits for Chuck when he was working as a tailor on Saville Row, before he found success and got his own label. He used to sew naughty comments into the lining. Am not sure if he did bespoke work for any of them once he got his own label – he was a bit like Tom Ford, particular about who he created bespoke for.
The brand(unlike Saloni etc…) is obviously well-established so doesn’t need the publicity. To me Burton’s designs(the line and the royal bespoke) has been 50 shades of bland. The wedding dress was incredibly overrated and nothing was original about it.
SFK: McQueen never willingly made clothes for royalty.
As a teen apprentice at a Savile Row tailors, he had no choice to work on the clothing of the tailors’ customers. One of those customers happened to be Charles, and McQueen wrote extremely rude messages in the lining of any suits he was given to work on for Charles.
Once he had his own label, he was extremely particular about who could wear his clothes. To extent that he once publicly asked his stores not to sell to Victoria Beckham. She finally got her hands on his designs after he died in 2010.
He had some regard for the Queen, and was proud to receive his gong from her, but he absolutely hated the rest and would never, ever have sold to them.
Especially the bland fashion void that is Kate. He liked his women to be feisty and project a strong message, and his clothing reflected that. Even where he softened abit, the clothes were still pretty strong and intimidating.
Kate wears a bland version of Sarah Burton’s designs, who has deliberately watered down the McQueen vision to the horror of McQueen fans worldwide, but hey, if it sells to bland people now, I guess Kate is a great ambassador for it.
@LAK – i’ve read stories about people who knew Lee saying that he would not be happy about what Burton has done with his vision. He was edgy and reminded me a lot of a young Vivienne Westwood. the brand has lost that attitude that made it so amazing.
As i said above – if he were still with us there is no way in 7 hells that Kate would be able to wear anything of his, let alone tailor it (badly). He was known for his exquisite tailoring – he’d be crying if he saw the results of her idea of ‘tailoring’.
I don’t understand why she wears McQueen, since it largely looks like boring hell on her. Is it the status, the image, trying to present herself as ‘edgy’? Her wedding dress was so unmemorable.
@Betti @LAK – the rude messages sewn into Chuck’s suit linings story is apparently apocryphal – on hearing the story, Gieves & Hawkes asked to examine the Prince’s suits from that era, and on taking them apart, found no evidence of any swearing in the linings. (shame, it would have been an awesome story if it was true)
But McQueen did sew ‘I am a c-nt’ into a jacket while he was working for Romeo Gigli. It’s entirely possible that he either got his stories mixed up or embellished a little, OR that the message was written in chalk and not sewn in (and ended up erased over the course of twenty years and the regular rounds of suit-laundry). And he did accept an OBE and said he’d fallen in love with the Queen despite being a lifelong anti-royal.
Also, he had a thriving custom wedding dress business while he was still alive. He’d have been quite ok with making a dress for the best-publicised Royal bride of the last thirty years, considering so many off his clients were toffs and society types. Though his image would quite possibly have scared off the Midds, they’re too bland to appreciate his true genius.
Nota: other than what hmm mentioned and the fact that she shows little interest in the sports charity that she has (LAK / Sixer), I did consider those things you mentioned in that the angle might be fitness as opposed to sport. In the other thread from today, I suggested that she and her team could perhaps take a page from Michelle Obama’s book.
At the end of day, Kate & William are simply a one trick ponies. I guess. Each, in their own way, weren’t raised to be anything more than what they are.
Teacakes: lining of chuck’s story is true. The embellishment is that he sewed them in. He didn’t. He wrote them in chalk. Anybody checking later wouldn’t have found them.
Further, the nature of his business, once he sold to Gucci, was that his personal designs were interpreted for ready to wear whilst he alone worked on the couture side.
Gucci facilitated the ready to wear, executed by Sarah Burton as his assistant, so if someone decided to make a ready to wear design into a wedding dress, that’s what they got. Not a traditional wedding dress.
Finally, his toff friends were not run of the mill toffs. Isabella Blow wasn’t your run of the mill toff. Ditto Daphne Guinness or Lucy Birley. He made wedding dresses for them as special commissions, again not run of the mill.
Irrespective of their class, they were not/are not run of the mill people.
Ditto McQueen.
@LAK – I did mention that the cunt message could have been written in chalk and the evidence washed away over the years – glad to hear that’s apparently true!
And Lee McQueen didn’t only design dresses for toff style icons like Blow/Guinness. Sara Buys was hardly style icon material despite her magazine connections, and he did her wedding dress too, when she was marrying Tom Parker-Bowles (apparently this is why Kate approached the house of McQueen in the first place instead of going to the usual posh frockmakers like Bruce Oldfield etc…..though all bets are off about whether she would have gone for it while McQueen was still alive)
Everything LAK says. His clients were unique, not run of the mill. I remember seeing Isabella Blow crossing a net of roads near Draycott toward Kings Road, in a very tall sort of embellished rethought top hat and Edwardian jacket, pops of purple and emerald green, vivid tights and fabulous little boots — anything but run of the mill. His work was unique, those who wore him or inspired him were, too.
On vogue.com you can see a slideshow or video of the McQ Fall 2016 ready to wear collection. It’s not Alexander’s level, but neither is it as drab as what Sarah Burton produces for Kate. So god knows. it appears her Kate wear derives from a secondary sort of mass-market line.
Yes, Sara Buys helped Kate make the McQueen connection, BUT she is also quite unusual despite marrying Tom Parker Bowles and worked in fashion. She became a personal friend of McQueen, and was the first person for whom he made a wedding dress.
McQueen would have never dressed Dolittle. He was very particular about his clothes being represented in way that supported his aesthetic vision. He would not have made an exception for Dolittle.
The fashion girl inside me still gets excited by his name, but then I end up disappointed when I see the clothing.
They weren’t bespoke but Crown Princess Mary and Sarah Ferguson both bought the same dress (different colors) fresh of the 2004 runway. Mary has worn the dress a few times in the last decade plus. Fergie I can think of one time but there are probably more.
I still haven’t gotten over McQueen’s death. The guy was unflippin’ believable. One thing for sure is he would never let his muse’s walk around in poorly tailored garments. I would hope that if he was still here, he wouldn’t allow Kate to call the shots, because obviously she knows absolutely nothing about fit, tailoring or STYLE.
That hideous purple gown with the satin strips wrapping around and tying in front? Both Mary and Fergie have it in purple. Oprah has the knee-length version in cream, a more attractive version IMO.
I really like that pink and mint (or light aqua?) dress she’s wear. Very pretty.
Don’t like the McQueen outfit, but maybe I’d feel differently with her hair up or black heels. She does look good in red.
I agree
Why did she change into a different outfit (another skirt) to attend a sporting event where she’s supposed to play with kids? Stupid choice. She could have worn a nice trouser suit for both the first event and the sporting one. She changed clothes, changed into something unsuitable, and put the focus on her clothes and not the kids or the nature of the event. Typical.
Not about the dress but Kate seems to like sports. A lot. Her PR team needs to move her away from charitable endeavors that they think will move the crowd, i.e., mental health (which is worthy and under-represented) but to endeavors that she naturally enjoys. She’d probably show more passion for that and definitely more enjoyment which would mean more time spent on visits and a naturalness she doesn’t show elsewhere. Her angle could be getting more girls into sports. Everything else would be a secondary focus ala mental health.
Dena: she patrons sportaid, but last visited them 17mths ago. She hasn’t really done anything for them beyond that visit, so she’s just as crap at sports based charities as all her other endevours.
@ LAK: Damn! I throw my hands up then. There’s no helping her. There really isn’t.
Dena – I’ve said many times that women’s sport would be perfect for her. The few glimmers of enthusiasm we’ve had from her have all been related to sport. It’s broad enough for her to attend glam awards events and specific enough to do grassroots stuff alongside. It’s worthy but you don’t need to know much: looking game is enough. Sadly, as LAK says however, you can bring the horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
SA recently celebrated it’s 40th, and held a gala in London which she obviously didn’t attend. But do you know what else happened in London? Her being spotted shopping, of course.
So agree notasugarhere. A pony tail and nice linen pants for an putting with kids. This will
A snooze fest for sure as far as her fashion sense.
And I have a really soft spot for McQueen after reading these comments. Bravo.
@dena @ sixer: If they were really smart, she could do both (mental health & sports). A lot of studies coming out regarding anxiety and depression in children/teens discuss the lack of exercise and free time playing spent outside seen in the same children.
Wouldn’t she actually have to be interested in women/like women in order to involve herself in women’s sport? Even at Wimbledon, she only watches the men.
Yes hmmm. That is a demonstrated problem. She is mostly interested in men’s sports. She did attend a few women’s sports items at the Olympics, and spent the time in the stands flirting with her seat mate.
To me she isn’t “sporty” she’s VERY into keeping fit, exercising, diet. That isn’t the same as being sporty, nor does it make her a good fit for promoting sport and health with girls and young women. When your deliberate pre-wedding weight loss is used as a positive on pro-ana sites (“It is all part of the plan.”), you’re not a healthy role model.
Sporting charities seem like a good fit for Kate, but as you are all saying, she doesn’t really make a point to take one on and go to all of their events.
And when I think of Zara, who had a cute picture of her with her husband yesterday at the Grand National with her arms around his shoulders, who trains, competes as a real athlete, Kate would be shown as someone who isn’t very serious. Zara always gets greats comments. People were also commenting that they seem naturally affectionate (compared to Will & Kate.) The die is cast for Kate, I don’t see how she can turn around public opinion.
Agree. The red is not good. Its also so on the nose for India: red and paisley. It also looks too heavy and uncomfortable for swampy Mumbai. I don’t understand the need for themed clothing. Its nice to honor the culture of the local country but I don’t know…don’t go too far down that road. I do like the second dress more. But would love to see her in first dress for arrival and a cotton tunic and cropped pants for the tour.
I find the themed dressing particularly glaring and patronising. I think it’s just an excuse for her to buy scads of new clothes which she will only wear once.
@Kk, cropped pants are exactly what I was thinking when I saw the cricket pictures! I don’t know what her dress code specifics are, but she’s already refusing to wear hosiery and continuing to wear those stupid wedges. So like you said, a tunic and cropped pants, with some flat sneakers would have been perfect. And if she wanted to keep up with the themed dressing, I’m sure she could have gotten a printed tunic from an Indian designer.
I don’t get it either. It’s a little condescending. Nothing is natural with her. It seems like she has this idea of what she is supposed to be and she plays her role. She is like a little wind up doll. Why the themed costumes? She does this with herself as well as George and Charlotte. It’s weird!
The themed clothes are a Middleton thing – her mother and sister do it. Probably relates to the business where everything is theme for particular types of parties. The way she/they dress is an extension of that.
Yes, pants like Jackie Kennedy wore – we used to call them pedal pushers – with a fresh cotton tailored shirt. Crisp send no flashing the privates.
The Daily Mail is right – she does dress like a little girl, the better to keep Will’s attention?
I agree with the comments that she would have been more comfortable in pants/pedal pushers, blouse and flats. But she and William were scheduled to leave offerings at the holy Hindu Banganga water shrine during their visit to the slums, so perhaps the dress was worn as a mark of respect otherwise she’d be criticized for looking too casual.
Pedal pushers seriously? In Jackie’s day, sure, but these days only the over 50’s set kick around in pedal pushers.
Letizia of Spain has a couple of pairs of nice, cropped trousers. That might be what people are calling “pedal pushers”.
I normally quite like her hair out but in this instance I’d say with the heat and the styling a nice high bun would have looked so much better. She could still have left her fringe (bangs) loose.
Anyway, she’s wearing totally appropriate clothing, a narrow longer skirt in the first outfit. I don’t LOVE either outfit; but they’re appropriate. And her bare legs look just fine!!!
Also, they look extremely engaged and not bored at all. I made this point yesterday (or the day before?) – I think they are generally lazy and waste their excellent platform; but they do work reasonably hard on these tours and they get good reports back from them in regards to their interactions with people. I think they could probably spend longer at some of their events on these tours; but I’m okay with their efforts.
“And her bare legs look just fine!!!”
Again, doesn’t matter how they look or don’t. What matters is the work dress code for the job she’s doing, which includes hosiery.
India in April is hot, so she’s wearing skin-tight silk? That doesn’t make sense and is dressing against the weather.
Yes SKF, a high bun or ponytail would’ve looked appropriate for cricket.
I completely disagree. Women being required to wear hosiery and cover their legs (unless visiting somewhere where it is a religious/cultural requirement) is outdated. Most corporate cultures around the world do not require this (and I travel the world for work in a very corporate job meeting high level business people and politicians). The Queen Mother showed her legs in skirt suits when the previous generation always wore full-length skirts. This is FINE because the world doesn’t stay the same and times move on. Anyway, I can’t be bothered having this same debate again. Feel free to jabber on about how women should always have covered legs for some reason – even if that covering is flesh-coloured and the same shape as their actual legs – and I’m not going to bother reading or replying because you won’t convince me and I think it’s utterly ridiculous.
SKF, it doesn’t matter if you think it is outdated or ridiculous. All that matters is that the CEO of the firm, the person currently in charge, has decreed the dress code. That is the dress code that is required for employees of the Firm until the CEO changes her mind.
I think we need a feminist banner with bare legs on them. Maybe Waity’s?
@ Citresse
I agree. She’s so concerned about the heat, yet she kept her heavy, hot head of wiglets hair down. It’s not consistent with her putting out a PR statement on why she won’t wear pantyhose.
Other women and girls around her have their hair up at the daytime events, so it’s not there was protocol for Kate to keep her hair down, especially at the outdoor cricket event where she’s batting and jumping up and down her high-heeled wedges.
Her legs are not bare. If they were, the light would reflect off them like on her hands, and you would see the lines and creases and veins of her feet and ankles instead of this very smooth, silk-like appearance – see her hands for comparison.
But her legs are in the shade of her skirt and her hands are in direct sunlight? If she’s wearing tights they must be incredibly sheer because you can see a lot of leg and foot definition. But I’m not an expert. I feel sorry for her if she is!
SKF yes Kate is wearing good outfits so far.
SFK: let’s call it a 18yrs studying at institutions that required tights all year round. The authorities were pretty good at spotting whether or not you were wearing tights no matter how crafty you thought you were. It’s something i’ve retained.
The tell, is the level of detail around her ankles and feet. If she weren’t wearing some level of covering, the veins/bones in her feet would be clear whether or not she was in shadow. Especially when she’s moving. The skin on the back of our feet, around the ankle is always wrinkled. The ankle bone also has a tendency of being prominent. All that detail is muted by the presence of tights.
If you look at your own bare feet and ankles, those details stand out immediately.
In Kate’s case, her feet and ankles have a silk-like quality to them. You can’t see any of those details.
And if you still can’t tell, just look at the back of her hands. The detailed veins and bones of the back of her hands are how her feet would look if she had no tights on. The amount of light is irrelevant.
A great fabric rendered poorly, and now it looks like a tacky take on a cheap handkerchief dress.
Girl, you’re in India. It is super hot over there. You can put your damn hair up!
She looked absolutely stunning and appropriate. Kids were the happiest, when meeting her! she wasn’t awkward or stiff. I like her.
See, and all I could see was acting. Scrolling through the Daily Mail’s pictures, one word kept popping to the fore: Fake. I felt like I was watching the PR person play their violin — badly. I also think W&K were given a talking to about their aires — because they seem to be concentrating very hard on not coming across as pretentious do-nothings…and yet, obvious PR is obvious.
Ever-gracious Kate – https://twitter.com/RoyallyKate/status/542305613401702402/photo/1
That’s a nice photo of Kate on the cricket field wedges and all.
Perhaps she’s wearing linen (arrival outfit) because it looks wrinkled from the back.
Given economic conditions, I attempted to find their departure info. I’ll check DM. Wondering if they flew commercial.
someone called it weeks ago!
nude heels for formal events, maybe suede for more formal ones and… wedges for sporty events!
was it Sixer?
spot on at every count.
Can I just say that I predicted red and gold with an Indian-inspired print on that thread a week or so ago? I was close! Blimey o’Reilly. Not only did I remark on fashion, I also made a decent prediction. I am reborn as a fashionista! There’s a first for everything, dontchaknow.
Anyway. Paisley is actually an excellent choice if you are looking to signal cultural connections via your clothes, as these royal types are supposed to do on visits like this.
I don’t know whether she wears it well. She just looks like a great and gooder in a posh frock to me. I can never see the difference between great and gooders in their posh frocks, whether they’re on diplomatic visits or red carpets. All the same to me. I’ll leave all the nitpicking to you guys.
But diplomatically speaking, I have no criticism of this outfit. In fact, I think it was chosen well.
We’ll make a Fashion blogger of you yet Sixer.
The ‘Paisley’ design or motif actually originates from ancient Persia, with Indian versions made popular by imports from the East India Company in the 18th and 19th century. So she is, or her team is, doing their research.
I think probably not!
But yes – big symbol of cultural exchange, from the importing of shawls from Kashmir to industrial development in Scotland, right up to a favourite pattern for William Morris.
Much as it’s annoying for me to praise a Chutney Choice, it was an excellent choice. For once, she’s done something she is supposed to do.
The ‘paisley’ design is actually a stylised symbol of the ‘yoni’ (vagina + womb) , basically a female fertility symbol. It’s called a ‘aamra’ or ‘maangai’ (mango) design in other areas of India also as a sign of fertility often worn in wedding jewellery.
Don’t suddenly get into grooming and makeup or I’ll be convinced you’ve been possessed by space aliens.
Ok. I brushed my hair this morning. This is grooming, right? On the other hand, I am sitting in a scuzzy pair of jogging bottoms and one of Mr Sixer’s “do the decorating in this” t-shirts, cos I dripped sweet chilli sauce on my original t-shirt and couldn’t be bothered to go upstairs to get a clean one belonging to me. His was on the clean washing pile in the kitchen.
Conclusion: space alien possession unlikely.
As pointed out elsewhere online. Who else wore nude shoes, a
red/white/green pattered straight skirt and a red peplum 3/4 length sleeve top while on tour in India?
I’ll give you one guess.
@ notasugarhere
Yup. I saw a blog with side-by-side photos of what Diana wore to India in 1992 and Kate wore in the above photos. Same choice of red. Same peplum style. Same type of nude shoes but without the pantyhose Diana seemed to have on and Diana’s had shorter heels.
It’s just creepy that Kate keeps trying to SWF Diana. What is she going to do when she’s older than Diana had ever been? When she’s 40, 45, 50, and so on? Still go for the younger Diana’s look? Still depend on Diana to boost her own image?
I find it very strange that a man enjoys having his wife dress like his Mother! I wonder if Diana would find it flattering – a “mini-me” – I think not!
Kate seems almost childlike in her desire to please William.
Let’s refresh ourselves with 2010 fashion from Jecca, sitting on William’s Audi’s tailgate. Will you do a double take, too?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7729013/Marathon-not-a-sprint-for-Prince-William-and-Jecca-Craig.html
I was so surprised by the fact that she was wearing a patterned dress, that i’m giving her major kudos. I won’t nitpick.
She changed her usual fashion, even if it was only the fact that she’s in prints. For Kate, that’s on a par with some new life changing discovery.
ETA: ok, i will nitpick. Why is she wearing a dress meant for chores to a cricket match!!
I only mentioned nitpicking to give you coded permission to do it, LAK!
Why did she change out of one dress, only to change into a Little House on the Prairie dress to participate in a sporting event? A single, loose trouser suit would have worked for both events. She put the focus on her clothes as per usual.
That maxi dress is more a beach type outfit and not very appropriate for playing cricket with children in. At the very least she could have worn better shoes, maybe flats/sandals. But i agree with NOTA, a nice tailored linen trouser suit would have worked well and she would only have had to take a jacket off (change into flats) for the cricket. There was no need to have a complete outfit change. But thats the plan with the 15 that was reported – 2 or 3 changes a day for her.
As everything is new, including the £1,500 earrings she wore at the wreath laying. The bill for her outfits alone are going to cost the UK taxpayer 3 figures at most.
I would hazard a guess that the 2 outfits today cost between £10-15k. The McQueen alone is easily £6-7K with £1.5k earrings, £500 nude heels, £300 clutch. Not sure about the 2nd outfit and shoes.
You can barely see the £1500 earrings because of the mop of hair. She needs to wear it up when she wears accessories that should be seen. And her shoes are horrible in both cases, especially the wedges. The outfits are ok, but this is what the earlier article was talking about. She frumps up things that have potential to be stylish.
I also wonder how she isn’t sweating like crazy with her hair down like that. But then Botox shots would help with that along with smoothing the forehead.
if she wears trousers, will she be able to sneak in the requisite number of Marilyn Moments?
can a pair of track pants or trousers do this?
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/10/12/3306F30200000578-3532239-image-m-294_1460288067631.jpg
i think William must’ve told her that he loves her for her hair and her legs. that’s why she puts on lots of extension, never put up her hair, and try to show off her legs as much as possible (be it flyaway skirt or skin tight painted on jeggings)
She certainly reinforces her girlish co-ed image with that second dress.
If she’d have worn something more formal, pretty sure many people would be talking bout how rude she is to show up ostentatious to meet such poor children. Can’t believe I’m heading into the “Kate can’t win” camp today, but I guess I am.
Didn’t care for the first dress on her, liked the second one. Long, airy and looks comfortable. I just wish she could find a casual shoe without a cork, rope or wedge heel. If I’m being picky.
Bluhare I prefer corks in wine bottles. 🙂 do you?
bluhare it is possible to do a happy medium where she is wearing a dressy pant suit and a stylish-but-casual blouse underneath for the sport later. No need for her to wear two expensive dresses within an hour of each other, one of which is completely useless for the task at hand. Skirt flew up again but at least she’s wearing a slip this time.
Ha, Anett! Perhaps on a bulletin board too. 🙂
lower case Deb, I said the same thing – day one, and we almost got another flashing moment. What is she thinking??
I tried to be nice but in all honesty the dress is suited for flat sandals, a sun hat, sunglasses and a beach bag. Or a loose ponytail and sunglasses but the same accessories as previously stated.
I liked the red dresss as well and I had no idea where paisleys came from. I learn something new on every royals thread.
On to more important topics of which I know you have a vested interest, Sixer… biscuits and cookies. In case you didn’t see the comments on the last royals post, I had an unplanned shopping trip that happened to take me by “World Market” and picked up Digestives, Tunnocks & Penguins. Mr Balls and I did a research project as to whether a) digestives are an acceptable dunking agent in tea and b) which is better Penguins or Tim Tams.
The overwhelming conclusion is that digestives are acceptable (even tasty) for tea-dunking due to their lack of sweetness as long as the crumbs stay out of the tea. As for Penguins, they are completely un-slamable. They’re too hard in the middle! So, I suggest that you pick up a package of Tim Tams and compare. They are the superior cookie.
ETA: Lilac, I see the Boston Globe’s satirical front page is trending on FB.
You see? I KNEW you would come around to my way of thinking. Your part-time Britisher status is restored! I will look for Tim Tams. But I’m not dunking them. They are chocolate. I hope you do a little swishy swoosh with the biscuit while dunking. It is the proper way.
Tunnocks teacakes (round, wrapped in foil) or Tunnocks caramel wafers (chocolate-covered fingers)? I like both.
i usually avoid good food threads because they make me hungry and jealous! but today i finally can join because my next door neighbor just came back from her 1-yr secondment and brought home some cookies and biscuits to share!
i have today in my pantry some nairns gluten free oatcakes (they are delicious but sticks to my teeth like nothing else), mcvities jaffa cakes (they are amazing? where have i been all my life?), chocolate oranges that have sadly squished together into an oval, and my new absolute favorite: custard creams. now i have to find a store that sells them. its going to cost me an arm and half a leg import wise, but they are delicious.
oh and a rolo. i haven’t opened it yet, for i might get diabetes if i do, after all the other ones. but my friend loves it so much so she almost got in trouble with customs for bringing in so many!
The teacakes, but will try those caramel wafers next time.
Deb – there’s a chocolate-flavoured version of custard creams. Look out for bourbons!
Nutballs – not for dunking but caramel wafers are cool because they’re both biscuit-y and chewy.
I adore custard creams. And Bourbons.
Deb, if you are in the US, Mothers Cookies makes vanilla creams I think they call them. Same as custard creams but not quite as good and a heck of a lot cheaper than the real ones.
But no dunking of chocolate-covered digestives unless it is into hot chocolate, right?
NOTA – only naughty Nutballs dunks into hot chocolate. Correct dunking is only in tea and never with anything covered in chocolate!
Correct, nas. In Sixland I believe chocolate digestive dunking is totally banned, no matter what the beverage, but I could be wrong.
Sixer, my SIL is a kiwi and she would comment on how sweet our prepared foods were here in comparison to NZ. The only cereal she would eat with Cheerios.
I wouldn’t dunk anything sweeter than a digestible in my tea. Since our cookies / biscuits are usually sweeter, the idea of it sounded pretty gross yesterday. Now that I’ve tried one, I agree that it works.
There are many American-themed restaurants and chains here, but not much in the way of American branded goods. The only thing I see and buy with any regularity are Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. And even then, I’m always thinking they would be so much better with Britisher chocolate. Your choc is no good, sorry! My mum used to make my aunt send her Bisquick (sp?) for pancakes, though.
Naughty Nutballs doesn’t dunk chocolate in hot chocolate… too rich and sweet. I prefer dunking chocolate goods in whole milk, cream or liqueur. Just bought a bottle of tres leches liqueur which should be perfect!
You know about the stink about Hershey’s getting Cadbury banned here, claiming brand confusion. Those of us who have had both know there is no confusion, Cadbury is clearly superior.
ETAa: I love Reece’s and Snickers. I need the European version to be perfectly satisfied.
ETAb: My research concluded that Penguins dipped in Peanut Butter improved them.
@Sixer – I hear you on the Reese’s cups. I can’t stand American chocolate, it tastes of curdled milk and chalk, I’d even take our terrible sugar-filled Indian Cadbury’s over that. The sole exception is Snickers bars, probably because they are more peanutfudge substance and have only a thin layer of chocolate.
The closest we’ll ever get to a proper peanut butter+British chocolate thing, is the chunky peanut butter KitKats. The wafers are just the right thing to stop the peanut butter+chocolate getting too claggy in my mouth.
Sixer & teacakes, if you can get your hands on a package of Justin’s PB Cups, they surpass Reese’s. Organic and fair trade, they have milk, dark and white chocolate versions. The dark version is my favorite.
Penguins dipped in peanut butter! That’s some Advanced Chocolating, Nutballs. Ha. That’s made me laugh. Will look out for Justin’s.
Teacakes – I give you the Starbar: http://www.cadbury.co.uk/products/Starbar-2348?p=2348. Not as smooth as Reece’s. More like crunchy peanut butter. But luvverly!
For those who love peanut butter cups (and I am one) but wish you could get them with better chocolate, Trader Joes. Trader Joes’ peanut butter cups are delicious. I can no longer go into Trader Joes because of it.
Hershey’s products may be the most ubiquitous, but that’s not what American chocolate is really like. Anything mass produced the way Hershey’s (and Reese, etc) is going to be a lower quality, since it’s made with chocolate compound instead of pure chocolate. It’s because the items need to be able to withstand different types of environments (ie hotter and colder – not all stores have Air Conditioning, after all) without blooming. The US has a lot of variation geographically, so items need to be able to be shelf stable in temperate areas Washington State all the way to hotter climates like Texas. There are plenty of great chocolates here in the states!
Bluhare! Yes TJs peanut butter cups. My brother is addicted.
Lake Champlain from Vermont. I barely like chocolate and those are so good.
My British friend and her son get frequent care packages from home and there are always Cadbury chocolates and digestives.
Sixer – I don’t love the ‘India = paisley and bright colours’ literal theme dressing, but at least she’s trying. And I noted that the hemlines are lower than what she usually wears, which is a step in the right direction considering where she is. It’s an appropriate length and wouldn’t raise any eyebrows in Mumbai (which is one place in India where I see a LOT of girls in shorts or even the occasional short skirt, and no one bats an eye).
I wish she had better taste in shoes though. I get that covered toes = a lot of shoe choices are automatically knocked out, but those damned court shoes….
Yes, exactly. At least she is trying and not getting it so wrong as to be offensive. The paisley motif does have cultural and historical significance to both countries so it’s appropriate in the context of the type of visit this is and the family she’s representing. On a personal level I’m not keen on the over-theming either, but I think in the silly and coded world of royal dressing she’s actually made a good choice.
She’s better than expected and though the hair and shoes are a problem, for her(this is the caveat) it is ok. So far I’m not exasperated as usual. Not a fan but it is better than I expected for her. If Michelle Obama wore this stuff I would be harshly critical.
Teacakes: I can’t post links, but Kate’s female team are so inappropriately dressed today. For arrivals and for accompanying her to the day’s events. Google Rebecca Deacon and Natasha archer india arrivals. Natasha is in a mini dress that is mid-thigh whilst Rebecca is really sloppy in pink cropped trousers. Both of them as if having a girly day out. It’s no wonder Kate is equally sloppy. No one to advise her even if she listened to advice.
LMAO at Kate the Great and Gooder. I’m using that from now on.
I predicted she would bail on he trip, so I was wrong! Maybe she’ll have to go home early?
She’s going to need a five year holiday after all this ‘work’, duchess do nothing.
They’ve never worked this hard before. 4 engagements already done and dusted, within 24 hrs!
Their hosts are working really hard to keep them amused on this tour. They’re just along for the ride.
She needs a wedge intervention. Someone please raid her shoe closet and burn them all! Don’t get me wrong a good wedge can be comfy and look chic, but hers are always clunky looking. Perhaps a low heeled sandal or a fancy flat? Otherwise day one outfits are good.
As someone with thick hair, I look at these photos and start sweating. There is nothing worse than a curtain of hair in hot weather. It must be over 30°C in Mumbai right now? Other than that, she looks exactly as expected including the wedges of doom. Not bad at all but also not terribly exciting.
Her natural hair is curly and bushy. If she doesn’t put it up, we are going to see bigger and bigger hair by the end of the day.
Yeah, my hair is like that. No product in the world can combat humidity which is why ponytails and loose buns are the only way to go in the summer.
@LAK: Now I’m reminded of the episode of “Friends” where they all went to a tropical island (I don’t remember which one) for vacation and Monica’s hair got bigger by the hour. Ha!
LOL @ Green girl. Very close.
During the previous Asian tour, she allowed her natural curl and bush to come through by the time they landed in the Pacific Islands, but you could see that her hair was loaded with product to stop it reaching ‘friends’ proportions.
She’s been flat-ironing/straightening her hair since university. Photos of it in it’s natural state are rare, but they exist.
That’s the other reason I laugh when people insist that her thick STRAIGHT hair is the true thickness of her hair because no matter how thick a person’s hair is, if it is naturally curly, it loses the volume when it’s straightened, not increase.
Wow, Lak — I just looked up the pics of her natural curly hair from the Solomon Islands trip. Who knew! (Well, you did, obviously…..) I rather like her hair in its natural curly state.
@mytake, I always think curly hair looks prettier in its natural state, but I don’t have curly hair, so I don’t have to deal with it.
@ Lady D,
I agree – curls are beautiful — especially Kate’s. Her natural hair really is lovely.
And as someone with curly hair, I can attest that it’s much easier to wear it curly than have it straightened. Which makes me side-eye Kate even more, because now I have a better appreciation for how long it probably takes to blow her hair straight. And the fact she insists on doing it 99.9% of the time, instead of sometimes just rocking her naturally curly hair or wearing it up, provides insight into Kate’s mindset. Which may sound silly, but I truly believe it does.
She must be dying under those wiglets. Ponytails and updo styles would look great on this tour.
Yes, and her natural hair in humid weather is really pretty! She’s so buttoned up and nervous, I could imagine Maxima going out with her hair all bushy and a scarf tied around it, glamorous and confident!
The cricket photos are the happiest and most genuine I’ve seen of her in ages. She looks so lovely that I’ll excuse the awful shoes, lol. Why doesn’t she do more of these sporty outdoors events when she’s at home?
I used to post with a wee bit of frequency on the Kate threads. One of the things I use to point out and still do is that Kate seems to like sports (and maybe even fitness). Her team should align her charitable interests to her personal interests, i.e., getting girls involved in sports or fitness for kids (take a page from Michelle Obama’s book). If she and her team did that I think we’d see a more engaged and happier Kate when she goes out to do her bit for the Firm.
With sports she doesn’t have to talk or be intelligent about heavy, weighty world affairs. She can be relaxed and probably even herself.
Agree, Dena.
Very well said!!
Yes, great comment, hope Jason sees it.
This.
She is once again missing the fashion mark — she needs tailored, jewel colors with clean lines that play to her strengths. How hard can this be? She should be able to wear well designed clothes wonderfully well, but consistently comes up short. I understand wearing shoes that elongate the leg, but why those tall ugly wedges? If she is afraid of heels sinking into the earth, why not pick something with a practical bottom and not sky high?
Only Kate plays sports wearing a dress and wedges. She reminds me the women of my hometown and not in a good way.
I wonder if she spoke to the children with her uber posh accent. Anyway, this tour is going to be interesting to watch.
Your comment is funny. Where is your hometown?
There is a photo of her shaking hands with someone in the slums. Her other hand (with big blue) is cupping her vagina!!!! Why does she do this???? –there are other photos of her doing this, so definitely not the first time!! Does she feel the need to protect the royal biscuit and big blue from peasants? and I’ll bet you she doesn’t want any of these people touching big blue.
Someone needs to raid her wardrobe and burn all nude courts!!!
Is it just me or is there something different about Kate’s face? Especially her eye area?
I thought that as well – as it looks ‘tight’ in a few shots. She’s been on the ‘tox for this trip. Plus girl needs to quite smoking – her skin is looking dry, you can see it around the dry area. I have that same problem as well and a good eye cream helps so much,
I wondered where the suddenly bloated face came from!
I think she replaced her veneers and got fillers in her cheeks. Botox is a given. No way she was going to go without a treatment.
How often do people replace veneers?
@ For a drinker and smoker it can be 5 to 10 years depending but with good care 15-20. Veneers that is.
I thought her eyes looked different when she was photographed during their little ski break in the Alps.
Somethimg nice – they both look relaxed and happy in the cricket pics, its refreshing to see some unforced – like previous posters have said only Kate wears a dress and wedges to play sports?! Why?!
Kate….put your damn hair up!!! I ruins literally every outfit you wear! Just shoving it behind your ears is not the answer, nor is fussing with it incessantly!
Sixer, I predict more helicopter hair shots and I bet you anything she has a hair wrangler with her at every event disguised as a “aide-de-camp”.
I live for more helicopter hair!
Why didn’t she wear something more traditional? ! You’re in india! The labs if color. The saree would have given her some much needed bulking.
Good lord! She looks like Princess Anne circa 1975. And decades older than her actual age.
ITA. Hard to believe that red outfit is McQueen. It’s matronly and looks more Oleg Cassini or de la Renta to me.
You get extra points for Oleg Cassini. Lol. It looks like something Bill Blass or Geoffrey Beene would have designed for women of a certain age.
oh my god. That’s IT!!!! Great call, Olenna.
I love paisley with a passion, but she looks like a red bandana.
Her Anita Dongre dress is beautiful, but like everyone else, I wish she’d worn flats and pulled her hair back to be more appropriately attired for the activities she knew she would be doing!
I think she looks pretty and appropriate, and I like her in that longer length. I do wish she would wear her hair up or back, but I just don’t care for hair that “big.”
Hey I wear a lot of Boden, what’s wrong with that ;). Although I guess I usually buy in black when the option is available….
Could she have worn some Indian casual clothing with sneakers for the cricket and soccer she participated in? I understand wanting to pay respects to the host country but she miscalculated her outfit for this event. I liked her arrival outfit even though the back was super wrinkly, but that kind of fabric tends to bunch easily up.
There isn’t really any Indian clothing that would have worked for her to play cricket in – if she had worn a kurta or something (they have slits up the side and are not longer than knee-length), it would have risked blowing up in the wind while she was in motion.
And even though there would of course be trousers etc underneath, it would still create an impression of deshabille.
The cricket outfit doesn’t make a lot of sense to me…. Did she know she’d be ask to participate? It’s like showing up to gym class in a dress and heels with your hair styled and down- why? At the very least a sensible pair of flats or pony tail? I noticed with Harry in Nepal- he had his “fancy clothes” and he had his “work and play” clothes and managed to look appropriate for whatever he was doing. I guess it could be a man vs woman thing (maybe a woman couldn’t get away with wearing scruffy pants and a wrinkly shirt) but there MUST be some kind of woman equivalent- fancy trousers and a nice shirt? Decent flats? And please PLEASE put your hair back!!!
The peplum is meh. Don’t like it. The dress for the cricket match would have been fine if she wasn’t going to be actively participating in the match. A nice linen suit or a pair of trousers with a linen shirt would have been perfect. Her shoe game as usual is horrible. New nude pumps and wedges. Ugh. Black pumps and ballerina flats would have been perfect. Her hair is a hot curtain and I don’t understand why she doesn’t put it up in a bun or wear a ponytail. Oh, well…that’s our Duchess of Frump.
Her shoe game is the worst. I despise those wedges – and I like a lot of wedges. So are just SO BORING. If they must be worn, they’d look better with trousers.
Shoe game? You are generous. Her shoes were benched a long time ago. It kills me because it’s unecessary. After her other wedge criticisms she still wedges away so there is no helping her.
The Fail has images for the Bollywood reception and she’s ALL IN BRIGHT BLUE, right down to the statement earrings and matching clutch Not quite sure what to make of it but the colour is over powering, thou it is very Bollywood. And her hair is up.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3532629/Kate-dazzles-beaded-blue-gown-William-arrive-glittering-Bollywood-gala-feast-Indian-entertainment-including-singers-dancers-nod-fashion.html
William broke out the black slippers again.
I like the bright blue dress and the black eye liner. The earrings are a little…big? Wasn’t she a so called accessory buyer at one point, for a few months? I really don’t get the feeling she is into jewelry or has an eye for it, at all.
The earrings were a gift from a famed Indian jeweller. They are lapis and diamonds, and are worth about $4500.
Despite them probably costing thousands, they look like really gaudy costume jewelry. I find her whole outfit really matchy-matchy. Oh well, at least her hair is up and out of her face.
The blue is the best look in a long time and the dress she wore to tour wasn’t bad but the shoes were a travesty. A ponytail, simple earrings and flats would have looked better.
Not a fan of those earrings, to be honest. I do like the color of the gown and the beading, but the shawl thing just seems as if it’s ‘too much’. Her hair and makeup looked good! Calendar event! Now, if she can just work on that posture of hers…………I really do wonder why it’s so bad for such a young woman.
For eveningwear William broke out the black slippers again.
Those slippers seem to be ‘in’ in that uber rich set, I think I saw Pierre or Andrea Casiraghi wearing some to a ball.
And back in Dec 2014 when Prince Albert was photographed in a red lumberjack shirt he made (for a little while) all hard labourers “in” with the uber rich 🙂
Citresse – I remember that ‘lumberjack shirt’ ha, it seemed off, but yes, maybe that is in with high flying set too.
The shoes, the hair, again. Anyhow, at the end of the day, to look stylish, you need to have confidence in who you really are. Knowing how to dress and put your (whole) self together is a mark of self respect, self awareness and respect of others and awareness of the environment you evolve in. Kate picks at time (not all the time and rarely anything that I find interesting but still others could do a wholesome look with those pieces) good pieces but every time she pairs it with the most boring shoes, hair that do not belong there, make up that hardens her and ensures she has no freshness, (extremely bad and insecure) posture, (fake and exaggerated) smile, lack of substance and genuine interest. Others could pull off her pieces first with : the right shoes (shoes these days and well for a few centuries now are GREAT accessories and complete the outfit, her picks show she considers they are to be forgotten in the whole kit), hairstyle that enhances instead of putting down the whole outfit and MOSTLY, CONFIDENCE (if you do not feel it-fake it-workplace teaches you that-well maybe this is part of the problem). She does not pick the most interesting pieces of clothing but she ruins any possible good ones with the ill fitting (moving buttons, too much fabric, enhancing her absence of curves), shoes (some ugly tacky metallic shoes come to mind) and hair that really look as if put at the end to ruin the ensemble effect. Finally, her coats worn INSIDE (ex: basketball in NYC and meetings) is so inappropriate and look so uncomfortable. People who said she was followed were lying. The person who is followed is Michele Obama who freed our shoulders and arms from jackets that too often were ruining our nice work dresses. FIrms and offices are now filled with women who dare the bare shoulders/arms look. THanks Michele. That was daring. We all owe you!
now Michelle Obama is a lady who has STYLE.
But Michele make fashion mistakes too, like those cardigans she can’t seem to stop wearing and when she wears a flouncy skirt like a teenager. She needs to stick to straight lines, A-lines, lose the flounce. She’s not girlish bit often dresses like she is.
Michelle actively experiments with her look, and sometimes things don’t work but at least I get the sense that it’s her taste and not a stylist. And her outfits, when she does get them right, come across as those of a woman with a strong personality and an appreciation of fashion. That’s not something I get off Waity.
JIB – Michelle does get it wrong sometimes BUT she has the confidence & comfort level in her own skin to pull off different looks & a willingness to mix it up and take risks. Kate’s not there yet.
I particularly like Michelle when she wears business suits. She is a lawyer after all & an accomplished woman. Kate. An accomplished mom perhaps but not rounded as a woman yet.
https://www.google.com/search?site=&source=hp&ei=z6cKV_qQLYr1jgSz6IGYBQ&q=michelle+obama+business+attire&oq=michelle+obama+bus&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.1.1.0l2j0i22i30l3.1571.10609.0.12741.19.19.0.12.12.0.286.2786.2j15j2.19.0….0…1c.1.64.mobile-gws-hp..0.19.1077.3.5Paxq4PqWFA#q=michelle+obama+beige+business+suit&imgrc=kBnWLmxB3Gj3HM%3A
She has also had some stunning evening looks.
She chooses dresses that should be tight around the top half of her body and then leaves them slightly loose. This makes her look frumpy. She needs a stylist who will get her clothes tailored.
Also her sausage curls and the volume she adds to her hair make her look skinnier and like a lollipop stick. To a certain extent she can’t help her weight and no doubt she feels pressure to be thin but if she doesn’t want to gain an extra 10lbs then she needs to lose the curls.
It may seem harsh to just focus on her appearance but if she doesn’t want to really do any humanitarian work like Prince Harry or Prince Charles then it’s all the public has and she needs to up her game.
Kate looks nice in tailored suits such as the outfit she wore for Charlotte’s christening. I think she makes more of an effort now but not so much in the past when she knows HM is around. I think Kate would wear her hair up if more often if she did engagements with HM.
HURRAY! She’s covered! No flashing, no thigh-high splits to greet children. No plunging necklines to thrill teen boys. Whew! *sigh of relief*
And I have to say, they actually seem happy, relaxed, genuine. The pictures of them playing cricket and in the slums and on the bus, they actually seem likable.
Maybe they hate the formality their lives become once in England *shrugs*. Well, they’d better get used to it 😉
But if they could transport *this* will and Kate to the home counties, I feel like we’d have a winner on our hands.
And I love her hair wavy 🙂
She almost flashed at the cricket game. While playing. Someone linked a pic above.
*facepalm*
So close.
I love the second dress, she looks v pretty and relaxed . Not loving the shoes, sandals would have looked good here.
omg. I had a feeling coming here today there would be endless comments on Kate;s shoes, dress, hair, makeup, etc.
I went thru all 100 photos from The Daily Fail.
They were in the slums, the fields, the palaces.
Kate and Wills toured their little butts off.
They did good. Period. The rest is all fluff.
Both maybe bland and boring. Who cares.
They shook the right hands, batted the right balls, and kept on smiling. If anything struck me as weird it was the smile in the slums. It is ok to look sad.
I must have been expecting quite horrid outfits because I’m actually pleased with these. LOL I do think her styling is off, needs her hair back, especially if she’s outside. And the wedges I’m actually OK with. What else could she have worn while on a field? Flats would have made the dress looker very frumpy, heels would have dug into the grass. I’ve always worn wedges when I know I’m going to be walking or standing on grass. She seems comfortable enough in all sorts of heels to be able to play sports in them. I’d most definitely break an ankle.
5 more days left, keep up the adequate work, Kate!
I agree, I think this is (by and large) a good first day of the trip but would have enjoyed the hair back. Good outfits, she seemed to be genuinely engaged. I’m going to mark it as a win for Kate.
I think she looks nice, although it would have been better to wear flats for a sporting occasion. Props to her for this – I would have been bricking it being bowled at by Tendulkar, even at 1/4 speed or whatever it was. She did well on the cricket outing.
Sachin Tendulkar is Sixlet Minor’s ultimate, ultimate, ultimate (and I haven’t said ultimate nearly enough times) hero. If I told him Chutney was standing at wicket to Tendulkar, he would have watched the news reports. And, frankly, this is a boy who probably couldn’t even name Normal Bill’s wife if you asked him!
HOLD UP! Did she FINALLY fix her eyeliner?! or am I seeing things? Because in those Daily Mail (Fail) pictures her eyeliner is different.
I actually liked the McQueen outfit. However from the back it did not fit well. Sky news pics showed it quite tight across her back. The afternoon dress was nice but like previous posters I think loose linen trousers and flat shoes would have been better. At least we were spared the jeggings and tiny striped t-shirt that she often wears to sporting events.
Did she wear that red peplum skirt on the plane all the way from England? Is that picture of her just having gotten off the plane? Why is it wrinkled at her seat area?
If she would get and listen to a stylist, she would have had her first pic in India of a wrinkle-free outfit. A stylist would have told her about the fabric, when to put it on depending on what she’s going to do in it, and told her to fold her skirt in if sitting down. All the kinds of things Kate should have known if she were the type to analyze things besides what Diana did.
I read they flew British Airways. They probably changed clothing a couple times during the 9 hour flight. The red arrival outfit she probably put on 30 min prior to landing.
I’m guessing it was linen hence the wrinkling. Yes, it’s too bad there was some wrinkling but I thought she looked nice regardless. I thought the shoes were ok, but I would’ve preferred red shoes to match the dress.
I think this would have been a win had she put her hair up. It would have looked much more polished and sophisticated.
Did anyone read the Sir Whatisface’s comments to the Bollywood stars at the gala? “Please don’t besiege our Duke and Duchess. I know you will want to mob them, but please behave yourselves, you rowdy lot!” JFC
Also, the article talking about how “nervously” all the Indian celebs lined up for the Duke and Duchess. I mean, it could be true, but please! That’s SRK, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit!!! Not to mention even the most privileged Bollywood star brat who had their career handed to them through nepotism still works harder than the Dolittles!
Oh, and of course no Indian politician, celeb, etc ever visits the slums! The “slumdog” children are so lucky they get to be in the presence of the Cambridges!
I don’t know if this is just the Daily Fail being faily and racist, or if these quotes are actually things WK’s entourage members have said.
Seriously. Ugh!
Whoa. That is gross. This tour does have a 19th century air about it.
it does, and I find it rather itchy.
Yeah, I was actually taken aback by the blatant condescension. Then again, a fair percentage of British toffs are stuck in the 19th century in their attitudes towards the ex-colonies and their own ~plebes~. So not surprising, I guess…
Random fun story: So, the Queen and Prince Phillip visited India in 1997, shortly after Diana’s funeral. Since Labour had won, the Queen was forced to express some sort of contrition for the atrocities of British rule. One of the most famous of these is the “Jallianwala Bagh Massacre” of 1919, where a British colonel ordered 50 soldiers to open fire on a crowd of 150000+ Indians, who were nonviolent protesters but mostly just people celebrating a cultural festival. The British govt maintains that there were 379 dead and 1000 or so wounded. The Indian inquiry, of course, places the numbers much higher. Considering the fact that this was carefully planned and took place in an enclosed square with little chance of escape, 379 is…optimistic, let’s say.
Anyway, so the Queen was supposed to apologize, but then after a lot of discussion, the govt decided that the Queen, and therefore UK, could not actually apologize because that’s opening the Pandora’s Box. Next thing you know, they’d have to apologize for all the other massacres, famines, and such! Also, lots of British people were very approving of this incident when it happened, among them the royals.
So here come Queen and Phillip, forced to appear at the memorial. They took off their shoes and the Queen bowed her head for 30 seconds, and spent 15 whole minutes there! All well and good, right? Except, when Elizabeth came to the monument, she looked at the stated number of dead (2000 or so) and questioned how that could possibly be true. It must have included the injured as well, no way it was that bad! Having proclaimed this, she walked away. Phillip, following behind, was heard loudly proclaiming that less than 200 people had died. The 1000+ figure was just an exaggeration. And he’d know because the grandson of the Col. who ordered the massacre had told him so! To cap it all off, they signed the memorial guestbook – as Elizabeth R, or Elizabeth Regina. WillKat can only aspire to be this clueless and offensive!
Ignore me, I’m just de-lurking to vent my anti-colonial spleen.
Dear me, @llamaglama! And people wonder where the Windsors get their arrogance from!
Just signing on to say Happy Birthday, Charlie [Hunnam]!!!!!!!!! <3
Theme dressing, sausage curls, and the wedges of doom. That’s our Katie Bucket 😉
The Fuggirls have more coverage over there. I really don’t care for anything she’s worn so far. The blue number at the Bollywood reception was over the top and costume-y to me. Too obvious a tribute. It needed to be a neutral and then let the custom beading (that was done in India apparently) speak for itself. The earrings look cheap but are priced at 3 grand. But at least her hair is up.
Those blue earrings look cheap. The matchy matchy clutch and shoes are so matronly. I don’t know how someone who spends so much money on her wardrobe can still manage to look so underwhelming.
Good, Lord, she’s got taste for sh!t … LOL
I saw nothing wrong with either look. Let the woman have her nude shoes.
I don’t understand the direction Sarah Burton has gone with. I love Alexander McQueen because he was so different, out there and edgy. The whole brand seems to have gone the opposite way?
Burton has made the brand more accessible to the masses who can afford it. If he were still alive there is no way in 7 hells that Waity would be allowed to wear ANYTHING from his label let alone tailor them. He famously told his shops never to sell to Victoria Beckham. He was very very particular about who wore his designs and Waity is the antithesis of what he and the brand were about – strong and feisty.
I went to the daily mail article with all the pictures. I actually don’t love the red dress. In the larger pictures, it is sort of bland and outdated looking with the peplum and gathered neckline. It is shaped like something Diana might have worn in the 80s, not in a retro, updated way, either.
The more colorful flowy dress was very pretty and I think Kate is at her best when sports are involved. She’s comfortable there and it shows in her whole body and face. I know Duchess DoLittle has been heavily criticized of late, deservedly so, but I think in those pictures she looked wonderful and happy. So kudos for that to her.