Kate Attends a Garden Party in Yesterday's Dress

On May 29, 2012, the Duchess of Cambridge appeared at a garden party given by the Queen of England. Doesn't that sound fab? This is the kind of thing I would have my paper dolls do back in the day, when I had no idea what a garden party actually was, and no idea what my paper dolls were doing beyond wearing the little paper dresses I designed for them.

I know for a fact I wouldn't, in a million years, have my paper dolls attend two consecutive events wearing the same dress!
Truth be told, I have no real problem with Kate wearing the same dress at two events in a row. It's a cute dress, and she changed it up ever so slightly, with a hat and different jewelry (pearl earrings!) and her trusty beige shoes. She even....gasp...pushed her hair back! But oh guess what? Every time she pushes her hair back, she's left her outfit unadorned. Even took off the little inoffensive gold brooch she had worn last week with this dress.
I am not a fan of this hat, either.

The little clot of lace clinging to her skull just looks strange, and the hat itself is not a match, either colorwise or fabricwise, for the dress.
What I would have really liked is a big pink bow or even a small fascinator, holding her hair back, and then a cool piece of jewelry, preferably a necklace, prominently displayed. Doesn't this neckline cry for some bling? What do you think?
(images courtesy The Daily Mail)

Kate Middleton Pretty in Pink?

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee festivities have kicked off! One of the first huge events was a meeting of all the reigning Kings and Queens of the world. What an amazing sight to see the Queen of Belgium chatting with the Sultan of Brunei at Windsor Castle. Among the guests were Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate wore a pale pink dress, with a fitted bodice and pleated skirt. There's a little bit of detailing on the top, and a small gold brooch is pinned to her right shoulder (behind her ever-present hair). The dress is by Emilia Wickstead. The shoes seem to be bronze-ish satin, and the earrings are dangly and possibly diamond (see picture below).

My issue isn't with the dress this time. It's quite pretty. The problem is that the pink is very very pale and delicate, and it makes Kate's overly made-up face appear almost clownish. The makeup is just too too strong, too heavily applied. While it appears that Kate is a master at putting on the liner, blush, eyebrow pencil, lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, mascara and whatever else, she just overdoes it with everything. Particularly the super heavy eyebrows and the eye shadow, which make her look old and harsh, and the blush, which just looks fakey.

What do you think? Leave a comment! (top photo: courtesy Daily Mail

lower photo: courtesy JustJared.com

From the Sublime to the....

Yea....um.....NO. No, no, a thousand times no.
The locale was Berkshire, the event a charity polo match. The dress, a teal print shirtwaist with a mandarin-style collar, long sleeves, and self belt. The shoes, very high Stuart Weitzman's camel sledges, looked to add at least four inches to her height.

No offense to the designer (Hampshire-based Libelula designer Sophie Cranston). In another setting, and properly styled, this dress might have looked okay, even awesome. But at a sporting event, even one where Kate was presenting the trophy, this dress is just wrong on so many levels. It doesn't fit, it doesn't flatter, it doesn't seem right for the occasion or the wearer. I don't know what to say. I can't even take this into Photoshop and turn it into something more suitable and cute. It's as if, after last night's triumph in teal, Kate decided to thumb it to all of us and say "I can look bad in teal, too." The more I look at this the more I dislike her in it. It's aging, it's dull, it's uninspired, it just looks old and tired on her. It's Little House on the Prairie meets Amish housewife, especially in the shots at the Daily Mail, of her chasing after her husband.

In addition, it must be said that Kate's legs rival Janko Tipsarevic's (google "Tipsarevic thighs" if you don't know what I'm talking about!) in their muscularity, and while I'm all for physical fitness, maybe she could eat a sandwich or two so there wasn't quite so much ropiness when she runs. (And now I'm going to get a little catty -- who runs like that? Straight up and down?)

What do you think? (image courtesy Daily Mail)

Catherine May 11 at London's Royal Albert Hall

William and Kate attended the "Our Greatest Team Rises" concert and fundraiser, a black tie gala evening to mark the countdown to the London 2012 Games, and to support the athletes. Kate wore a Jenny Packham gown in beautiful teal, and she had her hair UP! It's kinda cool that she chose to wear the same Jimmy Choo's she wore last night. I think they're a little more suited to this gown.

I ALMOST love this look. It's fresh and feminine, and the teal color is simply gorgeous. I love the delicate lace sleeves (and the sheer lace back), I love the jeweled belt, and I would have loved it even more if those side bits on the bodice were also draped in the teal silk. It's a tiny bit too busy on top, with the sleeves, the belt, the draping, the peekaboo lace, the dangly earrings, and those side parts. So I photoshopped it to show you what I mean, and I think it makes a big difference.

The back of the dress, by the way, is gorgeous! The teal lace and the tiny buttons are perfection. And the updo is fun and appropriate, too.

What do you think?

(photos courtesy The Daily Mail)

Kate Middleton – White Dress At Claridges Hotel In London May 8, 2012

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a Roland Mouret cream gown at the Thirty Club Dinner, held at Claridges in London on May 9, 2012.

It's a pretty dress, well cut and form fitting. What I object to are the accessories. The earrings, according to a number of websites, are "paste", or faux. Not even real diamonds? She owns real diamond earrings, we've seen them. And the shoes? More Hollywood than high society. I'd have much preferred a simple pair of silver heels with a closed toe, to match the elegance of the gown, but my Photoshop skills aren't as good as my imagination. What I did do was to remove the earrings, exchange them for simple round diamond studs, and add a diamond hair clip. I think that as long as Catherine is determined to wear her hair down at formal events, she might as well use it as a fashion accessory, by adding jewely clips and barrettes. They can really dress up a simple gown, and have the added benefit of keeping her hair out of her face.

Photoshopped

Oooh didn't I tell you? A little bling around the neck, along with those big sparkly earrings, and Kate Middleton looks awesome! I photoshopped this great Tom Binns necklace around her neck, and it looks great!

(original image courtesy Daily Mail)

Kate Middleton April 26 Evening Event

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, attended the new galleries of the Imperial War Museum in London on April 26, 2012. Now, I'm not exactly sure why Kate changed out of the pretty blue suit she wore earlier today, because this little number is BORING, PLAIN and DULL. At least she put her hair half-up, but here's the joke: there's nothing to see!!! How about a little scarf or a brooch, your Duchessness?
Or better yet.......drumroll.....how about some COLOR???? For some reason I got the idea Kate would look awesome in bright orange. With her dark hair and green eyes, orange, done right, could look fab on her. So I took the grey Amanda Wakely dress into Photoshop and put some color on it. Which one do you prefer?

(Yellow looked awful, btw.)

Or how about a statement necklace to jazz up this boring look? I'm thinking something like this Tom Binns Dumont Swarovski Crystal, with a skinny silver belt.

And we still need to work on that posture. (Image courtesy of imageupper.com)