The Duchess of Cambridge's Eveningwear, Part 2: November 2011 - February 2012

[KittyAtlanta]

I agree that commenting negatively on a forum about what in reality is JUST A DRESS shouldn't be deemed as being bullying, but it does make me worried that if some people can can talk so scathingly about another's apparent errors in fashion, what the hell are they going to be like in real life? God help the person passing them on the street wearing a pair of black tights in the wrong way or having a belt two millimetres too thick or too thin or too high up the waist or who flicks their hair too much or wears eye make-up beyond the permitted amount, shade or colour.
Yet! Prince William wears the same thing every day (and evening) with only a change of his shirt!

Prince William does NOT overdo his makeup, does not wear his trousers too short, nor does he flip his annoying hair all the time. He is a Royal dream, as one does not anticipate his new suit, shirt or tie. He is a classic, uninterested in fashion Englishman. I can't stop laughing at myself (is that still a sign of mental illness?????).

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

For a pop concert, what Kate wore was actually demure and on the verge of boring. Then again her husband wore a suit so clearly they both lost the memo that stated "this is a concert not a business function". Btw William looked great, first time I was more drawn to him than his wife.

 

[MARG]

I rather think that something has changed in the way you look at her, I don't see a different Catherine.

I suggest you re-visit the earlier Catherine Middleton fashion thread and those of that of the Duchess' Canadian tour.

 

[Frelinghighness]

My big problem with the look is the hosiery she wore. I disagree with the posters who think a black opaque was needed. I think a very sheer black without the shine would have been better. The hose she is wearing remind me of support pantyhose I used to sell back in the late seventies and early eighties. Black opaque always looks like something a nun would wear - think Maria at the beginning of "The Sound of Music".

Thanks for your post! I really lol with your depictions of the different hosiery styles, I happen to agree completely.
If it was a POP concert, I think they were all dressed inappropriately, business suits??

 

[miche]

Yeah this is pictures from May to December of her and I don't see the changed either http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvuhu5G1kt1r7j85lo1_500.jpg

 

[semisquare]

I totally agree with these posts - and it's the reason I rarely visit this forum anymore. I find that she is verbally torn apart on a regular basis, there always seems to be something wrong with whatever she wears. The repetitiveness is tiring to me, so I don't miss not reading here.

but we have to try to change it out here...we cant let this trend continue.

Prince William does NOT overdo his makeup, does not wear his trousers too short, nor does he flip his annoying hair all the time. He is a Royal dream, as one does not anticipate his new suit, shirt or tie. He is a classic, uninterested in fashion Englishman. I can't stop laughing at myself (is that still a sign of mental illness?????).

dont be jealous cause she has a lot of hair ..who cares if she flips it. i would love to have her hair so im going to buy a wig & there we have it..hair to flip in an annoying way

 

[MARG]

I happen to like the dress and the jacket. I do feel that the dress is way too short for her position and age - she is almost 30 and shouldn't be wearing a length more appropriate for a high schooler. I know she has the figure for short skirts, but there is an old saying - "just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

Clear, concise, unemotive and accurate.

My big problem with the look is the hosiery she wore. I disagree with the posters who think a black opaque was needed. I think a very sheer black without the shine would have been better. The hose she is wearing remind me of support pantyhose I used to sell back in the late seventies and early eighties. Black opaque always looks like something a nun would wear - think Maria at the beginning of "The Sound of Music".

Oh good grief! How could you? Now every time I see Catherine or Victoria or . . . . . wearing black opaque I'm going to have visions of aprons and mountains and singing and crack up laughing!

People will think I am funny, peculiar!

 

[Baroness of Books]

Ah, Lady Marlboro, I remember those days of wearing very sheer black hose when I had to wear suits for my job. I always thought it a nicer look than the opaque version (nightmares of Catholic school nuns!), and think it would have been a better choice for this outfit.

 

[blauerengel]

If you are a man you just have difficulties with chosing the right tie,as a woman you have to worry about the dress,the shoes,the bag,your hairstyle,makeup & jewellery which should be elegant and stylish and appropriate for the event....

 

[soapstar]

Yeah this is pictures from May to December of her and I don't see the changed either http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvuhu5G1kt1r7j85lo1_500.jpg

Yeah, I don't see the difference either.

I's sorry, but that theory won't wash! Catherine has been in the public eye for the best part of ten years and, to be honest, has looked a lot softer, lighter and natural in the makeup department and a lot more elegant and adventurous in the dress department.

I am more intrigued by those who talk about her expressing "young" fashion trends in such a way as she sound like she's 20 instead of a mature 30! At that age "youthful" is a bit "off". By now she should have established her "style" and, to be honest, before her engagement and wedding she did have a style of her own. Admittedly, it was not a style that i was madly enthused by, but it was a definite "Kate" persona.

Then came the engagement and "Catherine", and everything changed. I thought the outfit she wore to "fly the coup" after the wedding was definitely short, but it was a private occasion and nobody minded. She looked happy and that was enough. Her first official appearances were lovely but then, after the Canadian tour, everything changed. Her hems really went up and she put away all those elegant outfits, the electric blue Jacquenta dress or the all lace "Cecile" dress by Erdem come to mind. Had she accessorised something like that with evening shoes and clutch she would have looked like the old "Kate", restrained but elegant. But she seems to have disappeared, morphed into "Catherine", who wears desperately "youthful" clothes that, by comparison, are not a patch on what went before.

Her hemlines haven't gone up. With the exception of maybe two or three outfits (Canada Day, Epsom Derby), the outfits she's worn since her marriage are longer than some of the ones she wore during (and before) their engagement. This latest dress is the first short one she's worn in a long time.

During the engagement:

Photos of prince william kate middleton charity 06 | Prince William & Kate Middleton: Charity Christmas Couple - Pics | Just Jared

Photos of prince william kate middleton return to st andrews 03 | Prince William & Kate Middleton Return to St. Andrews! - Pics | Just Jared

After the marriage:

Full Sized Photo of prince william kate oak centre 02 | Prince William & Duchess Kate Visit Royal Marsden Hospital | Just Jared

As for her makeup, she's always been heavy-handed with it. Nothing has changed in that department.

2008- Full Sized Photo of kate middleton roller disco 01 | Kate Middleton Dazzles At Roller Disco | Just Jared

2010 - Full Sized Photo of william middleton friend wedding 05 | Kate Middleton: Friend's Wedding with Prince William | Just Jared

 

[sndral]

Ah, Lady Marlboro, I remember those days of wearing very sheer black hose when I had to wear suits for my job. I always thought it a nicer look than the opaque version (nightmares of Catholic school nuns!), and think it would have been a better choice for this outfit.

The problem I have found with very sheer black hose (or grey, both of which I love w/ the correct outfit) is that they snag and run and it shows - in fact I always carry a spare pair in my clutch in case, so I wonder if she wore the sturdier hose to avoid that problem? Imagine the headlines if she had emerged from the car w/ a huge run. W/ nude hose, at least if they run it won't show, but w/ dark hose, runs shout 'look at me.'

 

[miche]

Yeah, I don't see the difference either.

With the exception of maybe two or three outfits (Canada Day, Epsom Derby), the outfits she's worn since her marriage are longer than some of the ones she wore during (and before) their engagement. This latest dress is the first short one she's worn in a long time.

During the engagement:

Photos of prince william kate middleton charity 06 | Prince William & Kate Middleton: Charity Christmas Couple - Pics | Just Jared

Photos of prince william kate middleton return to st andrews 03 | Prince William & Kate Middleton Return to St. Andrews! - Pics | Just Jared

After the marriage:

Full Sized Photo of prince william kate oak centre 02 | Prince William & Duchess Kate Visit Royal Marsden Hospital | Just Jared

As for her makeup, she's always been heavy-handed with it. Nothing has changed in that department.

2008- Full Sized Photo of kate middleton roller disco 01 | Kate Middleton Dazzles At Roller Disco | Just Jared

2010 - Full Sized Photo of william middleton friend wedding 05 | Kate Middleton: Friend's Wedding with Prince William | Just Jared

I don't notice anything with her make-up, maybe it because a lot of famous female used the same make-up technique (heavy handed)

 

[Mermaid1962]

I think that the make-up is because of the cameras and the lighting. If she went with too light a hand, people would think she was sick. It might take her a while to find the right balance, and that's okay with me.

 

[HRHHermione]

I think that the make-up is because of the cameras and the lighting. If she went with too light a hand, people would think she was sick. It might take her a while to find the right balance, and that's okay with me.

I agree. She's been in the public eye, but she's only had to deal with paparazzi photos before. Now she takes pictures for countless journalists at every single event she goes to, and I'm sure that factors into how she's experimented with her makeup since her marriage. (I didn't see it as too heavy before then- but then she had those makeup lessons and I think it's been heavier)

She'll figure out the balance eventually, or get tired of trying and get a makeup artist.

 

[jemagre]

I agree that commenting negatively on a forum about what in reality is JUST A DRESS shouldn't be deemed as being bullying, but it does make me worried that if some people can can talk so scathingly about another's apparent errors in fashion, what the hell are they going to be like in real life? God help the person passing them on the street wearing a pair of black tights in the wrong way or having a belt two millimetres too thick or too thin or too high up the waist or who flicks their hair too much or wears eye make-up beyond the permitted amount, shade or colour.
Yet! Prince William wears the same thing every day (and evening) with only a change of his shirt!

Price they pay for living a public life. . I do think though women are judged more harshly on how they look than men are. William's suits are from Saville Row and probably cost thousands each. On the other hand suits are safe and dresses sometimes are not.

 

[MARG]

Looking at this photo is the first time I get a real sense of what this Tulip dress could and should have looked like. By adding a belt Catherine has ruined the line of the dress and hitched it up unevenly and shortened it considerably.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/06/article-2070764-0F149DAC00000578-136_634x504.jpg

The unfortunate angle the photo is taken from makes all the subjects look like their heads are bigger than their bodies, and in Catherine's case, make her long legs look bandy!

 

[Grandma828]

Catherine would be smart to find one outfit, buy it in many colors, and wear it to everything, Then people would tire of commenting on the same clothes and pay attention to the charities she is supporting. That should convince people that she is not a model.

 

[CrownPrincess5]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/06/article-2070764-0F149DAC00000578-136_634x504.jpg

She always wears the same kind of dress. She still has no sense of style (adding the belt was unnecessary) and I wish I could hire a makeup artist for her. The whole eyeliner thing is becoming annoying.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Catherine would be smart to find one outfit, buy it in many colors, and wear it to everything, Then people would tire of commenting on the same clothes and pay attention to the charities she is supporting. That should convince people that she is not a model.

it will only work if there is any substance to her what is not the case at this stage. futhermore, i dont think kate is as indifferent to her image and appearance as for example princess anne, who is one of the few royals (margrethe of denmark being another) where people usually dont start any what is she wearing discussions.

 

[fandesacs2003]

I think it becomes an obsession how Catherine is dressed!! For me she is elegant, but this is MY opinion, anyone might not share the same.
BUT Catherine is NOT a movie star NOR a model or a fashion house representative or a designer herself, and her outfits/makeup is not the primary aim of her existence.

She is moving inside the narrow line of being as classy as a royal should be, but also being not provocative spending contributors' money (a kind of second Victoria Beckham!!).

People say that her way to dress is boring!! Maybe it is, BUT what do we expect from her outfits? To amuse us? To make us fight? To be another Madonna or another Daphne Guiness?? Of course noone of them dresses boring but....
One day Catherine will be Queen of England, what people expect from QEII oufits? She has always been also boring, but she has to be like this, it is her position.
For me she manages well to balance all these, but of course mistakes are always possible, nobody is perfect.
Even IF her eyeliner is failed or her skirt is not nice for once, what's the matter!!! She is a global personnality, she has a caracter, a behavior! We should stop judging only that!

 

[Jacknch]

Prince William does NOT overdo his makeup, does not wear his trousers too short, nor does he flip his annoying hair all the time. He is a Royal dream, as one does not anticipate his new suit, shirt or tie. He is a classic, uninterested in fashion Englishman. I can't stop laughing at myself (is that still a sign of mental illness?????).

LOL!! True Kitty, very true! BUT he does fiddle with his tie alot and his nose!! I wonder whether there should be a new thread about the royal's most annoying habits?!

 

[EIIR]

I fail to see how exactly Kate's style has changed since she became engaged. She hasn't changed her hairstyle, she hasn't changed her make up, she still wears a broad mix of designer and high street labels. She still wears jeans and jumpers when out and about doing her grocery shopping etc (and was criticised for being boring in doing so). She demonstrates a style which is conservative yet appropriate for the situation she is in. Before she became engaged Kate never wore cutting edge, 'out there' fashion and she still doesn't.

Some people on this forum perhaps should have gone to Specsavers as we say here in the UK.

 

[soapstar]

I don't notice anything with her make-up, maybe it because a lot of famous female used the same make-up technique (heavy handed)

That's true.

I know it's a problem for some, but her makeup has really never been a big issue for me. She's worn it like that for years and obviously likes the way she looks. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

 

[semisquare]

imo she dresses and her makeup is fine..i dont see the issues others see maybe this is the same attitude princess di experieance..being criticize over trivial matters..
we're suppose to be here to share thoughts and views of her dress and this is to be done in a matter that speaks of respect. when i think of dress i dont put makeup in that area. so can we plezzzz drop the makeup issue..and can we stop saying that her outfits are vulgar..i dont get that statement-i have yet to see body parts peeking out saying "HHHEEEEELLLLOOOO we come in pairs"
lets plays nice and drop the makeup

 

[miche]

Never understood they "she have no style" quote that I've seen on TRF and other fashion website about many celebs. Just because it not your style and you don't like it doesn't mean that a person like Natalie Portman personal style (not red carpet style), doesn't have style. It their own personal style.

 

[blauerengel]

This thread is about discussing Catherine´s outfits-colour,materials,silhouettes etc. but not her personality,weight or other gossip,because none of us know her well enough to be able to tell what her character is like.
It´s ok to dislike a certain style or shape but it´s not fair to call a woman vulgar just because she´s wearing a short dress.Even though the Duchess is a public figure she has a right to be treated with respect just like every other human being.

The heated discussion about her tulip dress is getting boring,you can love it or leave it but after all it´s just fashion,not a matter of life and death...

 

[HRHHermione]

I'm hoping the emphasis on her style dies down a bit in 2012 when she announces what charities she'll be supporting and embarks on some of her own solo royal engagements. Hopefully, she'll choose some pretty terrific ones and the attention will be on them, rather than on her clothes.

 

[blauerengel]

I am hoping for the same,her UNICEF visit certainly helped to raise some money & awareness for the cause and if she does more royal duties & charity work she will be recognised for that rather than for her appearance.It will give her the opportunity to do something meaningful & show everyone that they have wrongly labelled her "lazy"!

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

They heavy eyeliner Kate wears doesn't really bother me. She one of millions of women who wear their eye makeup like that; its like the 60's all over again with the heavy cat makeup. Plus hers is nowhere near as thick as some women.
I can't believe something as boring as a floral dress with a black jacket, black stockings and black shoes is causing so much freakin controversy. Gawd forbid she ever gets a haircut.

 

[MARG]

I am hoping for the same,her UNICEF visit certainly helped to raise some money & awareness for the cause and if she does more royal duties & charity work she will be recognised for that rather than for her appearance.It will give her the opportunity to do something meaningful & show everyone that they have wrongly labelled her "lazy"!

I think you have the wrong idea about a lot of posters on this thread. This is a fashion thread and people will comment on Catherine's choices for good or ill. Patronages will not change that, merely provide another few threads which will show Catherine wearing whatever. People will either like or dislike what she wears when representing those charities.

The trick is to remember that we are on a fashion thread and as on any other fashion thread, we will dissect fashion to the nth degree. Hair, makeup, clothes, these are the elements of such a discussion.

Just because I may dislike Catherine's latest outfit does not mean I dislike everything she wears. More importantly, I do not dislike her personally. I do not know her so what's to like or dislike?

As to your hope about people recognising her true worth, I am sure they will and it will reflect on those threads. However, those on the fashion threads, will continue to dissect her style.