Last month, Kate wore this pretty little ruffled collar shirt from Gerard Darel under a green Hobbs jacket at an EACH engagement. Priced at £105 (already reduced from £175), this top was pricey, but sold out almost right away. A stock refresh recently sold out too, apart from one lone item in size 44, which you can purchase here.
Hold onto your hats, this is another one of those Kate-fashion posts you didn’t ask for…
On Christmas day 2016, the Duchess of Cambridge and her family attended church near the Middleton family home. Not being royal, or in line to the throne, or important or special in any way, I was lounging around on the sofa eating chocolates at the time, wearing a terrible oversized Christmas jumper. Kate, meanwhile, was wearing a gorgeous ensemble of browns and reds – the perfect festive church-going outfit, which was chic and elegant, as well as thrifty! With her old Hobbs Celeste coat (which I’d never really warmed to), she wore a pretty red faux fur scarf, and accessorized with her red suede Mulberry Bayswater clutch, and her red Tod’s fringed leather pumps. See the wonderful What Kate Wore’s post about the outfit here.
I waited for an ID… And waited… Turns out everyone else was enjoying their Christmas day, while I was obsessively checking and double checking my Twitter feed. So, I decided to try and ID it myself, with my first stop being Really Wild Clothing, which definitely carries similar pieces. Nothing there, and nothing at Helen Moore either… So, I decided to Google ‘red faux fur collar’ and the first result that came up was this listing for an ASOS Faux Fur Mini Slot Through Collar.
Ilex London were kind enough to send me a bag from their new range recently, and after a lot of umming and ahhing, I went with this gorgeous Harriet Shoulder bag in Wood. For some reason, I have very few tan bags, so when this arrived I immediately went into panic mode about which shoes to wear with it. Silly me – in fact, tan seems to go with everything!
Pictured above, I paired them with Russell & Bromley’s Coco Pop espadrilles, which were worn by Pippa Middleton a few years ago and are still part of the brand’s line. With the toe-cap detailing and the straw wedges, they’re a classic that never goes out of style, and match this Harriet perfectly!
One of my favourite purchases from Russell & Bromley are the Stuart Weitzman Corkswoons, or as they’re called in the UK, the SW Cocos. Dark blue suede contrasts beautifully with the tan bag, and I can imagine this in an outfit with a navy skirt paired with a white blouse – effortless summer chic! This is another item from the Middleton wardrobe, this time made famous by Kate. It seems like you either loves these wedges, or you hate them – I love them, and judging from the offerings from other shoe brands, this combo of navy suede and cork heels is still firmly in style.
Moving into more recent offerings from Russell & Bromley, these Xpresso Crossover Flats make a lovely pairing with the tan bag – taming the boyish feel of the brown and giving it a softer, even feminine feel. Pair this with a tulle skirt and a blouse tied at the waist for the ultimate in girly summer chic. You’ll feel like a ballerina, but the chunky, solid Harriet bag will prevent your outfit from turning into a costume, giving a cool juxtaposition and providing you ample space to store your stuff on the run. And, of course, wear these with pride knowing they’ve been royally approved – Kate wore these on the recent Indian Royal Tour!
Finally, white shoes haven’t been on the fashion forefront since the ’80s, it feels like, but I couldn’t resist these Rockstud Valentinos, and they go awesomely with the Ilex – the gold detailing picks out the logo perfectly! (Check out Dune’s Heti in white for a decent alternative at £70.)
So, enough about the shoes, what about the bag? I love this sturdy little trooper – it’s perfect for work (or play!) as it has a central, easily accesible section with a zippered pocket, plus two additional zipped compartments either side, very much like the Modalu Pippa bag. It has two straps to carry over the shoulder, or an attachment to convert it to a shoulder bag. Priced at £205, it’s an investment bag, but one which will carry you through the seasons. It can fit a heck of a lot inside – the only limit is going to be how much you can physically lift… It fits an iPad easily, and you can just about squeeze an A4 mag or paper inside the middle part.
So far I’ve taken it on weekends away (perfect for stowing makeup and jewellery), work events (to hide notebooks and my camera) and to the cinema (of course, I would never smuggle Coke Zero and a packet of chilli crackers into a movie). It’s even been carried along the ramparts of Warwick Castle and over the London Bridge! I am really looking forward to wearing it in autumn and winter, too, as the new seasons open up a whole new range of styling possibilities!
Check out the Harriet here, and the whole range from Ilex London here.Which bag would you pick from the range?
Who didn’t love the recent Royal Tour in India? Kate brought some fabulous style to the table, including some really interesting boho chic looks, as well as some amazing casual outfits too. I loved her hiking outfit and had to snap up her Jaeger linen blouse (still available from John Lewis here) – and I accessorised it with a replikate of her Pickett London scarf, this coral John Lewis wrap. Much cheaper, but still a really pretty and soft piece for summer nights!
But this wasn’t the only tour purchase I made! As soon as I saw Kate’s beautiful Paul & Joe cape I had to snap it up…
But there’s an epic story here in how I managed to track it down… I saw the update about her outfit about an hour after the ID was made (darn those time zone differences) and missed out on ordering it from Net A Porter. So I set myself up on the waiting list (surely hopeless!) and then moped over the listing on the US site (where it was still available). I phoned them up to see if they could sell it to me through their UK site – not a chance of that, I’d have to order it from the US. So with $55 delivery fee plus customs I was wondering whether I really wanted to pay £200 more for this thing to get it sent from America… (The answer is no, I’m not that crazy yet.)
Then I emailed Paul & Joe’s website to ask if they were getting any more in stock and they basically said they might do… (Very vague! And on their Instagram page they’re still giving out an email address for enquiries which makes me wonder if they will re-release it…)
In desperation, at lunchtime I phoned up Paul & Joe’s flagship store in London to see if they had any. Well, they had ONE LEFT! I immediately asked if I could buy it over the phone and they said I could! So out came my card right away… It arrived the next day and I love it!
Look at the gorgeous stitching and beautiful colours – the fabric itself is very thin even though it’s made of wool, making it a great choice for spring and summer evenings. Although I enjoyed Kate’s styling with this, I’m going to wear it very simply with jeans and white shirts – perhaps even the white Reiss Vinnie blouse Kate wore recently?
On the tour, there were also plenty of lovely new accessories, including the Monsoon taupe wedges and Accessorize filigree earrings, which I coupled with a really old Accessorize clutch I bought for Ascot. This is an easy combo for summer – and Kate’s already shown the versatility of these wedges by wearing them with a pair of jeans and a Breton top from J.Crew recently! (One note – to me these seem to be very tight in my usual size, and they’re also not real suede… A bit pricey considering, really!)
Apart from the gorgeous Brora gold earrings (which haven’t arrived yet) I also picked up the Zara biker trousers! Kate’s colour was khaki marl, and Zara recently released the same style in a different colour… Or did they?!
On the bottom you can see the originals and the new ones are on the top. Apart from the difference in the ribbing, there are also differences on the back, an extra zip on the originals and zipped ankles on the new ones! So, when you purchase, if you’re after Kate’s version, double check you’re buying the khaki marl version here.
Did you make any Royal Tour purchases? Let me know in the comments below!
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