Tag: Kate Middleton
Shopping at Bicester Village: WWKD Guest Post
My latest post has gone live at www.whatwouldkatedo.com! You can access it by clicking here for the direct link.
Head over to my guest post to read all about luxury, discount designer shopping at Bicester Village, and how to bag a bargain in the spirit of the Duchess of Cambridge! I hope you enjoy it – and feel free to leave comments on the post at WWKD with questions or comments!
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Bag ‘n’ Shoes: Modalu St Ives Grab Bag in Orange and Dune Imperia D Wedges in Natural
I’ve got a real thing going on here for Modalu. I apologise, but it seems as though I’ve turned into a fan girl over night. (I blame Tatiana for everything…) But check out this gorgeous lock detail and tell me you don’t feel the same way?
Styling Summer Wedges
This summer season (for me, anyway) is going to be all about replikating Kate Middleton’s staple wedges. I know plenty of people scoff at her Corkswoons, Minx and Imperias, but I’m not one of them! I certainly haven’t grown tired of seeing these shoes, and I can’t wait to wear them out and about!
When Dune, the company that now owns Pied A Terre, re-released the Imperia D wedges in natural under the new Dune Black label, I was thrilled – I already had a pair in black, but the natural had been unavailable for a long time. As soon as I saw they were on sale again, I snapped them up! Despite them being under a different brand name, I can confirm they are the same shoe – although why Pied A Terre also has a range of Imperias as well, albeit without the natural colour, I couldn’t tell you.
Once they arrived, I started to wonder – how to accessorize them? So, I put together this Polyvore set with some basic ideas to get my creative juices flowing! (And I resisted the temptation to add my beloved Mulberry Lily in tweed – all of these bags are still available, if you fancy a purchase!)
I noticed this awesome Modalu St Ives grab bag (£69) in John Lewis the other day and fell in love with the quirky front pocket lock – although the version I saw was in taupe. The orange is a lovely bright way to bring a little summer into your life – and the natural colour of the fabric matches the Dune wedges almost perfectly! The Next striped shopper was on my radar after the Nautical and Nice post I did recently – and it’s a great little bag for just £20, especially with the stylish little rope handles. Find it here. Finally, in one of this season’s hottest colours, this Dorset tote from Mulberry is crazy expensive at £595, but as I’m a Mulberry girl, I had to include something! The tote comes in a variety of colours – this one is called Bluebell, and is available here. (Modalu do a similar bag called the Artemis Shopper in azure blue for £199 here.) Finally, I had to throw in a pair of sunglasses – and I do love the classic Wayfarer style from Rayban! These are really unusual – they’re actually coated with black leather, hence the £250 price tag. Of course, you can get authentic Raybans for cheaper than this, and ‘replicas’ for even less on eBay! What do you think – how would you style a natural wedge espadrille? Do you think wedges are outdated (again), or are they a timeless classic? And, did you manage to bag a pair before they sold out?!
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Happy Easter!
Happy Easter everyone! Hope you’re all having a fantastic day today!
(Yellow d’Orsay style flats from Next)
Don’t forget, Easter’s not just about chocolate either – I say it’s also about…
(Shoes from Mint Velvet – and they’ll be available again in the first week of May!)
Eggs in general! Namely these homemade Scotch eggs I made using chorizo sausage – perfect for an Easter buffet.
How do you celebrate Easter? A family dinner, Easter egg hunt, church service, walk in the woods? Let me know!
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Russell & Bromley / Stuart Weitzman Corkswoon Wedges vs Sainsbury’s Tu Suede Wedges
Kate Middleton’s most iconic pair of smart casual shoes are probably her blue suede wedges. Most frequently seen during the 2013 Summer Olympics in London, these wedges are by American designer Stuart Weitzman and available at Russell & Bromley in the UK. However, there are also plenty of high street replicas – such as the pairs from Next and Hobbs last year. This year, grocery chain Sainsbury’s is in on the trend, producing a pair of blue suede cork wedges for £18 for their clothing line Tu. I happened to drop into Sainsbury’s yesterday wearing the originals, so I present a quick side by side comparison in the interests of retail science!
(Just an FYI, Sainsbury’s is the lighter blue of the two!)
I thought it was funny to note that 1) these were the only pair left after the Duchess’s appearance with the similar pair the other day, and 2) that they were positioned right next to some Sledge lookalikes!
My verdict: the Tu wedges are a decent replicate at £18, although the colour is not really a match for the dark navy of the originals and therefore doesn’t blend that well with dark jeans – which is the way Kate usually wears hers. For the price you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the suede doesn’t feel as nice, and the shoe itself isn’t as comfortable – although the heel and platform are both lower!
Sainbury’s don’t do mail order but you can find the details, including the item number, here. The original versions are here from Russell & Bromley, although they always sell out after an appearance!
See my previous post about the difference between the Hobbs Myra wedges and the R&B Corkswoons here.
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Replikating at Hobbs, Gunwharf Quays
Gunwharf Quays is my local shopping outlet, and whilst it doesn’t have as many luxury brands as Bicester, it’s still an amazing place to shop.
If you’re after some Kate Middleton style, it’s also a great place to pick up replikates!
Many of Kate’s favourite shops and brands are here, including L.K. Bennett, Barbour, Hobbs, Jaeger, Ted Baker, Links and Ralph Lauren
I popped in to Gunwharf for a quick pit stop this weekend, and here are some of my finds!
This awesome Ted Baker jacket in silver was a special sample priced at £80. Unfortunately it was a bit creased and didn’t photograph well, but it had a beautiful shape to the back.
Ted Baker is an excellent place to get really gorgeous party dresses or frocks for the races.
Another great outlet is L.K. Bennett. I’ve purchased many a great item in here, including a teal Jude jacket (£60) and a pair of black suede Harper pumps (£115). Highlights today included a black Davina dress (Kate has worn one in teal under her Jetta jacket – like the Jude) for £150, and Sledges in beige, gold and black glitter for £115.
I spent most of my time in Hobbs though – I love the brand and the physical stores, but let’s just say their online service leaves a lot to be desired… But let’s stick with the positive for this post!
There were a few items in here from the current mid season sale, including plenty of items in the same Dalmatian print that Kate wore in Southampton (hers was a collarless coat). The Niamh top was there in blue and white for £28.
There were also trousers, a scarf, and a cardigan (£50).
As the Dalmatian mac that Kate wore is long since sold out, these are great replikating options which use the same print! There are even shoes – the Lexi open toe court for £49 and the Bea ballerina, £35.
My favourite replikate from Hobbs is the Myra wedge, in navy suede (£49).
They also had the mushroom version, which was incredibly tempting!
Hobbs Outlet stores can be found at Bicester, Braintree, Canterbury, Cardiff, Cheshire Oaks, Kildare, Portsmouth, Swindon, Walton-On-Thames and York. Track them down at http://www.hobbs.co.uk.
Bag ‘n’ Shoes: Modalu Large Dickens Tote and Russell & Bromley New Dry Boots
The lovely Tatiana from Tatiana’s Delights recently posted a great lead for the Modalu sale on her Facebook page, which prompted me to do a bit of investigation – and a lot of shopping! I had a couple of weekends away looming (one of which I’ll be posting about very soon!) and so I was in the market for a smart leather tote bag which could double as an overnight bag. Enter the large Dickens Tote!
In the sale for a fairly hefty discount (although, sadly not any more), this bag is enormous, but it’s not so comically large that you can’t use it as an everyday bag when you have a lot to carry.
It also comes with this nifty, detachable, horse head clutch, which would be great for storing travel documents! I’ve also detached it to use it as a clutch for evenings – it makes the perfect travel companion for the tote, I have to say!
I paired it with my Russell & Bromley / Aquatalia New Dry wedge boots – as the weather gets warmer I’m going to have to retire these trusty boots with a heavy heart, so I thought I’d get some more use from them while I can!
As I live in leggings and skinny jeans, they fit perfectly in my wardrobe!
Also, you can’t go too far wrong with matching black to black!
I’m also a bit in love with the simple design touches that add a generous dash of luxury to this tote. The horse head envelope clutch and the gold Modalu logo…
And these cute shell motifs which adorn the zipper tags!
What’s not to love? I am definitely incredibly impressed with the customer service, the quality of the product, and the speed of delivery, too.
Inside the tote is one large open space with a zip top, plus an internal zipped pocket and slip cases for a phone and papers. On the back of the tote is another zipped pocket, meaning there’s plenty of room for sectioning off your pills, receipts and other important things!
The Modalu Dickens tote is currently sold out, although here is a Google shopping link in case you can find one online. Visit Modalu’s site for more of their products here.
The Russell & Bromley New Dry wedge boot is currently available in most sizes at their site here for £225.
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Tango for Two Dress
I was recently contacted by Modcloth to enter a competition to style their fab Tango for Two dress using items from their website. I love Modcloth and have actually purchased a couple of dresses from them (ones which had similar styles to a couple of Kate Middleton’s dresses which I loved!) so I was more than happy to take part! Here’s the look I created:
I love the lace overlay on top of the bright pink block colour – and that simple shift shape really adds elegance to the whole look. As I am but a simple creature, I decided to stick with pink and black for the rest of the outfit, and selected some pretty rose earrings, a beautiful hat (I’m such a sucker for hats!), and two other quirky items which have me drooling! First of all is the Pomme Sweet Home bag, which is somewhat reminiscent of one of my all time favourite collections from Anya Hindmarch. I ADORE this. (It’s my fourth wedding anniversary in August and the theme is fruit… Dare I hint?) Second are these pretty black heels with red hearts on the top (and they’re vegan too!) which remind me of a similar design from Vivienne Westwood. Modcloth makes it very easy to replicate designer style without emptying your wallet in the process! I have to say, if I could only choose one item from this set, it’d be impossible to pick! (The bag please!)
What did you think of my outfit? How would you style this dress using items from Modcloth’s site?
Russell & Bromley / Stuart Weitzman Corkswoon / Coco wedges versus Hobbs Myra wedges
You might have noticed my slight obsession with the Duchess of Cambridge – she’s one of my favourite style icons, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the royal family. So I’m very happy to scoop up any Kate purchases I come across when they’re brought to my attention by the lovely community over at What Kate Wore’s Facebook site!
One of my favourite ever shoes that Kate’s worn are the Corkswoon wedges – designed by the American label Stuart Weitzman, they were sold in Russell & Bromley stores here in the UK for a short period. Unable to get my hands on a pair, I plumped for the copykate Myra wedges from Hobbs, which retailed at £125. Thanks to a variety of reasons, I was only ever able to wear these out once, when I went to a Greek restaurant last year.
Needless to say, I loved them, but being a perfectionist, I couldn’t help but jump to it when I saw that Russell & Bromley had made the wedges available again to buy! At the price of £255, though, they’re over twice the price of the Hobbs Myra wedge, so in the interests of retail science, I decided to do a side by side comparison! But first, here is the epic story of how I got my wedges…
The Corkswoon wedges – as they are called in the US – have been renamed to ‘SW COCO’, and I found out from R&B’s Twitter account that they were available again for the new season. (Also available in a pretty silver shimmer colour too!) Unfortunately, by the time I got myself organised (three hours…) my size (7/40) had sold out. I decided to take a chance and ordered the 6.5 but they were too small. So, I signed myself up to receive updates when my size is made available again. Every morning at 9am I’d get an email to say my shoes were in stock, but after checking, they were sold out again, leading me to believe that there was massive demand that R&B was keeping up with by getting in new shipments everyday. It turns out I was hilariously wrong, as I eventually emailed them to ask them if they could put a pair aside for me as an exchange. What had been happening was that the email system was telling everyone who was on the list when a new size came in, even if that wasn’t the size they were after. In fact, there were no new shipments and they weren’t expecting any more through(!) BUT, they checked their inventory and found a pair in Mayfair for me. I rang the store right away, and they were able to post the shoes out to me. And so, they arrived today. And thus ends the tale!
Now for the comparisons! Hobbs Myra is on the left, and Corkswoon/Coco is on the right:
As far as I can tell, these are the main differences: the colour of the navy on the Coco is deeper and more even. The nap seems to be shorter, which gives it a tidier appearance. The cork differs slightly – the Myra has a more spotted finish, while the Coco has a series of lines… (I tried to look up to see if these have a special name but I couldn’t see anywhere that they do!) When it comes to fit, the Coco actually fits me much better than the Myra wedge. The back seems to be higher, although the Myra wedge has a nifty piece of cord at the back which helps to maintain grip. Finally, the most obvious difference is the cute gold SW button at the back of the Coco wedge!
If you’d like to see all the pictures in high res, you can visit my Flickr set here. You can also see another comparison between the Myra wedge and the Next wedges that they did last season which were a good match for the Coco wedges here.
As I don’t need both pairs, I’m going to be selling my Myra wedges – they’re size 7/40 and if you’re interested just email me using the contact tab above! As they fit me better than the Myra wedges, I decided to keep the Coco, but I honestly think that the Myra wedge is a fantastic replikate, especially considering the enormous price of the originals. The Cocos are nicer, but twice as nice…? I’m not certain!
Food, Fashion and Fitness 